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Kathryn Mayer • Writing Out Loud

I write stuff down. writer • humorist • activist

The Ugly Truth about Working Thanksgiving Week

November 22, 2010 by Kate Mayer 9 Comments

Thanksgiving: hell week for working moms

The thing about working is very similar to momming. You can’t really turn it off without serious repercussions. Like getting fired. Or the kids going to juvie.

Because as much as I really do enjoy working, especially the money part and the fame in the grocery store part (apparently, people do read this), this week is appearing a bit daunting. Okay, unbelievably, nail biting, can’t-get-out-of-my-own-way overwhelming.

Anybody know if The Family Leave Act covers Thanksgiving week?

Because it totally should, especially if you’re hosting your lovely extended family or traveling beyond a 3 hour car ride with anybody in a car seat. I’ll take hosting over traveling with little kids any time. And I have.

No car seats here, but I happily host Thanksgiving, seriously, and have for over a decade. Thanksgiving is my hands down, all time favorite holiday. When I first started doing this and confessed my glee to a friend, she said, and I quote:

“Sure you love Thanksgiving now. I’ll remind you of this when you’ve been at it a decade and are ready to stab somebody with the carving knife.”

Hasn’t happened yet, but am not ruling it out.

About the work thing, though. It seems clients that have laid dormant for weeks are now awakening. Which is good news, except for the part about ‘this week.’

This week being a working mom is bad, bad, bad news. 

Because while I can handle Thanksgiving and guests and volatile relatives and overeaters and drunks and, well, nothing says the holidays like the psych ER, I’m destined to become an even crazier bitch than my usual sunshiney self if I must work a lot this week.

Ain’t no sunshine when I’ve got company coming.

It’s not the cooking, because I’ve got that under control. It’s the pre-game that’s so unnerving. The prep work necessary for success. Shopping. Cleaning. Chairs. Forks. Hiding the stuff, because man, do we got stuff. Hoarder style stuff; four kids will do that to a house. Must debrief acceptable dinner table stories. When to cut off the wine. How to pry the iphone from Grammy. Hide the pies from Grandpa.

Kids’ table, circa 2008.

It’s a lot. I can cook for 20 without batting an eye, but it will take a month to clean off my dining table desk so people have a place to sit. And I don’t have a month. I have until Thursday.

Honestly people, it’s time to panic. Thanksgiving is this Thursday and there’s still Halloween pumpkins composting on the stoop. I can’t stop the calendar, as much as I want to, and I can’t stop the workload, as much as I don’t want to.

I just want to postpone it all a teeny tiny bit so I can enjoy every moment of the day, and not wish the time away.

Just like with the kids.


Ann Taylor LOFT Done Good!
Dr. Seuss Thanksgiving

Comments

  1. Michelle Saunderson says

    November 22, 2010 at 1:01 pm

    Oh, I completely know where you are coming from on this one(from my years as a Realtor)! I am fortunate in that my boyfriend’s sister is hosting Thanksgiving and my kids are going out of town with their dad for the whole weekend (I drop them off Wed.) So, I will be thinking about you and your chaos…while I sip wine. Yes, you may call me a B&%*@.

    Reply
  2. Kathy (p/t writer, f/t mom) says

    November 22, 2010 at 1:03 pm

    Never! Okay, maybe under my breath just once…. b^&$#. okay. I feel better. Happy Turkey to you Michelle! ps. am ordering 4 hour work week from audible…. thx!

    Reply
  3. mominsanity says

    November 22, 2010 at 1:23 pm

    I don’t think it does unfortunately, even though it totally should!

    Reply
  4. Lida Citroen says

    November 22, 2010 at 5:28 pm

    Love it! I find myself defrosting and preheating between client phone meetings this week. If they only knew how good my home office smells 🙂

    Reply
  5. Kathy (p/t writer, f/t mom) says

    November 22, 2010 at 7:18 pm

    Just took 9 — count ’em — 9 trips between car and kitchen to unload. Am exhausted and haven’t started yet!

    Reply
  6. Robin says

    November 22, 2010 at 8:05 pm

    Cheezits, you can cook too? F8%^in-A, Kate.

    Can’t wait ’til Wednesday for ya

    Reply
  7. Kathy (p/t writer, f/t mom) says

    November 22, 2010 at 10:16 pm

    yep. I had these kids and dang it, ize got to feed ’em too.

    Reply
  8. Bellatrix S. says

    November 29, 2010 at 1:20 am

    My mum always delegated to us. She said,” i’ll make the turkey and apple pie, if you want anything else you make it and clean it.” It usually worked, I always wrangled my younger brothers to clean the office/dining room while i did more cooking and washed dishes along the way. Mind you, we rarely had company, but for a Mum who never got the Wednesday before off (Nurse!!) to prepare, we always had wonderful meals and usually rented movies.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Dr. Seuss Thanksgiving - Kathryn Mayer says:
    February 10, 2015 at 4:25 pm

    […] what this working mom found in the grocery store yesterday? Just when the panic of working and momming and preparing dinner in three days was settling into a minor state of panic, I found these fun, […]

    Reply

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About Kathryn Mayer

Kathryn Mayer

An irreverent storyteller with a foul mouth and big heart, Kathryn Mayer (aka Kathy and/or Kate) is a writer, humorist, and (former) activist writing out loud with humor and grace about little life moments with big ripples, including the space between parenting and aging parents, social issues, angsty reflections of midlife, and, sigh, gun humpers. Still. Sometimes a big deal, sometimes not Mayer is a national award-winning columnist, according to the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, and her essays have been recognized as Voice of … Read More Here...

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