Returning to the job I love the most

Walking on the beach -Maui, HI

I got my first job when I was 14 years old. I worked at a family owned restaurant similar to a Dairy Queen. We had just moved to a new town and working there for the summer allowed me to get to know some of the kids before starting high school.  I enjoyed the job and loved the people who owned the place. I have maintained contact with them to this day.

Since then I have held a number of jobs. I was a cashier at a grocery and convenience store, a cosmetologist, veterinarian assistant, switchboard operator, a human resources assistant and lastly my current position as a secretary at an elementary school. I can honestly say that I have enjoyed parts of all of them and know with out a doubt that I have learned a lot during my time at each one of them. But starting today like I do for a short time each summer, I am returning to the job I have held the longest and love the most, full time mom!

I did not go into motherhood aspiring to be a stay at home mom. Growing up, my mom owned her own business and worked very hard to provide for my sisters and I. Most of the women in my family worked outside of the home in some capacity or another and I had no reason to believe that I would do anything different.

I went back to work full time after our oldest son was born. My husband worked shifts on the fire department and was able to be with Kellan at least two days a week. The rest of his week was spent at a small in-home day care. He was always loved and well taken care of during the day, just not by me. I found myself a bit disappointed in motherhood, it was not what I thought it would be. The few hours a day that I was able to spend with my son was not enough. I missed him terribly and wanted to be with him more.

This was no secret to my husband and so we began discussing our options. Could our household afford to lose some or all of my income? Were we willing to sacrifice and cut back in order to make this happen. We decided that the answer was yes to both of those questions.

We compromised and I took a job working only two days a week. I was able to be home more, stay in the work force and still contribute some financially to the family. This worked out well until our second son was born. At that time it made more sense for me to stay home full time then to spend my entire paycheck on day care.

There has been a lot of conversation about which is better, stay at home moms or working moms. Unfortunately the debate has gotten ugly at times. My opinion is this. Every mom, every family, every child is different. Do what works for your family and what you personally feel makes you the best mom you can be. But if the only thing keeping you at your job is the thought that you can't afford to leave, I encourage you to do the math. You may be surprised. And for those of you who love your jobs and can't imagine not working outside of the home, own that. No guilt needed.  We all are fully equipped to be the parents God wants us to be for the children He's given us, let's support each other in the process.

I was a full time stay at home mom for seven years before going back to work at my current position. During that time I was blessed to have a husband that worked multiple jobs at the same time. He went to college to complete his bachelors degree and was promoted twice. He was a constant source of leadership, encouragement, love and support for our family. I will be honest, it was hard, by far the hardest job I have every had, but I would not trade that time for anything in this world.

Currently I think I have the best of both worlds. I enjoy my job. Although I am not in a classroom, I feel I can impact the students in our building in positive ways. I am able to come along side staff members in a supportive role to make their increasingly difficult job a little bit easier. My job provides our family some additional income and allows me a significant amount of time off.  I will spend the next 5 weeks, cooking meals, doing laundry, driving to practices, packing coolers and cars, watching a lot of baseball, and what ever else needs to be done. I look forward to all of it,  As I said before, this is the job I love the most!