I dread getting a call from my son’s school. It’s never good news. No one there calls to say, “Just thought you’d like to hear that Jack read a whole book today!” Instead, the calls always begin “Jack is fine,” followed by the inevitable “but.” “But…he cut his head and there’s quite a bit of blood.” Or: “But…he threw up after lunch and now has a high fever.”

Whether Jack’s suffering from a cut or a cough, the only thing I can think about as I rush from work is I can’t get there fast enough. Falls and fevers are out of my control. But I do have control over my time (most of the time)—despite having a full-time job—and that’s not just a perk to a working mom, it’s a necessity. There’s great relief in having the  flexibility to be with my son when he needs me; it makes being a working mom so much easier. And as I power up my laptop now that Jack is finally asleep, I think, That’s how I define success. In this month’s “Success Redefined” (read here), you’ll see that I share this take with so many other working moms who know that success isn’t always measured in bigger paychecks or better titles. More often, for us, it’s measured in freedom and flexibility.

“We need flexibility” is what we hear from women in every survey Working Mother has done and in every work-life survey I’ve seen. So I’m thrilled to report that all Working Mother 100 Best Companies offer their employees flextime—as well as telecommuting. But if you look at the national averages, fewer than half of the companies across the country offer flextime (49 percent) and telecommuting (44 percent). My hope is that more businesses will follow the lead of our 100 Best so that working-mom employees no longer see promotions versus Little League games as an either-or proposition. There’s a big payoff for these companies if they do: Employee loyalty, retention rates and productivity soar as a result.

The Friday before Halloween, I’ll take a half-day to enjoy Jack’s school costume parade. The smile on Jack’s face when he knows Mom left work to be with him is the best payoff of all. And I’ll be back on my laptop long after the candle in our pumpkin burns out.

Suzanne Riss, Editor-in-Chief
Suzanne.Riss@workingmother.com
Tweet me: @EditorMomWM