At the organization where I previously worked, I always knew there was dysfunction but I was able to work around it for the most part. That all changed in one fateful day. I was in the middle of an extended business trip (the first one I had made away from my second child, who was then a little over a year old). I had accomplished some pretty major stuff and was actually getting ready to tell my boss I was ready to return to full-time work (I had gone part time at his suggestion when I came back from maternity leave). I'd had some really good project development meetings that day and was feeling pretty good. Then I opened my email to find a fateful message that informed the entire organization that we were having another organizational restructuring. Fine, no big deal. That was about the fourth one we'd been through at that point. EXCEPT: the restructuring meant they had created a position that would have been perfect for me, but they had already hired someone for it. WITHOUT TELLING ME THEY WERE CREATING IT! And he had no sectoral experience whatsoever. Oh, and then when I opened the new organizational chart they had created, I wasn't even on it. Me/my position had literally been left out of the new arrangement.

It was pretty much all downhill from there. I tried to play nice, but there were all kinds of creative antics after that point, and I ended up completely demoralized and psychologically traumatized. I had really given my heart and soul to the organization, so it was incredibly painful. It SHOULD have been my dream job, and it turned into a nightmare.

Signs I should have been more attentive to:

Psycho boss who turned on me had done it to other people. That was his pattern. He would get very close to someone, and then turn around and destroy them. I was next in line.

When psycho boss suggested I go part time, that was actually the beginning of the end. I thought he was being nice, but what really happened was he got a nearly full-time effort from me for part-time pay.

Psycho boss had a habit of misremembering the content of key conversations. I eventually learned to document every single phone call with him with a follow up email summarizing main points and action items agreed on. I also saved every communication with him.

Anything that has happened to other people can happen to you. It doesn't matter if you are the golden child today. You may be set up and turn into the "deadbeat" tomorrow. People can be incredibly devious and destructive when their own interests are at stake.

Best lesson learned: YOU DON'T HAVE TO PUT UP WITH BEING MISTREATED!!!!! There are lots of jobs out there, and sometimes the ones that don't appear to be the best fit will actually be the best for you. I have thrived in my new organization, and have some real potential for growth here. Not that it doesn't have its dysfunction, as well. But I'm a little more tolerant of it and able to stay out of the cesspools, and do some pretty great stuff when I put my mind/energy to it.

Hope your job doesn't turn out to be a SSJ or HSSJ, but if it is looking like it might then the arrival of the baby may be a good time to reevaluate and see what your other options are.