Where did 9-5 go?

[failingmammalian]

Is It just me or did 9-5 working hours cease to be the norm at some point? So fed up with full(+) time work and trying to make it work with little one. Who does manage to make it work and what do you do??? (Apart from civil servants who I know have some nice conditions for making family life feasible)

You and me both! I am expected to work 40 hours a week on client work and then anything else is 'extra'. I don't have 60-70 hours available for work. I have two kids and I get about 30-45 min with both of them each morning. I requested a 75% schedule and they told me my hours would be 40-45 per week! That is not 9-5!!!

I'm out the house 7-7 and only see DD to say goodnight to really.

I really do love my job but feeling very tired of the intensity right now. I am part time but the last couple of weeks it's been pretty much full time, doing additional days - and a few late evenings.

Where I work the expectation is that you work lots of overtime without saying anything. In August I was working around the clock as we had a 'big' deadline that turned out to be not such a big deadline after all as the client wasn't ready.

From what I see the mothers who make it work have a SAHD or an OH with a job that has limited hours. I am jaded right now but what I see in my circle is that it is impossible to have children in the first 10 years of establishing a career in most professions without one parent staying home. I say this as I work at 2am in the morning to get work done that should have been done over a month ago but I just have not had time because I have two clients competing over my time. No one has a true deadline but fake deadlines are put on me which result in me being so anxious I can't sleep and I can feel my face burning up (I have rosacia).

Quite sad that we live in this world and I really want to jack it all in tonight and start my own business.

Glad it's not just me who feels like this! My hours are supposed to be 9 til 5.30 with an hour for lunch. I can't remember the last time I had a lunch break. I don't get into the office until about 8.50am as I have to drop DS at his childminder's. I usually get out by about 6.30 but recently have been so busy I've not been leaving til 7, then coming home, having dinner, starting again at 8 and working til midnight. There's no let up either, I'm exhausted. I wanted to work last night so logged on to our system from home at 8pm, the whole system crashed at 9 so I got hardly anything done and spent all night worrying about what I didn't get done. I work from home on a Monday so hoping to be able to get through loads today (assuming our systems are back up again).
Working from home helps a bit as it means DH and I can eat with DS and I can put him to bed, I haven't got to waste time commuting. I'm holding on for the Christmas break now, I've got a week and a half off, I can't wait.