I am currently on break from school. Three weeks to recover from the citric acid cycle and the organic structure of glucose, before we move on to English composition. I go back next Tuesday evening, to start a journey of writing a gazillion papers for three months. I'll let you know how that one goes...
I am also in the middle of an 8-day stretch of not working. I work two 12-hour night shifts a week, and with the kids being in school, I am trying to work mainly weekends. I adore working part-time, although I admit to harboring a tiny seed of jealousy toward stay-at-home moms, especially when Gabe is crying and begging me not to go to the hospital again. However, when I have a long stretch of days off, I can almost pretend that I am a stay-at-home mom, and I love the feeling. I make a meal plan and stick to it. I pack the kids' lunches (and sometimes Joe's, too). I am able to drive Isabel to band in the mornings before school, and be the head coach of her Girls on the Run program. I can volunteer at Gabe's school. I can go to the grocery on Monday morning, instead of fighting the weekend crowds. I can enjoy being home. That being said, I also love the feeling of having a paycheck and a job where I get a yearly evaluation that tells me how I'm doing. I could support my family if I had to, just by bumping up my hours every week. I get to dress up and have conversation with adults, and have the opportunity to help sick patients in need.
Honestly, I feel blessed to be able to work part-time, though some days I feel pulled in one direction (work more, earn more money) or another (stay home more, be with the kids while they're little).
Do you work part-time outside the home? Full-time? Do you have trouble finding a balance? Would you be a stay-at-home mom if you could, or always work? I am wondering...
10 comments:
I've always had some type of job.
I wish I could be a 100% stay at home mom.
Today I wish I had my dream job though. It's a struggle within each one of us I think.
Since we have no little ones - I'd be a "Full time HOUSE WIFE" in a heart beat :)
but there is something in getting out making your own money... if only I could make money by keeping my house spotless & dinners made :)
I feel so blessed to be able to work part time. It is just the right amount of both worlds.
After Dominic was born I went from working full-time to being a SAHM for about eight months. Hardest work I've ever done. Seriously. It's so much harder than coming into the office and doing my job. I stayed a PT person until this July, and it's weird being full-tmie again. Scheduling, especially with Dominic in kindergarten, has gotten horrible. I feel like I'm not accomplishing anything most days.
I like being a librarian, though I'd enjoy it more as a public librarian. I got a masters degree for a reason, and I like contributing to the project I'm on.
I think, for me, being a part-time librarian is best. I can balance things easier, enjoy my job, and feel more at ease with all the tasks, duties and responsibilities as a working mother.
I work full time. I hate it. Maybe if I had every found a profession I really LOVED then it would be different, but I'm not that attached to what I do. I would so much rather be Gert's room mom and the queen of the PTA and have dinner ready for everyone when they get home and be able to let Gert be in the fitness club at school because I would be able to pick her up at 4:15 and Essie wouldn't have to come home to an empty house and I could be in a Bible study and get stuff done. I KNOW that being a stay at home mom is hard... but I'd sure like to try.
Alas........ not to be.
sorry... that was a bit of a dark moment for me... one of those days :) I'm grateful I have a job and can provide for my girls.
Honestly, if I could find a job that would allow me to work part time and child care didn't cost every penny that I earned, then I would seriously consider going back to work. I love being home with my daughter, but I wouldn't mind some of that adult time. The grass is always greener, I guess.
If I could find a satisfying part-time job that involved no (or very little) "take home" work, I would be all over it. Part-time teaching does not pay all that well (more or less just covered my child care), and I had so much work to do at home that I felt stressed out all the time even though I did enjoy the actual teaching.
From my perspective, you have a career that you enjoy and are good at and can adjust to fit your family's needs, and I totally envy that.
I work full-time but with no little ones at home, it's pretty hard to convince Stevie that he needs a "stay at home wife". :D
Okay, I'm not exactly in your class, since my kids are grown and have homes of their own, but I've always worked full time and always hated it. I started working at the post office when my children were ages 2 and 3, respectively. 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. I cried so many times from sheer exhaustion because I refused to give up my time with my children, therefore I got practically no sleep at all. Even when they started school, I'd volunteer at the school on my one off-day, just so I could be near them, have lunch with them, hear them talk and laugh. I would have quit my job without hesitation, but I had no other choice...
It was the worst time of my life, but we somehow got through it, and the kids are model citizens now - both school teachers, married, nice homes, never been in any trouble, etc. I don't know how it happened, but I'm forever grateful it did.
And I STILL hate my job.
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