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Panicking a bit about ML

vincourmirandavincourmiranda member
in Working Moms

I work at a university, which is technically a non-profit, but my office is the only one in my specific school that runs for-profit programs.  And, my "office" is me. And, my job depends on the programs making money.

My busiest time of year in Jan.-May, which is when I will be back full time, but there really is no down time in my job as I manage a tight schedule of recruiting and administrative work, among other things. 

I told my boss I was pregnant at 8 weeks and let everyone else know at 13 weeks.  I am now 25 weeks pg and there really has been no definite solution as to how all of my tasks will be handled when I am out.  One person in a completely different department is agreeing to try the administrative tasks, and I have started to train her.  Through the training so far, I am worried about her attention to specific details and getting the work done, but at least she is trying and I appreciate her efforts.

No one wants to take on any of the recruiting that I do in Sep.-Oct.  My supervisor has agreed to search for a part-time person to help when I am out, but the position has not been posted on our HR website yet and it usually takes at least a month for people to be hired here, which would leave, at best, two months for me to train this part-time person.

Anyway, I am just feeling panicked that all of the work and momentum I've put into this position in the last 3 years will suffer.  To add fuel to the fire, I don't really like this job, but it pays our bills, health insurance, and I can do it and I do it well.  I will eventually look for another job but for now, I need this for our family to be OK.

Any advice? Words of wisdom?   

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Re: Panicking a bit about ML

  • jenuinejenuine

    First off, deep breath. You will be fine. ML is months away. If it was next week, you should panic.

    Talk with your manager and tell them exactly what you told us. You sound serious about your job and it will be great for your manager to hear that. Express your concerns and see what you can do together to make things go better. The fact that you already have so much laid out is amazing. We scrambled at the last minute to cover me. You will be fine.

    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
    met DH 1995 ~ married DH 2006 ~ completed our family 2008
    Life is good!
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  • kyfirewifekyfirewife member
    Breathe. Just breathe.

    It will be fine. It really will.

    They will find someone to help out while you are off.

    Will said person(s) screw some things up? Almost definitely.
    Will said person(s) do as good a job as you? Definitely not.
    Will your co-workers appreciate you even more when you return? Very likely.

    It will be okay. There will be some adjustment. But it. will. be. okay.

    Now, go treat yourself to a nice lunch.

    Smile
    <a href="http://www.thebump.com/?utm_source=exp&utm_medium=ubb&utm_campaign=badges"><img src="http://images.thenestbaby.com/badges/tb_sig_expecting.gif">
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  • jenn_darrin1515jenn_darrin1515 member
    MY boss finally hired a temp to cover my maternity leave 1 week before I went out and I had 3 days to train her..granted my job was mostly administrative...but the basics were covered and while not everything was done and to my standards, everyone survived my ML.....you still have time...try not to stress! ML is over in an instant...and in no time you will be back to your position to straighten things out and get things back on track...
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  • vincourmirandavincourmiranda member

    imagejenn_darrin1515:
    ML is over in an instant...

    AAAAH! NO!  Stick out tongue

    Thanks, ladies.  I am so Type A and I hope this little baby helps me to get over my controlling and obsessive need-to-plan nature.

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  • yogisunamyogisunam member

    Agree with pp. Though I am more in your shoes...planning on my leave. I get stressed about it, but I know it will be over so fast.

    I am a project manager for a college department and they aren't hiring a temp for my leave, despite my leave coinciding with a super-busy time. What's good is that I've done my job for a while so I can anticipate 75% of what's going to happen while I am away, and lots of my job is delegating anyway, so I am just doing more of that. Am just trying to do as much of the thinking ahead of time so they just have to execute.

    Just pick your priorities...what can't be screwed up? Do as much pre-work as you can on those and make sure that they are covered. Everything else, just accept that some things won't get done or won't get done "right", and maybe write out some contigencies on how to deal when you get back.

     

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