Jen switching jobs to work with children
Like I have mentioned earlier, I have always wanted to be a mommy. Because of that, my focus was not on obtaining a degree from a university in a certain career path. If I had chosen a career, I would have chosen an elementary school teacher. Actually, I was starting to go back to college when Dennis and I were first dating. He mentioned to me "If we get married and I put you through school, which takes 4 years, and we have kids in 4 years, then why did I spend the money to put you through school?" Another lesson learned - never delay schooling, a career, your dreams for "what if's."
During most of our dating and early married life, I worked as a Purchasing Assistant, Bid & Contract Assistant, Receptionist and HR Assistant. I had a job at a very good company and I enjoyed working there. The pay was good, the commute was short ... however there were budget cuts and I was laid off. I took 9 months off work and thought that in that time, since I didn't have a lot of work stress that I may become pregnant. And, because I was collecting unemployment, I was searching for jobs weekly. I applied to a job as a HR Assistant and Receptionist and got the job! It was a really good job and I thoroughly enjoyed my bosses. Well, 4 months after I started working there, the company was acquired by another company and things just started changing and not for the better. In the 2 years I worked there, over 30 people left! I finally decided it was time for me to make a change. Also, Dennis had been encouraging me to get a job working with children, since he thought that might ease the pain of us not having kids.
So, I started applying to nanny jobs and received responses from 2 families. One didn't work out. The other one, I left our church convention to have an interview with her on a Saturday. Then, Wednesday I came by to meet the dad and kids (ages 5, 3 & 8 months). I'm pretty sure I will always remember when it was time for me to leave the girl asked "But, where are you going?" The mom replied that I had to get home to have dinner with my family. The little girl asked "But, will I see you again?" I told her that I would love it if I could see her again. Also, apparently after I left, the boy (age 5) told his parents that they should hire me. I found out the next evening that they did want to hire me! I was sooooo excited! I gave a 1 week notice at my office job and then had a week off between jobs.
My week off was incredible! Dennis also took time off and we took a road trip to Lake Tahoe and also to Napa, CA to visit my dad who was working there. It was a very nice mini vacation.
My first day as a nanny - the mom asked me to push the baby in the stroller to see if he would nap as he wasn't napping in his crib. He was in the stranger danger phase and only slept for about 15 minutes. As I was pushing the stroller on a very nice sunshiney day in September I just kept saying to myself "I cannot believe that I am getting paid to take a walk!"
I was with that family for 2 years until they decided that they didn't want to pay for a full time nanny for only one child. I was really really sad to lose this job as the kids and I had become really attached to each other. (The good news is that I am back with the family again a couple of days a week since they had another baby!
After my nanny job ended, I filled in for a preschool/daycare. It started out to be the best job! My boss was amazing and we had these really in depth conversations. Pretty soon, it changed and she turned not so nice, cutting my hours, telling me that she needed people who loved the children (my love for children SHOULD never be questioned), etc. I also was not looking forward to our baby crying since I was around crying children all day long. Without going into tons of details, I was ready to walk out on more than one occasion and ended up getting terminated from her - over the phone. That came as a shock because I was planning on working there until we adopted our baby. It was extremely hard to go from being around 16 kids, many of them crying babies all day to silence at our home. I fell into a sort of depression and while I was not happy working there, I think it was the way I was let go. And the fear of not being able to save money for our adoption.
Well, let me tell you some lessons that I've learned. I have learned that I will never again let myself stay in a position that I am not treated well, I will never stay with someone who yells at me for ridiculous things like talking baout my schedule with a co-worker. I won't let my boss belittle me or talk to me like I am 3 years old. I just wont allow myself to stay in a job where I am not appreciated for who I am and what I do.
So, as to not end on a negative note - I am now working for 2 families as a nanny and loving it. I am being paid well, appreciated and just overall loving life. I have mornings free and work in the afternoons. It is wonderful to be able to spend more time at home, getting our home organized, meals planned, get on a schedule of when things do and should get done - as I am hoping this will still be the case when baby comes home.
Switching jobs from working inside an office, day dreaming about being outside to working with children and being outside really did something for my being. Life is short, do what you love!
Next up: Briefly our trip to Kauai, Iceland and then Our wonderful trip to Belize to celebrate 10 years married
Then next up: Our decision to adopt
During most of our dating and early married life, I worked as a Purchasing Assistant, Bid & Contract Assistant, Receptionist and HR Assistant. I had a job at a very good company and I enjoyed working there. The pay was good, the commute was short ... however there were budget cuts and I was laid off. I took 9 months off work and thought that in that time, since I didn't have a lot of work stress that I may become pregnant. And, because I was collecting unemployment, I was searching for jobs weekly. I applied to a job as a HR Assistant and Receptionist and got the job! It was a really good job and I thoroughly enjoyed my bosses. Well, 4 months after I started working there, the company was acquired by another company and things just started changing and not for the better. In the 2 years I worked there, over 30 people left! I finally decided it was time for me to make a change. Also, Dennis had been encouraging me to get a job working with children, since he thought that might ease the pain of us not having kids.
So, I started applying to nanny jobs and received responses from 2 families. One didn't work out. The other one, I left our church convention to have an interview with her on a Saturday. Then, Wednesday I came by to meet the dad and kids (ages 5, 3 & 8 months). I'm pretty sure I will always remember when it was time for me to leave the girl asked "But, where are you going?" The mom replied that I had to get home to have dinner with my family. The little girl asked "But, will I see you again?" I told her that I would love it if I could see her again. Also, apparently after I left, the boy (age 5) told his parents that they should hire me. I found out the next evening that they did want to hire me! I was sooooo excited! I gave a 1 week notice at my office job and then had a week off between jobs.
My week off was incredible! Dennis also took time off and we took a road trip to Lake Tahoe and also to Napa, CA to visit my dad who was working there. It was a very nice mini vacation.
My first day as a nanny - the mom asked me to push the baby in the stroller to see if he would nap as he wasn't napping in his crib. He was in the stranger danger phase and only slept for about 15 minutes. As I was pushing the stroller on a very nice sunshiney day in September I just kept saying to myself "I cannot believe that I am getting paid to take a walk!"
I was with that family for 2 years until they decided that they didn't want to pay for a full time nanny for only one child. I was really really sad to lose this job as the kids and I had become really attached to each other. (The good news is that I am back with the family again a couple of days a week since they had another baby!
After my nanny job ended, I filled in for a preschool/daycare. It started out to be the best job! My boss was amazing and we had these really in depth conversations. Pretty soon, it changed and she turned not so nice, cutting my hours, telling me that she needed people who loved the children (my love for children SHOULD never be questioned), etc. I also was not looking forward to our baby crying since I was around crying children all day long. Without going into tons of details, I was ready to walk out on more than one occasion and ended up getting terminated from her - over the phone. That came as a shock because I was planning on working there until we adopted our baby. It was extremely hard to go from being around 16 kids, many of them crying babies all day to silence at our home. I fell into a sort of depression and while I was not happy working there, I think it was the way I was let go. And the fear of not being able to save money for our adoption.
Well, let me tell you some lessons that I've learned. I have learned that I will never again let myself stay in a position that I am not treated well, I will never stay with someone who yells at me for ridiculous things like talking baout my schedule with a co-worker. I won't let my boss belittle me or talk to me like I am 3 years old. I just wont allow myself to stay in a job where I am not appreciated for who I am and what I do.
So, as to not end on a negative note - I am now working for 2 families as a nanny and loving it. I am being paid well, appreciated and just overall loving life. I have mornings free and work in the afternoons. It is wonderful to be able to spend more time at home, getting our home organized, meals planned, get on a schedule of when things do and should get done - as I am hoping this will still be the case when baby comes home.
Switching jobs from working inside an office, day dreaming about being outside to working with children and being outside really did something for my being. Life is short, do what you love!
Next up: Briefly our trip to Kauai, Iceland and then Our wonderful trip to Belize to celebrate 10 years married
Then next up: Our decision to adopt
Comments
Post a Comment