Should've got pregnant instead

So, not only am I annoyed with the MOS today I get to be annoyed with work as well.

I'd taken a replacement position this term as the International Student Coordinator at my school. Today is the last day- I have survived. And, I have done a damn fine job. The students all come to me, it is a rare day that goes by when no one is in my office at recess or lunchtime. And they're not just there because they are being told off. Often they come to me to ask questions or for reassurance etc.

So, this morning the Principal didn't thank me publicly at Staff Briefing. I suck it up because she never does. The replacement position I did last year, I didn't get thanked publicly either. The replacement position I did Term 1 this year, I didn't get thanked publicly. It's getting to grate a bit because she remembers to thank other people and welcome back those returning. People say to me it's because I'm a bit of a fixture there now and am usually there doing something.

However, today it's really bothering me because on Monday she offered me another replacement position for Term 4, the last term of the year. The only question was whether I started at the beginning of the term or three weeks in. I was happy with either. And I was counting the money already. "Yay!" I thought.

This morning she emails me and tells me that matters have "moved on and perhaps regrettably" there is no work for me Term 4 now. She can offer me some work in the Study Hall, perhaps 1 or 2 days a week. The Study Hall is supervising the senior students in their spare periods. You don't get paid as a teacher, you get paid much less. Crap. 

So who is doing the position now? A teacher who has been on Maternity leave. Well, that's great. I resigned because when my husband was sick I wanted to spend time with him. We decided I'd apply for a year's leave without pay. I got it. But then the next year I wanted to return to university- the school wouldn't offer me another year's leave without pay.  So I resigned, perhaps stupidly, from an on-going position.

In between time I had TWO WEEKS SICK LEAVE to help look after my husband when he was first diagnosed, no other leave until I requested the year's leave without pay. That is all that was offered to me. My sister-in-law, the one I do get along with, had a whole TERM'S worth of PAID leave from her school so she could come and help me out.

The woman on Maternity leave has a husband, and presumably some sort of government assistance also for having a child. She gets three years Maternity leave, yes, I know it's unpaid, and  I know it's not the same thing but this time I'm really annoyed about it. I'm annoyed that the school didn't offer me more assistance. I have been lucky enough to have several postions with them since, but I'm still annoyed. I'm annoyed that someone who is pregnant can hang onto their jobs for three years. I'm annoyed that my only assistance was a year's leave without pay. I'm annoyed that a job that was offered to me, and accepted, has now been offered to someone else.

There was form I could fill in to apply for assistance when my husband was sick. A form that forced me to outline his sickness, what he was capable of, what he wasn't, how long he was likely to live. . . and if I managed to fill that out I would get $50 a week assistance. Great. That covered about 1/5 of his medicine costs each week. (Oh, that doesn't include the chemo every fortnight. That was just for the nausea and the pain medication that he needed each week.)

Needless to say it was far too distressing for me to fill in that form for at least a YEAR. Eventually, because my doctor pestered me I filled it in and received the $50 a week, for six months. Yeehaa.

I really shouldn't complain because we were fortunate enough to be able to afford all his medical needs, and have me stay home too, and I have had a lot of work at the school. However, sometimes I just get shitted off and need to vent, even if it isn't really unfair.

Now, for instance.