It has been a while since I have had a completely work-free holiday. While I am generally able to carve out time to be at home and I do work on making sure that I am quite available for important and ordinary things, my single parent existence is contingent on my working. With my own business comprising more than half of my income, this often means doing at least a little work from home on holidays. What I would like to know is if this is common and I am a “typical” single parent because holidays general do not mean “work-free.”
I think it is typical for single parents to work, period. This means that if we are the sole support for our families and household, we have to be dedicated and take our work life fairly seriously. When I talk to other single parents, I have to tell you that none of them whine to me about how they wish they didn’t have to work. Many wish they could find more balance or that they could do work that gets them excited, but most of the single parents I know simply accept that working is part of their lives and they are actually grateful for the work and job they do have.
If you are someone who needs the money, and you work someplace where you get paid overtime for working holidays, it can be incredibly tempting to take those holiday hours when no one else wants them! In my case, I just cannot let too much time lapse without tending to my business and while I can organize my work in such a way that I can “pretty much” take a holiday off, I am also open to the fact that I may have to do some work. As long as I am available and make time to spend with them, my kids have learned to be patient and accept that I may work a little on a holiday too.
What do you think? Do you think that it is typical for single parents to have to work during a holiday?