Posts Tagged ‘career’
What I Want to be When I Grow Up
July 27th, 2010 | 
Author: By Michaela, Contributor, Mama Michie’s Musings (@MamaMichie)
As a child I dreamt of being a ballerina when I grew up… later on I wanted to become a pediatrician. When it came time to go to college I studied German, with the intent on getting some sort of business degree… then I moved to Germany after my first semester.
While in Germany I went to school and got what the Germans call an Ausbildung… I became an Industriekauffrau (an industrial clerk)… had a desk job… it was okay, but it wasn’t great. I had to opportunity to manage my (then) boyfriend’s mother’s house wares boutique. That was fun and just when I thought I was starting to get somewhere and bring in more business, we broke up and I moved back to the states. I went to work at a retail store with the hope of working my way into management.
That never happened. We moved and I moved to another retail job… and then I took the job that brought me to tears on many days and nearly gave me an ulcer… I worked in a call center for a major credit card company (I’m sure most of you have one of their many, many cards in your wallet). I hated that job. HATED it… but it actually didn’t pay too bad, so I stuck with it longer than I thought I would.
When Noah was born though, I started my most demanding job yet… the job of being a mother… it doesn’t have a Monday through Friday work week and you’re on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The pay is crap and you don’t always get recognized for the work and effort you put into doing your job, but it’s the best job I’ve ever had.
I’m going back to school to finish my degree over here, since the schooling I got in Germany doesn’t amount to much over here. I still have to decide if I want to end up with and Early Childhood Education Teaching degree or a degree in Digital Media. There’s also a part of me that would like to start making soap and have that become my full time work from home job. *sigh*
I think it’s a little sad that I am 32 years old and still have no clue as to what I want my career to be when I “grow up”… I’m happy to say though that I’m already the one thing I have wanted to be more than anything else… I’m a mother and as far as I’m concerned that’s the best job I’ll ever have!
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See Ya Later, Alligator
By Kori @ See Kori Rant
When I was in first grade, I wanted to be an alligator; at the time, that seemed like a reasonable occupation, though why I picked that particular reptile, I don’t know. Something, perhaps, in the teeth, or the fact that an alligator basically lays around in the warm mud for days at a time, only venturing forth to gorge itself on some unsuspecting animal. Whatever the reason, I thought that was a pretty smooth life, and I wanted it for myself.
When I was in fourth grade, my ideas about life had changed, and my alcoholic tendencies must have been already in place; instead of an alligator, I wanted to be a wino. Keep in mind that we lived in a very small town and my exposure to real winos was nil-I was under the impression that a wino was simply someone who liked the taste of wine, which I did. I had a vision of myself sitting in some fancy bar drinking wine every night, with the requisite Little Black Dress and matching purse and that would be not a job, but who I was.
Needless to say, neither of those things ever came to pass. I did perhaps drink a bit too much for many years, but my drinking was never of the sophisticated variety, and I have certainly never owned (or wanted to, really) a little black dress. God knows there have been times when I desperately wanted to chew up a few people like an alligator might, but the idea now of laying around in the mud the rest of the time isn’t quite as appealing. Instead, through a variety of circumstances that are too great and varied to go into here, I got sober and then got divorced and decided I needed to find a “real job, one that would provide for me and my children and not leave me dependant on someone ever again.
To that end, I constructed my first ever resume and began hitting the streets, where after countless interviews and rejections and more interviews, I finally landed a job at an insurance agency. I was actually only hired because the woman who was hired first did not show up for her first day of work, and I happened to make a follow up call just shortly after they discovered that she was not, in fact, simply running late. I was hired as a receptionist working Monday-Friday from 9:00-5:00, my first ever office job with normal, regular hours. As time went on, I learned the industry and my employer gave me more and more responsibilities, until one day he offered me the education to become a licensed agent in the state of Idaho. It worked out perfectly, as the woman whose job I would be taking was making noises about retiring. He ordered my materials and told me what I needed to do, and I did it; I took the state exams a month after my youngest child was born.
After six years here, I know that this job was the best thing to have happened to me in a long time. My employer took a chance on hiring me, a then-single mother of three with virtually no experience and very little post-high school education, and I was able to discover that not only do I enjoy my job, I am also very good at it. It has taken me a long time to get to the point where I can look back with pride and say, “I did this,” but now I realize how hard I worked to get where I am, and I am proud. I also know that I am one of the lucky ones in that I actually like going to work most of the time, and I work for a person who is cognizant of the fact that even now that I am no longer a single mother, my kids come first. He may gritch and moan on occasion, but there are only a few instances where it has caused problems.
I may not have my dream job, which is to be a writer, but I do have a career that not only pays the bills but is also fulfilling on a personal level. I know that if I decide to move away from this small area once my children are grown, the possibilities are endless, and that gives me a sense of security in my own future. So I didn’t end up being an alligator or a wino, but I don’t think I did too badly after all.
Misconceptions
By Samantha
My Mom once told me that if Stay-at-Home Mom’s got paid in cash money
for everything that they did in a day, they would make more money than
a lot of people in America do. I remember pondering this statement,
and then being surprised at how undoubtedly true it is!
Photo Courtesy: TheStayAtHomeMother.com
On a typical day, I clean the bathrooms, vacuum the floors, do
everyone’s laundry, make up beds, straighten up bedrooms, de-clutter
the living room, and clean off the dining room table. I make
breakfast, lunch and dinner. I run errands, and I shop for groceries.
I wash windows, and take out trash. I do countless numbers of jobs
that most people get a paycheck for, and I do them completely free!
Did you know that if Stay-At-Home Mom’s got a paycheck for the jobs
they do, they would be paid 134,000 dollars a year!
Holy new car Batman!
I couldn’t imagine myself as a “working Mom”; at least, not right now.
My house would be a disaster, and my entire family would be fat off of
Chinese take-out for dinner every night. I have total respect for the
Working Moms who work a 9 to 5 job, and then come home only to work
some more. I know that a mother’s job is never, ever done; no matter
what time of the day it is. At the same time, I feel as though us
Stay-At-Home Mom’s don’t get enough credit either.
Sometimes I feel like there’s this unrealistic idea that Stay-At-Home
Mom’s lounge around in their P.J’s all day, drinking coffee, and
catching up on their soap’s. So not true. At least, not for me. From
the time I wake in the morning, to the time I lay my head on the pillow
at night, I am constantly going. Whether it be cleaning house, running
errands, or completing some other random job, I never have dull moment.
I won’t lie though, there are days when I do just throw up hands and
declare a lazy day, but that’s generally only when it’s rainy
out (I live in the South, that’s not very often). Even then I find
myself chasing my two year old around and picking up the random objects
she’s pulled from places I didn’t even know existed.
My job never really stops.
That’s when I envy the Husband’s of Stay-At-Home Moms.
But that’s another story, for another day…
Samantha is a stay at home mom of one crazy little girl. She writes out her antics almost daily on her personal blog, Apple Juice and Milk,in an attempt to help others feel better about their lives… when compared to hers.
I Am Woman
By Mama M
Photo Courtesy: ChicagoParent.com
I decided to become a nurse after the birth of my son…the nurses I had, made my experience so incredibly positive, that they impacted my life forever.
What is your favorite part about your job?
Mama M. is a thirtysomething mother of 5, wife to Mr. Wonderful, and part-time labor and delivery nurse. While her family is her passion, she’s quite certain her “moonlighting” gig as an L&D nurse has got to be the best career there is! You can find her over at her blog, My Little Life.
I’m Brilliant (Even If No One Else Agrees)
By Megan
Part of my job is the creation and distribution of local marketing. Sometimes this is a lot of fun. I’ve meet some great people, gotten to hang out at radio stations, spending time on air both for work and for charity. I’ve made strong connections with folks at the newspaper. I’m networked up to my eyeballs. I get to be artistic, and creative, and…
Frustrated.
Photo Courtesy: Redbook
See, in my mind, I’m brilliant. I can envision this glorious piece, be it a radio ad or printwork. It’s beautiful. Michelangelo would be jealous.
Then, there is the real world. The one where I am limited both by time and my own skills. And dang it if that doesn’t just frustrate the heck outta me!
It’s my own fault. I’m picky. I want things to be just so. I want them to look this way, and sound like this, and project this image. I sometimes forget that the marketing isn’t really about what I want. It’s about what the client needs to see. What they want. What will catch their eye (or ear) and convince them that MY place of business can best meet their needs. I need print ads to not be to wordy, or to overwhelmed by images. I need radio to have background sounds that complement both my voice and the idea I’m attempting to portray. Oh – and I have to make sure the volume levels for both work well together.
I was thinking about this as I was working on an ad campaign this week, and realized that, as moms, as women, as PEOPLE, we experience this same frustration day in and day out. We always want “just a little better” – we want to look better, feel better, dress better, do more with our kids, spend “better” time with our spouse. Better.
I think I want my life to feel more like my ads. I want my days to be less about what I’m saying, and more about listening to those around me and what they need. I want there to be less clutter. I want the sounds in the background to balance with my own voice, for the tones to be harmonious and the right message to be sent.
That means there will be edits. Lots and lots of edits. Sometimes, five, or six, or 17 takes. And I don’t edit well. Blogging, for example. I shoot from the hip. When I write, I write it, then I post it. I don’t go back and do much more than a spell check. I like that about how I write.
Perhaps THAT will be my Michelangelo. Because there, I can be creative just for me. No edits required.
What are your on-the-job frustrations? SAHM, we want to hear from you too– being a mom IS work!
