I’ve been in retail for over 20 years, I’ve had all kinds of roles. Since I’ve had kids I’d been able to be a stay at home mom and have my own business that unfortunately closed during Covid.
After that, I’ve been lucky enough to find roles that were Monday – Friday or with only the occasional weekend shift. I was also in roles where our shifts would typically end by 5:00 at the latest, so I could always make after school pick up.
Now, after leaving a very toxic store, I’ve been able to land a management position. Everything seems okay so far, except for the hours. The earliest shift has me getting home around 7:00pm, way too late for pickup. But most days they have me scheduled so I won’t get home until 8:00 or 9:00, in which case I won’t get to see my kids at all.
They also have me working weekends. At least one full weekend a month and at least one weekend day the other weeks. I’m a single mom. I share custody with their dad and now days that I would normally have them I have to leave them with him. I don’t understand how I’m supposed to be present for my kids with these kinds of hours. It’s breaking my heart. I just want to see my babies. How do other parents do this? I need the money but also part of me feels like it’s not worth it. I don’t know what to do.