| pookiebear
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| Ya... I understand. I'm not saying I would love every minute of it. But, it would definately be something I could do so that I could bring in extra money and get to stay home with my child. I would take that over putting my child in daycare just so that I could have an office job. I've wanted to be a mom for such a long time and I don't think I could go back to work within the first 5 years of having my baby! :lol: |
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Sun Sep 03, 2006 3:14 pm |
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| toese
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| Thats true Pookie. I could never leave my child in day care either. If I had to choose then I would do my own little daycare as well so yeah, you definitly do have a point!!! |
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Sun Sep 03, 2006 6:16 pm |
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| VAgirl0213
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I also picked "Interesting but lots of work". I don't do well when I am bored at work, and my actual quality of work tends to suffer when I have too much time to do it. I thrive on stress, a fast-paced work environment, challenges, and last minute "fire drills" that call for quick thinking and sometimes long hours. I just started a job like that a couple of months ago and I have never been happier in my career - its the perfect job for me, and although its stressful, I wouldn't trade it for anything.
However, yesterday I was off so I stayed home and watched like 8 hours of the Law and Order SVU marathon and there was a tiny little part of me that was like, "I could get used to this!!!!" :D |
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Tue Sep 05, 2006 5:21 pm |
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| Yosh
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This is an interesting poll . . . I've had a very challenging, interesting career for 14 years now that I loved. It kept me weekends, strange hours, OT during the week and I just put a lot of myself into it when I was younger. It was so much fun to continuously learn and make it up the ladder. As I grew with the job it actually became more flexible for me. I became more efficient and I garnered much more respect so that I could take personal time do errands when I needed to during the day or go home early one day if I needed to. Best of both worlds?
Last year I got in over my head where my new company wasn't set up to handle the demands asked of it so I took on much more than I should have, and burned myself out big time. After examining where I was with the career I felt like I was finished learning what I needed to for myself, and to go on would be the same old same old unless I wanted to go for director positions which did NOT attract me at all. I enjoy the real work! I quit after a medical leave.
I enjoyed staying home getting over the stress. I haven't enjoyed that much relaxation in so long!! I also am enjoying the time I get to dream now . . . Now I'm looking for something completely different. I'm imagining myself in so many different new careers, taking courses, etc. It's truly never too late to learn or do what you should have done!!!
After months of staying at home not working I started to go a little stir crazy with all this time off. I too love the possibility of being a stay at home mom. But for now we don't have kids ;) so I need somehting mentally challenging. I think I'll be "working" through retirement :)
So I chose interesting with a lot of work with a disclaimer: not TOO much work!!! |
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Tue Sep 05, 2006 6:56 pm |
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| skinnypeep
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Thank you all for your replies!!! I posted this question because I really am conflicted. I started off being a project manager in a cool artsy web design company. Long hours, lots of responsibility, fun projects. Then after a few years the bubble burst and the company went under. No problem, went to grad school.
I found that I really enjoyed what I was learning, which was HR type stuff. I was able to get a job in HR, but it is low level and dull dull dull. The greatest thing though is that I work from home.
Part of me wants to start networking and searching for a new job. I know what area I want to be in. But then I know I'd lose a lot of this freedom. My workouts would suffer. My eating would suffer. How do you guys do it??? And then will I turn around one day and say: work is work, this is just as bad so why did I give up working from home??? |
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Tue Sep 05, 2006 7:37 pm |
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| pookiebear
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Only you know what's right for you in your life... but I will say that work IS work. And I wouldn't want to take a job - knowing that the rest of the areas of my life would suffer.
I work a job to make money. I'm not completely fulfilled in that, but that's ok because I don't look to my job to make me "happy". If I took a job knowing that it would make a lot of money and be everything I was looking for in a job... but didn't have time to exercise, cook, have time for my family, etc. - then it wouldn't be the job for me.
There needs to be a good balance, ya know? Or else no matter how great the job seems... you'll eventually grow to resent it. Just my $0.02. ;) |
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Tue Sep 05, 2006 7:59 pm |
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| vickil
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I would PREFER an interesting job that left me feeling fulfilled. What I HAVE is a boring job that gives me flexibility. It's 5 minutes from home, so I can go home for lunch and do dishes, put something in the crockpot, etc. If my son is sick, I can easily take off. So I have traded the possibility of having a demanding, fulfilling career for a job that is convenient and more conducive to family. There are other ways to do stuff that will give you the sense of fulfillment you need. For me, it happens to be ebay. If I had time I would volunteer at church more. Maybe when my son goes off to college (just 8 more years!) I will start a whole new career. But for now, I'm going to take boring.
And Pookie . . . my son went to an in-home day care from the time he was 2 until he started school. There were a lot of days I wanted to stay there with him instead of going to work! It is NOT boring taking care of kids all day. It is probably the most fulfilling and fun thing you will ever do! The woman who took care of my son potty trained him pretty much single-handedly. She was the one who took the training wheels off of his bike! Her house was always immaculate, the kids were well behaved, they knew how to share, and they were ahead of others when starting school because she gave them real school work as soon as they could hold a pencil. In-home day care is THE WAY TO GO! |
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Tue Sep 05, 2006 8:29 pm |
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| pookiebear
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vickil wrote: And Pookie . . . my son went to an in-home day care from the time he was 2 until he started school. There were a lot of days I wanted to stay there with him instead of going to work! It is NOT boring taking care of kids all day. It is probably the most fulfilling and fun thing you will ever do! The woman who took care of my son potty trained him pretty much single-handedly. She was the one who took the training wheels off of his bike! Her house was always immaculate, the kids were well behaved, they knew how to share, and they were ahead of others when starting school because she gave them real school work as soon as they could hold a pencil. In-home day care is THE WAY TO GO!
Awww, thanks Vickil. :) These days, some people think you're CRAZY if you'd think to do something like that... :lol: I just think it would be something that I'd be really good at. I am the eldest of 3 and I practically helped raise my brother and sister. I helped out a lot with the children my mom babysat in our home. I worked in the nursery at church with the 0-2 year olds for a couple years. When I was a teenager, I taught a Wed. morning "Coffee Break" 2 & 3 year old class - about 15 children and it was only me and another girl! We not only kept the kids well behaved, but we taught them lessons, sang songs, played games, etc. I babysat all throughout my teenage years and my employers hired me to come to Florida with them on vacation to babysit their 2 boys down there! :shock: I have tons of experience and I believe I would be really good at it! I'm so excited to get to that chapter of my life...
Ok... sorry... continue on with your thread. :mrgreen: |
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Tue Sep 05, 2006 9:09 pm |
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| toese
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vickil wrote: The woman who took care of my son potty trained him pretty much single-handedly. She was the one who took the training wheels off of his bike! Her house was always immaculate, the kids were well behaved, they knew how to share, and they were ahead of others when starting school because she gave them real school work as soon as they could hold a pencil. In-home day care is THE WAY TO GO!
WOW! She sounds wonderful. SO rare to find someone great like that. Most of the time the kids are running around or just watching tv all day. |
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Wed Sep 06, 2006 1:21 am |
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| vickil
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| She IS wonderful! She only took kids once they were 18 months; no babies or infants. So her age group is 1 1/2 - 5. You would have loved her Christmas parties. All the kids got dressed up in their finest; little velvet dresses and patent leather shoes for the girls, and sweater vests and corduroys for the boys. All the parents would bring a dish to share and a toy to exchange. After we ate, she would have the kids put on a show for us. They would sing, count, etc. while all the video cameras rolled. And then Santa Claus would come with his motorized sleigh and take all the kids for a ride, then put each one on his lap to hear what they wanted for Christmas. Aww, now I'm getting choked up from all these beautiful memories. :) Anyway . . . she IS wonderful and so will Pookie be! You will have a waiting list, and people will call you when they find out they're pregnant. :wink: If you love kids and have a lot of patience, this can be very rewarding work. |
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Thu Sep 07, 2006 7:40 pm |
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| pookiebear
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Vickil, that's amazing!!! What a cool Christmas party!!! Thanks for the ideas!!! :D
I have the most patience out of anyone I know... and I know I have it for a reason. ;) Now watch... I'll get all the "hard" kids. ;) hehe |
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Thu Sep 07, 2006 8:13 pm |
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| MathChick
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As far as a career change, a lot depends on where you want to be. If you are young and you want a career before kids then go for the busy career. If you want kids before you go for the gold, then stick where you are. A lot of the people who are saying boring say so because they have kids in mind, which is essentially ANOTHER challenging job they are going for.
Part of the reason I work my job instead of going back to school or something else that is a money sink is because I know where I want to be, and I have a loose plan of how much to work now while I am young and DON'T have kids to set me up for later to give me more choices in life. I know I am able to do it now, I find it interesting, and not staying at home and having a ton of "me" time is a small price to pay for being set up for the future.
It isn't just about your current priorities, but your plans for the future. If you want to move into a more demanding job in a couple years, if you want to quit in two years to have kids, if you want to work as little as possible over the majority of your life, if you want to buy a house, or plan to get married...the answer of what you should do now is different for all of those goals. If you don't have a plan at all, and you are seriously conflicted, maybe you need to think about that before you make a decision. Or maybe you want to start networking so that you are setup when you DO want to move into a more challenging job, and then perhaps the best job in the world will fall into your lap when you aren't looking, but you are totall prepared. |
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Thu Sep 07, 2006 8:23 pm |
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| skinnypeep
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Mathchick- thanks- I definitely agree there are tradeoffs. I am still in the stage where I am setting myself up for the future. I did take the time to get a Masters and now I'm getting in the work experience. Your post made me look at the whole thing in a new light- it's sort of a work harder now for when I need the flexibility. Also more and more companies are seeing the benefits of a more flexible work schedule so I don't feel like I'm stuck in this job if I want to spend more time with the (eventual) kids.
And of course it never hurts to network and get out there!! Once I get back from vacation I'll start looking. |
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Fri Sep 08, 2006 4:00 pm |
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