I am going to be working part-time at the YMCA as the Front Desk Coordinator! I am so excited because I have been looking for something part-time with flexible hours and this will allow me to do that. I'll work 24 hours a week and I can do some in the evenings or on the weekend when I won't need day care. I just can't beat being able to work around my schedule and to choose what days I want to have off and still be able to spend time and do special things with P when they come up, like going to mom group on Fridays, and not have to worry about not having enough time off built up for a sick day, let alone a vacation.
Granted, it's not a job that is using my degree and the pay reflects that, but I know that I will still have my social work degree years down the road when we're done having babies & they get into school, and the social work jobs will still be out there too. I remember I used to wonder why women who had college degrees were working jobs totallyunrelated to their field of study, and I thought "beneath" them (This was probably high school/college years). I was young and didn't realize how much having children changes your life. Now I know it's because they were mothers, and sometimes what works for your life as a mother is a little different than the aspirations you had coming out of college. That might be just working weekends at a retail store.
It's not really about the money, or the title, but about the lifestyle. And it's not about giving up dreams. Adapting them, yes. Putting them on hold, maybe. Yesterday someone talked about how at certain points in your life, being a mother consumes you, but then other phases of your life, you get to focus more on you as a person and your interests. That helped me not to get discouraged because there is a time for everything, and even though in some moments you might feel like you are doing a thankless job & that you're drowning in your children's lives, it doesn't last forever. And there still are ways to do things for yourself in the midst of it all.
This is not to say that working full-time and continuing to pursue your own goals is the lesser option, or that giving up your job to stay at home, or working part-time is for everyone. This post is just exploring the other side and how I have come to think of giving up (whether temporarily or otherwise) a career in the name of motherhood as not shameful. I think all of you already know, but it doesn't have anything to do with my opinion on moms who work full-time. It doesn't have to be mutually exclusive that you are either pro-working or pro-stay at home. I see no shame in either, but this is the side of it that I've had to come to terms with. Now, I could write a whole other post about the things I struggled with while working full-time and how I tried to accept myself in spite of those, and maybe I will some other time. It's always something, the grass is always greener, but you just have to try to forgive yourself, accept your situation, and know that you're doing the best you can and that's good enough!
Anyway, that's why I am excited to take this "demotion" so to speak, because when I get past my pride, and see the big picture and my overall goals, it will be perfect for our family. I am already there pretty much every day and really like that staff, and it's somewhere I think I'll be comfortable. I also think for me, being away from P a couple days will really help me to appreciate my time with her more. So, that is what I'll be up to starting this week, I am ready to be a working woman again! Oh, and so is my husband, hehe the one-income thing has gone on long enough for him so this will really help us out ;) Although, I am still sticking to my budget that I've been working really hard on so that we can actually start saving again, more on than later!
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