Work...

I'm a workaholic.

Well, kind of.

OK...yeah, I am.

Here's the thing...I have perfectionist tendencies and, as such, I often work late to accommodate my need for things to be done "right." This isn't necessarily a bad characteristic in someone who is responsible for fundraising.

Yesterday I worked a 12-hour day. No one forced me to do this. I did it of my own volition. And if my supervisor knew that I had put in those kinds of hours yesterday she would have been royally peeved. "Don't stay too late!" is daily her mantra to me.

She doesn't want me to burn out.

"How late did you stay last night?" she'll ask me on days when I'm looking a little droopy.

"Not too late..." I'll say with a bit of a sheepish face on.

"Uh-huh," she'll reply with a look that says that she clearly does not believe me.

And she shouldn't. She knows me too well.

She'll come to me today with a stern look on her face to comment about the e-mail that I sent her at 8:00 last evening. "Go home at a reasonable hour tonight," will be her orders for the day. "It will all still be here tomorrow."

Sigh. I know.

And that's why I work late because there is SO MUCH that will still be there tomorrow. A colleague of mine describes this phenomenon as "building the boat in the water while you're trying to sail it."

I've always worked and I've always worked hard, long hours. But as we're moving towards becoming Plus One I'm realizing that I won't be able to do this anymore. Particularly because I'm married to someone just like me who also puts in crazy hours.

You can't have two parents who work crazy hours.

And so I'm starting to plot and plan for the future and am working on a scheme to work part-time after maternity leave. The non-profit where I currently work is pretty family friendly, but in general isn't keen on part-timers. Still, I like it enough there to want to stay and I think that they like me enough as well to consider a part-time option to keep me on board.

At least...I hope they do.

We'll see.

I still have some time to work with my supervisor to try to get something in place. If not, I'm not sure what will happen because I don't think that I could do my current job while trying to care for an infant. Three months of my work year are just NOT 9-to-5 and require me to be out and about at all hours and often find me at my office evenings and on the weekends.

My busy time also coincides with Chris' busy time. We are often ships passing in the night in the fall/early winter.

This just won't work when we're Plus One.

Someone has to be at home at least most of the time to care for the Little One.

Can't have two full-time workaholics trying to raise a Kid.

So, I'm trying to work something out.

Wish me luck.