Marriage & Parenthood Package
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Funz:
You know your situation best.
Much as hubby wants to spend time coaching kids, it is not possible...leaving office at 7pm is quite impossible. Even if he does, he has to continue working at home till 10/11 pm.janet_lee88:
[quote=\"Funz] It is not bullsh!t. It is about deciding what is your priority.
Work life balance starts with yourself. Though the company and the govt does play a part, ultimately, to achieve that, it has to come from yourself. What are you willing to give up to have that balance?
Is it truly really impossible to make it a point to leave at 6 or 7pm 1 or 2 days a week? If one does not make that a commitment, it is easy to let other immediate matters take over, whether or not those matters are urgent and requiring immediate attention. If one is constantly operating on an urgent and important mode, something is very wrong somewhere.
There is no end to work. If there is an end, it will be scary as it means you will be out of a job. So at some point, one has to decide what takes precedence, that pile of work or something else.[/quote][/quote][/quote]
It is usually not one, but many factors that contributes to whether a person can/cannot achieve work-life balance. It is also very subjective to the individual \"how much\" is enough. 2-4 hours of family time, 1 or 2 times a week may be \"balance\" for some but may not be so for others. There is no yardstick to measure/define what is work-life balance.
I leave on the dot almost everyday (a choice I made). Thankful I can have dinner with DC every night, but sad to say, most hours (at most 2-3 before DC goes to bed) after dinner are spent on school/tuition work. Very minimal time (I am talking about weekday evenings here) is spent on playing, chit-chatting, doing things we like tgt...
Would I really call that work-life balance? Not really. My idea of work-life balance is spending \"quality\" time, not just \"quantity\". I wouldn't mind having 1-2 more hours a day to enjoy some hobbies tgt after the homework is done (ok, I know I am greedy
).
Unfortunately, office hours are pretty long in SG (9-10hrs + travelling time to & fro). Unless one is fortunate enough to get a 9-5 job or a job that allows some telecommuting, 2-3 hrs is the max we can get to be home with kids after work.
Apart from these, I do get my fair share of not so understanding superiors. Some denied my childcare leave (child was \"returned\" by childcare for running fever) but I had to stay in office and \"dump\" (the word my superior used) my kid somewhere. Some denied my sick leave, some commented I must be very free (under-stretched) so that I can leave on the dot everyday, thus proposing to \"expand\" the job scope with something that requires night and weekend duties (rotating basis).
That was the triggering point to make me leave for another organization.
Govt policies & infrastructure may be there (childcare leave, telecommuting) to support work-life balance, encourage procreation etc. Hwr, execution from the ground is a far cry, and I am not talking about pte sector only..... -
ScaredyMum:
If you were previously in the public sector, hope you wrote or replied under \"reason for leaving\" at your exit interview, \"I am not able to 'dump' my kid somewhere in the manner suggested by my superior.\"Apart from these, I do get my fair share of not so understanding superiors. Some denied my childcare leave (child was \"returned\" by childcare for running fever) but I had to stay in office and \"dump\" (the word my superior used) my kid somewhere. Some denied my sick leave, some commented I must be very free (under-stretched) so that I can leave on the dot everyday, thus proposing to \"expand\" the job scope with something that requires night and weekend duties (rotating basis).
That was the triggering point to make me leave for another organization.
Govt policies & infrastructure may be there (childcare leave, telecommuting) to support work-life balance, encourage procreation etc. Hwr, execution from the ground is a far cry, and I am not talking about pte sector only..... -
pirate:
Hahaha... I just told my superior there and then, \"my kids are no trash!\".
If you were previously in the public sector, hope you wrote or replied under \"reason for leaving\" at your exit interview, \"I am not able to 'dump' my kid somewhere in the manner suggested by my superior.\"ScaredyMum:
Apart from these, I do get my fair share of not so understanding superiors. Some denied my childcare leave (child was \"returned\" by childcare for running fever) but I had to stay in office and \"dump\" (the word my superior used) my kid somewhere. Some denied my sick leave, some commented I must be very free (under-stretched) so that I can leave on the dot everyday, thus proposing to \"expand\" the job scope with something that requires night and weekend duties (rotating basis).
That was the triggering point to make me leave for another organization.
Govt policies & infrastructure may be there (childcare leave, telecommuting) to support work-life balance, encourage procreation etc. Hwr, execution from the ground is a far cry, and I am not talking about pte sector only..... -
ScaredyMum:
Hahaha... I just told my superior there and then, \"my kids are no trash!\".[/quote]Wow, goody mummy!
If you were previously in the public sector, hope you wrote or replied under \"reason for leaving\" at your exit interview, \"I am not able to 'dump' my kid somewhere in the manner suggested by my superior.\"pirate:
[quote=\"ScaredyMum\"]Apart from these, I do get my fair share of not so understanding superiors. Some denied my childcare leave (child was \"returned\" by childcare for running fever) but I had to stay in office and \"dump\" (the word my superior used) my kid somewhere. Some denied my sick leave, some commented I must be very free (under-stretched) so that I can leave on the dot everyday, thus proposing to \"expand\" the job scope with something that requires night and weekend duties (rotating basis).
That was the triggering point to make me leave for another organization.
Govt policies & infrastructure may be there (childcare leave, telecommuting) to support work-life balance, encourage procreation etc. Hwr, execution from the ground is a far cry, and I am not talking about pte sector only..... -
No offence...just saw this.
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/the-flipside/why-singaporeans-don-t-want-kids-063722550.html -
Sad, but there are some truths in that article. I kinda agree/relate to it. We do not get to enjoy our kids as much as we want, we are constantly nagging them to study study study… Not becos we want to, with the amount of work they get from school and tuition, can we not remind them?
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ScaredyMum:
Sad, but there are some truths in that article. I kinda agree/relate to it. We do not get to enjoy our kids as much as we want, we are constantly nagging them to study study study... Not becos we want to, with the amount of work they get from school and tuition, can we not remind them?
Our kids do not enjoy a childhood. That's very true.
No matter how cute babies are, I cannot see myself having #3.
Our education system is not friendly. -
I once brought my sick son to my office, much to the shock of many co-workers. I explained to my boss that my son was "rejected by cc because he was running a fever" and that I wanted to take half day leave that day. After saying these, I gave her the "take it (my son stay here with me in the office) or leave it (approve my full day leave)" look.
Luckily, my son was well behaved enough. He did not make too much noise (although I had to remind him more than I like) and my colleagues (many of whom are mothers themselves) could emphasize. -
Imami:
:snuggles: Brave mummy! Bravo! :celebrate:I once brought my sick son to my office, much to the shock of many co-workers. I explained to my boss that my son was \"rejected by cc because he was running a fever\" and that I wanted to take half day leave that day. After saying these, I gave her the \"take it (my son stay here with me in the office) or leave it (approve my full day leave)\" look.
Luckily, my son was well behaved enough. He did not make too much noise (although I had to remind him more than I like) and my colleagues (many of whom are mothers themselves) could emphasize.
Once, I had something on, and DH had to see a client. He brought DS with him. He had meeting with his client and left DS waiting at the lounge area with his lego. When they came out from the meeting room, DS had one shoe at one corner of the lounge and another at the other corner. :roll: Good thing the client was understanding and they do not have many visitors.
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It is very inconvenient bringing kids around in the packed public transport. I pity the kids - always being sandwiched by buttocks - although I like to tease them that they have 'cushions' all around them
:roll:
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