Yesterday was the final straw.

I won’t go into detail, but I’m pretty sure it was the worst workday I’ve had in my entire life. I worked 13 hours, which included being interrogated by child protection regarding a false complaint from a parent, being cursed and screamed at by that parent, being left out of lunch plans with my coworkers, finding out I have to fill in as staff tomorrow because there aren’t enough staff scheduled, and (worst of all) watching my boss walk to his car, leaving me to deal with everything on my own.

I am killing myself for a pitiful salary. I’m on call at least 15 days a month. I make $20k a year less than the person who previously held my position. I get phone calls from staff and parents 24/7 whether I’m on call or not. Even on Mondays when I’m at my other job. And if anything goes wrong at the facility, I’m responsible whether or not it was something I could control.

I like my boss, but he ignores the fact that all of us are stressed and overworked. Yesterday when I burst into tears (so embarrassing!), he basically told me to hang in there before he left to spend a Friday night with his family. I didn’t get home until 9:30 and was on the phone with work until 11. I didn’t get to eat dinner OR spend time with my son last night.

Not. Worth. It.

I can’t express how utterly done I am with this job. Yesterday made me realize that things are never going to change unless I do something about it myself.

So I’m applying for jobs, though there aren’t many in my area right now. I’ve considered turning my part-time job into full-time - a scary thought since the pay is based on billing and there is no set salary. I wish there was a fast solution but I know it will take awhile.

I feel like changing jobs is the last thing I should be doing right now. I need to keep concentrating on paying off debt and saving. But I’m at the end of my rope and I can’t take any more.

Bear with me, friends; it’s going to get bumpy for awhile.