One week of strep, brought to you by flex time

TV didn't happen last night. Neither did waking up at 4 a.m. to tackle the work project that should have been done by yesterday. I worked past midnight, staggered up to bed, and was woken up at exactly 6:06 a.m. by K who announced he's feeling "better, but not all the way better." We proceeded to nap on the couch for the next twenty minutes while holding hands. Since he's still sick, I don't have to pack his bag or make lunch or get him dressed and out to school. And it's my turn to go to work today, which means in an hour or so, I'll be able to shower (!), get dressed, grab my stuff and walk out the door. Meanwhile, JW gets to sleep in for an extra hour. Easiest morning ever.

Looking back at our schedule over the past week, I realize that even though I feel exhausted, none of this would have been possible without both me and JW taking advantage of our jobs' flex time policies. I spent two entire days working from home. Both of those days, I arrived in the office at 5 p.m. (no one asked me to, but I was dealing with large volumes of documents that I couldn't deal with from home). Once I stayed all night, once I picked up some files and left an hour later. The night I spent at work was the only bedtime I've missed this week. I've taken two entire afternoons off for doctor's appointments. I've had my work number forwarded to my cell phone, enabling me to take a call from a client while K was napping in the car. I have worked at literally every hour of the day and night, but K has also been constantly attended to by either me or JW (even though, okay, he has logged quite a few video game hours this week). No one I worked with has seemed to notice or care that I'm not physically around half the time. I've actually been more responsive because I'm constantly checking in and trying to take care of things immediately so that work doesn't keep piling up.

I've told this story before, but I'll never forget it because it's so emblematic of stereotypical attitudes toward women in this business. A headhunter came to my law school 2L fall to talk about Boston firms. I raised my hand and said, "The firm I worked at last summer didn't care about face time. Most of the attorneys would leave at a reasonable hour and work more from home at night, and it was common for people to spend the day working from home. What other firms in the Boston area offer that kind of flexibility?" She said, "Oh, sweetie, don't think about part-time now. No matter where you go, you will have to work hard and establish yourself. After a few years, maybe you'll get married and think about having kids, and then you can work part-time." I was speechless. (Also, pregnant with K.) I did manage to follow up and say, "I wasn't asking about part-time. I was asking about what firms care less about face time and offer some flexibility in where and when you get your work done." She said that all firms would require me to put in lots of hours and I should be prepared to work hard. I should have written down the name of her company so that I would remember to hang up on them whenever they call. Clearly I picked the right place without her expert guidance.