For the first time in over three and a half years, I am part of the working (and getting paid for it) world again. Not a full-time job, of course, but working just the same. And, surprisingly, it's been good.
Part of me has always missed working. Not the days of early mornings, late nights, weekends, stress and crazy deadlines, mind you. I don't miss the old 7 to 6, five days a week routine at all. A job in marketing and young children do not work well together, let me tell you. But I did miss that sense of accomplishment that came from doing a job well, of actually having a to-do list and marking things off. I missed being productive, whether that was writing or designing. I missed talking to people and coming up with solutions to problems, writing a proposal and winning the big contract. And, of course, we've missed the steady income and the benefits.
So I took a part-time job, evenings and weekends, at a local furniture store. It's a long way from the marketing executive I used to be, but it works for right now. The job is a little bit of office work, a little bit of customer service, and a little bit of retail. Mostly it's keeping things organized (which I do pretty well, if I do say so myself). The pay is maybe half of what I used to get in the corporate world, but the hours make it work. If I were working during the day, then I would have to have a good sitter at home (one who can transport three kids in carseats to and from preschool on a daily basis) and that higher salary would simply pay the sitter (trust me on this, it's why I stopped working in the first place when the twins came along). So I would essentially be working just to pay someone else to come take care of my kids, and that just doesn't make sense to me.
This way, it's kind of the best of both worlds. I earn a little extra cash for the family. And it's the kind of job you don't have to take home with you. You just work your hours, mark things off your to-do list, and then you're done. It also means that I get a much-needed break from being the full-time at-home parent, and Josh gets to spend more time with the kids instead of working overtime trying to keep up with everything. Win, win.
Of course, you'll have to ask Josh about that whole win,win thing. He does have to feed and put three cranky boys to bed after working all day several nights each week.Going back to work (and getting older), makes me question our whole system of education. To leave high school and jump immediately into college, without honestly knowing yourself well enough to know what you want out of life when you grow up, doesn't seem like the best idea in the world. I mean, I like marketing, don't get me wrong. And I'm good at it, which is one of the reasons I decided on communications as a major. But I don't think I ever stopped to think about how it would fit in with a family. Perhaps that's because I didn't expect to have such a large family so soon, but still. Who at 18 or 19 thinks about that? And most college programs are so structured that you have to begin as freshmen to actually graduate in four (or five, as most programs have become) years.
So, here I am, married with three kids at thirty-one years old. And I still wonder what I'm going to be when I grow up. Once the kids are in school during the day, do I want to go back to marketing? Or do I want to do something else altogether. Because it's not just about me anymore. Sure, I want to do something I enjoy (just like I did when I was 18). But I also want to do something that both helps pay the bills and also allows me to spend time with my kids while they grow up. Priorities shift. Needs change.
Good thing I have a few years before I have to grow up (ahem, before the kids are in school during the day), huh?