Saturday, May 10, 2008

Being A Single Working Mom

I know one of the best things I can do for my growing family is being able to work and support them on my own but why does it have to be so depressing at times? Or maybe it's just this job and how it seems to have completely drained me emotionally.
I work the front desk at the (crappy) Best Western. Which is pretty much all I've done since I was 18 years old at another hotel but with the hours they have me working, I seem to have little to no time with Gwen. Not being able to spend time with her everyday kills me inside.
On Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays I work 3PM to 11PM. Which Mondays and Tuesdays I get her up for school and ship her off for the day and pick her up afterschool and I only get to see her on the 15 minute drive down here to work. And by the time I get home, she's sleeping of course. On Sundays, it's even worse. I get off work at 7AM, go home, sleep a few hours and get up to come back to work at 3PM. So I only get to see her while I'm getting ready to come back to work. When I get home Sunday nights, I just lay in bed beside her, watching her and talk to her sleeping body. Hoping that maybe she'll wake up for 10 minutes or at least long enough to tell me she loves me.
I don't know how her day was. What she did, if she got her bath and brushed her teeth and I don't get to tuck her in. I have no clue if she's picked out a certain outfit she wants to wear to school. Little things like that, I miss out on working these hours. My days off with her are great of course. I try to spend as much time with her doing all the "Gwennie" things that make her happy. But there never seems to be enough time to do the things we want to plus get the things done that need to be done.
When I work my 11PM to 7AM shifts on Fridays and Saturdays, I'm not there at night when she gets scared or has a bad dream or if she just wakes up wanting her mommy. Then after I get off work at 7AM, it either goes one of two ways. The first way is I sleep most of the day and wake up feeling guilty because I could have gotten up sooner and spend some extra time with her or the second way, I do get up earlier to be with her and I end up going back to work with very little sleep and have a hard time staying awake. When I come home and find pictures she's drawn of me walking away from her and she's sitting there crying by herself, breaks me heart to no end.
Now I'm worried as hell that if I stay on this same schedule after Presley is born, he'll grow up thinking his Grandma is his mom because she'll be the one there when he needs someone the most. While I sit here at a job that to me, isn't worth missing out on my kids lives. It's not like it's a great job but I need it.
I come to work and I'm hateful and bitter because I'm here when my kid needs and wants me. To make matters worse, since I've been here I've missed every single holiday with Gwen. Thanksgiving I did get off because the other night audit lady wanted to trade so she could be able to cook for her family or else I would have been working. But Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and Easter were all cut short because I managed to get screwed at every holiday. And with Mother's Day this weekend, I'll only get to see her while I'm getting ready to come back to work. The first Mother's Day I won't be able to spend with her in 6 years.
I know most people don't like their jobs and I'm probably just being a cry-baby, emotional pregnant lady but this place is the only thing that brings me down. I know I have to work to support my kids but at what price am I doing if for.

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