flexi hours and we

i have to write this, since i practise it and have all along advocated it... switched jobs in a jiffy, just so that i could work on my terms, not in anything else, but time. i have always felt that i need to decide my work timings, i need to be in command, though i would leave the targets to my employers... so i have always given the logic: you give me the target and the timeframe; let me decide how i want to work around it. and i am, if necessary, available online 24x7 (sounds marketing cliche, i know, though i am not an expert marketeer in any case)
what she says is true and i agree wholeheartedly.
yes, it is a fact that at the end of a tiring day, we feel a little conned... but what else is the go between fixed hours (which may or may not suit us, mothers and homemakers, who take those roles equally seriously), stiff targets and managing our times (which in essence is linked to the timimgs of our children, our spouses, our cooks, et al)?
i have experimented a lot in this domain. i have held jobs, cushy ones, but which required my presence at office for 12 hours. while it suited me fine when we were DINKS (double income no kids) and we were that for a good five years after marriage, once R came along, i was no longer ready to do it... started my working from home, started my poring over proofs at midninght in between feeds and comforting a cranky child...
the result -- i quit with a golden handshake.

get into another job, specifying clearly that i would be available only between 10 am and 6 pm... the result, i was unable to attend most meetings which were deliberately fixed after 5 pm, to suit the decision-making men in the company (i happened to be the only lady supposed to be attending those meetings)...
the result -- i quit again, moving cities, with B's new job...

the next stint, very rewarding in terms of the things i learnt on the job, but killing since most work started flowing late in the evening, after a full day at work, since i left on time and the refrain was, "you will do it, we know.".
the result -- quit yet again, this time with B's transfer to a new city.

yet another stint starts... again i specify that i am available only on fixed hours of the day, while delivering all the work on time... but the men i work with refuse to understand that while working in a team, there have to be some priorities fixed according to the lady member as well.
the result -- quit to leave the country, with B again.

sit at home for a six months, determined never to look around for a job, but is that possible with me? nope...
find writing work, strictly specifying that i am available only in the mornings...
this arrangement continues, but R has grown up, she can manage herself to an extent, though bouts of being ignored, periods of attention deficit happens. and her quote of the week is, "you love the comp more than you love me."... so to deal with that, i am hugging her tight, but a part of my mind is on the Cover Story i am supposed to put in today...

to be honest, however, i am largely satisfied with flexi hours. yes, there are taxing times. yes, we do tend to work more. yes, i too feel over-worked and over-taxed (i am working all weekends, in the evenings, sometimes in the nights), but i call the shots when it comes to my time, my home, despite minor adjustments, carried on fine. that, however, is possible because of the fantastic team i am a part of. most of us are women who have children, some are expecting... but we are pulling it off... with perfect understanding, perfect poise and balance, much to the chagrin of many.