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<p>I've been working part time for about 4 years now.  I had a job share situation that was a match made in heaven.  People called my partner and I the two headed monster, and our work was completely seamless.  Then my partner moved into a full time position, and I got a new job share partner.</p>
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<p>New partner is a very nice person whose heart, I think, is in the right place.  But bless her heart, she's ragingly incompetent.  She's been in the postion for 6 months, and it hasn't gotten any better.  She is intellectually very, very bright.  But she overthinks everything, gets ridiculously stressed out, and as a consequence either makes dumb mistakes or doesn't get her work done because she's too stressed or afraid to mess up.  She's developing a reputation outside of the office as a big liability for us.  I spend a great deal of my half of our job trying to fix her messes.</p>
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<p>I had been harboring hopes that my old partner would come back part time eventually, and she seemed to really want to do that.  But her spouse got a fabulous job in another state, and she's moving away.</p>
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<p>So it's becoming increasingly clear that my current partner is going to either quit or be fired eventually.  That puts my postion in a weird place.  For some reason, the powers that be don't seem to believe a half-time position in tenable on it's own.  But they are starting to see this current job share fiasco as evidence that job sharing doesn't work.</p>
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<p>My supervisor had a talk with me today, and said he's been thinking of other ways I could structure my job to work part time.  His main suggestion sounded awful to me.  He also said that he understood why I work part time, and he supports it, but pointed out that if I were full time, I'd have had a much more senior position by now.  He kind of suggested that I am languishing in my current postion and not really being put to best use.  So it was a compliment, but implicit in what he was saying was that I must be bored and frustrated cruising along in an "easy" job that doesn't use my skills to full advantage.</p>
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<p>I guess I'd been kind of envisioning happily skipping along with my little part time gig and just enjoying life until I retire.  But I do have moments where I wonder what if I would enjoy my job more if I worked full time and became a supervisor.  And it's weird that everyone at the office views my current situation as temporary, even though I've been doing it for 4 years and had no plans to quit.</p>
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<p>The thing is, mr jebba works 60-70 hours a week most of the time.  I am the person who keeps the household and family running even somewhat efficiently.  If I worked full time, I've no doubt it would all fall apart.  Mr jebba has no idea when bills are due, when dr appointments need to be set, when the cars need their tags renewed, etc.  Plus we would need a nanny, and I really don't want to do that.  *I* want to be the one who does homework with my kids and carts them to practice and remembers when they have to dress up like a book character for school.  I want my real life to be the life I have away from work, and not have work be my real life, if that makes sense.</p>
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<p>I guess I am just feeling anxious and antsy, because I don't know what's going to happen if my job partner doesn't work out. </p>
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<p>*sigh*</p>
 

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<p>Jebba,</p>
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<p>About five minutes after my arriving in the office I had a lineup a mile long.  No word of a lie, five people waiting to see me - and we're open plan.  I popped up and said - "Guys, take a number, go sit somewhere, get a coffee... GO AWAY!"</p>
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<p>I have someone reporting to me who wants to be my new manager of support for SAP, and heard all of the issues that were paraded in front of me this morning before I could even unpack my laptop.</p>
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<p>His comment when there was a lull?  "Scratch the thought of me becoming a manager."</p>
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<p>I have gotten better in the stress department, but it is there all the time.  I will speak no ill of my employer.  There, I think I did sorta.  But it is overwhelming. </p>
<p><br>
All this by way of saying that full time and career track isn't always the way to go. </p>
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<p>I also hear what you are saying WRT keeping it all together.  We made a choice when the boys were born to try and stick out the single income thing.  It was a hardship financially, but both of us felt it was for the best.  Not everyone can hack that.  I certainly have felt the pressure of being in a career that I am not exactly thrilled with in order to provide for the family.  Now that they are older I feel that I have to tough it out until retirement so that we can have the money to live on...  all the while becoming more aware that my health is a major major issue. </p>
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<p>I guess what I am saying is that I can't give advice because I'd probably not follow my own.  But I do feel for you.</p>
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<p>Have you ever thought of going into practice on your own? </p>
 

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<p>Thank you for your words, Grizzly.  The thing is, I have a pretty deep commitment to doing this work in order to help poor people accused of crimes, not just people accused of crimes.  And going into private practice is not as conducive to that.</p>
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<p>Even just writing in out makes me think about it a little better.  I think I am going to spend the next couple of weeks envisioning what I would like to do here on a part-time basis, so I can have a menu of options to present to my boss if/when my partner gets the boot.  The truth is, I *am* an asset to this office, and if my boss is smart, she will at least attempt to keep me happy.  I am incredibly, incredibly fortunate in that financially, I could walk away if it really came down to it.  But I have enough hubris to believe that there are poor people who really need *me* to help them.</p>
 

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I feel for you Jebba. I was once there, I was full time and was desperate to go half time as dh's hours were increasing. it became a power struggle as management knew our finances required me to provide income. eventually, I quit...and we both lost. They had to hire 2 full time employees and I couldn't find any decent part time position that would justify paying for daycare. Your employer definitely appears to want to work with you. can you be part of the hiring process of finding a qualified person to work with...or maybe having an assistant that can do some of your research and legwork?<br><br>
If you can afford some help, it may be wise to do so...having a nanny or a helper doesn't have to mean that you are handing your kids over to someone, you wouldn't let that happen. you will always be a hands on parent, that won't change with having a little help.<br><br>
Hang in there.
 

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<p>Don't wait to present the options.  By the time they act on your partner they will have a plan for you.  Pre-empt.</p>
 

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<p>Jebba, if you went to work full time what would the possibility of considering a maid/cook to take over some of the household chores?</p>
 

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<p>I still am not at full time hours and at this rate i am not sure i ever want to go back to full time hours, as i just want to spend as much time with DD as possible. If part time is what you truly want, i would try to make a way to make it work. also, point out that the job was successful with a better job share partner.</p>
 

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<p>    Jebba, I hope it all settles down to a situation that you are happy with = at this job or at another.   I believe that having one  parent at home as much as possible during is very important to kids and am on your side for part time work.  I too have not "advanced" since having kids.... but am  I successful.. well yeah,  My kids are excellent. My 14  year old still comes home and chats with me about what happened at school in the  afternoon.  It's worth  EVERY penny I have sacrificed.</p>
 

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<p>Hey Jebba.  I don't have any great advice, just wanted commiserate with you.  You seem to have laid it out pretty well in this thread - the tough part is you don't have the controll you need to make it happen.  If they aren't willing to support the current part time position, then as Grizz suggested you could become self employed and contract your services to them.  You may find working from home an even better situation than what you have if you have the space for a proper home office.</p>
 

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More commiserating here too.. just did the job switch / relocation thing myself after getting ' bored' and over-qualified. The grass is always greener as they say so be careful of that too. I'm stressed like grizz right now and never had it like this anywhere, new jobs are hellahard if it is not exactly the same thing, especially if you piggy back on a jump up the food-chain too.<br>
If you luv what you do, maybe ride the horse until it is dead, I dunno.
 
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