A meeting with my baby on board



Before an important meeting earlier this week, I had carefully arranged for my husband to meet me outside and look after our toddler while I completed my work. The plan was to meet discreetly at the venue, wheel the buggy over to him, and then morph myself into my business persona. It was my only option after a last-minute invitation to meet.

Why should I have had to go to such lengths to be a mum and career woman?

The absence of flexible and one-off childcare is excruciatingly painful for a work-from-home mum like me, who often needs to arrange last minute meetings. I'm lucky to be supported by a husband who believes in the importance of being married to someone who is engaged in her work. And since I work from home, I'm on hand 24/7 (literally, given that our toddler still refuses to sleep through the night) for our daughter.

On this occasion, the hand-over did not go smoothly, and my toddler - albeit fast asleep - attended the meeting with me. As I entered the room, pushing the buggy and sleeping tot in front of me, I had to steel myself against the horror of feeling as though I was being seen as unprofessional.

I worried that I would look like I was not taking the meeting seriously, that I was being flighty, or unfocused, and didn't understand the value and gravity of the business meeting. In short, I felt on my back foot, as though my credibility had been damaged.

Is it like this for fathers? What if my husband took our baby along to a meeting? Would he be viewed as unprofessional? Or would he be lauded for his commitment to his child?

Why am I even asking these questions?

In my personal experience speaking about organising childcare is precarious - brought up among other mums but not in public and not in front of men. It is like ovulation, where everyone knows it's challenging, but it's too "gross" or personal to talk about, so we leave it to the women to solve.

The question at the front of my mind is whether my own self-perception as unprofessional is itself corrosive, a kind of self-imposed censorship. I don't believe I am overstating the negativity around mothers who integrate children into their business life, whether in word or deed.

Whether or not I worried about being considered fluffy, the toddler came with me, and the meeting progressed smoothly. My actions themselves became part of the cycle towards dissipating negativity and moving towards acceptability. Baby or no baby in tow, I have every right to be in a meeting, and there's nothing wrong with being open about the fact that children exist.

Only if women are confident that they are not diminished by their children's presence or arrangements will men - and our social and business structures - come to accept that children are a reality of life, and that pretending they don't exist, or that they diminish our capabilities - men's and women's - in business is sheer nonsense.

With more women in the workplace, especially with directives such as the UAE's law that every board should have a female board member, the existence of arrangements necessary to care for children on the job will be one less secret that women need to hide to establish their credentials in the business world.

Shelina Zahra Janmohamed is the author of Love in a Headscarf and blogs at www.spirit21.co.uk

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Company%20profile
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The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting 

2. Prayer 

3. Hajj 

4. Shahada 

5. Zakat 

Liz%20Truss
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The specs

Engine: 1.5-litre turbo

Power: 181hp

Torque: 230Nm

Transmission: 6-speed automatic

Starting price: Dh79,000

On sale: Now

Company%20profile
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
RACE CARD

5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,200m
6pm: Arabian Triple Crown Round-1 (PA) Listed Dh230,000 1,600m
6.30pm: HH The President’s Cup (PA) Group 1 Dh2.5million 2,200m
7pm: HH The President’s Cup (TB) Listed Dh380,000 1,400m
7.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup (PA) Handicap Dh70,000 1,200m.

Company%20Profile
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Tree of Hell

Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla

Director: Raed Zeno

Rating: 4/5

Jigra
Director: Vasan Bala
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Rated: 3.5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
The specs

Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors

Power: 480kW

Torque: 850Nm

Transmission: Single-speed automatic

Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)

On sale: Now

RESULTS
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APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)

Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits

Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine

Storage: 128/256/512GB

Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4

Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps

Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID

Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight

In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter

Price: From Dh2,099

The specs

Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
On sale: Now

MATCH INFO

Who: UAE v USA
What: first T20 international
When: Friday, 2pm
Where: ICC Academy in Dubai

THE%20SWIMMERS
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ICC T20 Team of 2021

Jos Buttler, Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam, Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, David Miller, Tabraiz Shamsi, Josh Hazlewood, Wanindu Hasaranga, Mustafizur Rahman, Shaheen Afridi

DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin

Director: Shawn Levy

Rating: 3/5

In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
  • Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000 
  • Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000 
  • Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000 
  • Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000 
  • HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000 
  • Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000 
  • Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000 
  • Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000 
  • Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000 
  • Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000 
  • Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000 
  • Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
  • Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
  • Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
Confirmed%20bouts%20(more%20to%20be%20added)
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ASHES FIXTURES

1st Test: Brisbane, Nov 23-27 
2nd Test: Adelaide, Dec 2-6
3rd Test: Perth, Dec 14-18
4th Test: Melbourne, Dec 26-30
5th Test: Sydney, Jan 4-8