Workplace Flexibility Part 2: Walk Tall

In this second installment of my exploration into the Focus on Workplace Flexibility Conference held at the end of November, I wanted to share part of first lady Michelle Obama's remarks.  Here's what the Washington Post reported that she said:

Have you ever proudly flaunted your kids at work?

"And I was lucky -- I had understanding bosses, I had very accommodating jobs. In fact, in the last job I had before coming to the White House -- I remember this clearly -- I was on maternity leave with Sasha, still trying to figure out what to do with my life, and I got a call for an interview for this position, a senior position at the hospitals. And I thought, okay, here we go. So I had to scramble to look for babysitting, and couldn't find one. So what did I do? I packed up that little infant, and I put her in the stroller, and I brought her with me. And I prayed that her presence wouldn't be an automatic disqualifier. And it was fortunate for me that, number one, she slept through the entire interview. (Laughter.) And I was still breastfeeding -- if that's not too much information. (Laughter.) And I got the job."

This hit home to me.  I have a meeting with a client scheduled for tomorrow. 

Tonight I decided we were all going to sit at the table - together - at the same time - for a family dinner.  Just after I called an end to the whining, endless "why?" questions and repeated attempts to leave the table (I won't name names, but I can say no one left the table with a clean conscience), my husband's phone rang.  It was a wonderful woman at our son's school giving us bad news.  His teacher was sick and they can not find a substitute, the classroom will be closed tomorrow. 

My first reaction was joy; an excuse to stay home with the most important person in the world. 

My next thought was: this is bad.  My boss will think that I'm irresponsible to cancel at the last minute and it will look very bad to the client who has probably already ordered my lunch. 

I started to figure how to get out of staying home.  Could my husband stay home instead?  No, he has sacrificed so often for my deadlines and now he has a deadline he has to meet.  Is there anyone who isn't working, out of town, sick or otherwise obligated that we could leave our son with, and be assured he woudl not cry for us the whole day?  No, no one fits that bill.  Could I bring him with me?  No, he has an attention span of a flea and the meeting involves a windowless room where we sit for a whole day reviewing a single project.  Could I be Michelle Obama and just ask the nanny to come over a little early and watch him a little later?  No, I'm not Michelle Obama, and apparently that's not her style either. 

After I went through this grieving process, I resigned myself to staying home with my son, making gingerbread cookies and maybe even hitting the Playground Gym, (okay now I'm back to my first reaction: YAY!  I get to stay home with the most important person in the whole world). I called my boss at dinner time to break the news.

It's incredible to me that the first lady once had to bring her young daughter with her to a job interview - and she GOT the job!  Now I've start imagining a sci-fi future world where women are dressed a little like Uhura, but can walk around the workplace, proud of being a mom.  They are unburdened by skirts that go below their upper thigh and the worry that THE phone call will come...

"Your son has a fever, our policy says you have to pick him up in half an hour and he can not return for 24 hours after his fever has gone away - without medication."

We can stand tall, knowing our coworkers dream of being as successful and upwardly mobile as we are.  Maybe this mom-topia exists in small bits and pieces in our world today.

Maybe a meeting over coffee, kiddo in tow?

According to this great article, at the Focus on Workplace Flexibility Cnference, Ted Childs talked about how he convinced IBM to provide a 3 year leave of absence to new moms, by pointing out that it cost the company upwards of $112,000 to recruit and train a new employee.  It is simply cheaper to keep these women around.  Now IBM boasts 1,200 women executives, 72% of which are mothers!

The Costco Connections magazine has another small snippet of mom-topia in the article Carrot or Stick by Karen Haywood Queen in the December 2010 issue.  The article points to a baby's clothing store named Zutano, where a new parent can bring her baby to work, finding that their employees are actually more productive.

So, I'm going to work on Monday with my head held high, wearing big hoop earrings and super shiny nude lip gloss.  I'm a proud working mom.  I'll be there to make our world better, one beautiful building and one cute kid at a time.  My coworkers will have to admire my guts, since there won't be any glory, and maybe even compliment me on my retro knee-high boots.