They are happening. Personal transitions. Marriage transitions. Family transitions. I’ve got so many on my mind lately that I think I’ll use the next few entries to process my thoughts about them all.
The transition of going from working primarily from home for the past 14-15 years (with all the blissful flexibility that came with it) to working somewhere else with a set schedule has been a real eye-opener. It’s been a change for my children as well as for me. It’s weird to not see them at all until the end of the day (if then). It’s weird for them when they call me and I don’t answer the phone or am not able to talk.
I need to again express out loud just how fortunate I have been to be able to raise my children, and work full-time from my home for as long as they have been in school. My working was almost invisible to them. I attended assemblies, games, activities, doctor and dentist appointments, graduations, and the like as seamlessly as anything. Forgotten assignments or lunches could be delivered. Household and family errands were done on my time throughout the day. Dinners were cooked at home and served.
Visiting teaching was easy to coordinate. Lunches and spur of the moment visits with friends could happen whenever they came up. Opportunities to make dinners or treats for sick neighbors or friends were easy to participate in.
I didn't have to accumulate sick time or have rigid vacation schedules. I remember working while in my bed, my laptop on a breakfast tray, the day after a same-day surgery procedure. If a chance for a road trip to San Diego or Idaho came up, I was all over it. There were trips I called my clients from a cell phone as I drove across Northern California; others when I worked in the morning while visiting my mom and used her computer and then took my children to the beach in the afternoon.
In short, I designed my work schedule around my life. Now… I feel like I have to design my life around my work schedule. Yuck! How do full-time working-outside-the-home mothers do it? Holy cow!
Don’t get me wrong. I’m grateful for my job. Grateful to have one in this economy. I'm just surprised at how many alterations to my life I have had to make in order to work full-time outside my home.
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The musings of a woman: wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend -- as she navigates her way through an emptying nest, a second marriage, a pending retirement, and well, dare we say it??? Middle age.
4 comments:
Your beautiful.
True, your children were blessed to have you around so much.
It is so hard to work fulltime. I often feel guilty. Then on the other hand ,we would of been in a mess this winter while my hubby was unemployed. Sometimes we really have to look hard for the Lords hand in our lives.
Luvs
Suz
Amen to all you said. It is hard to juggle everything when you are gone all day. When I worked most of the day I always felt that even Saturday was a work day because grocery shopping had to get done, house cleaning, laundry etc. It does make you appreciate a less busy work week for sure! love you!
I too am thankful that I can work form home while my daughter naps or plays. It is such a luxury! When I was working from home I learned that I had to accept help from others- even your kids now that they are old enough. Good luck with the transition! I love to read your blog!
This is one of the great debate I have all the time - whether to pursue a job with a set schedule or to find ways to have more flexibility. I hope it gets more normal to have this schedule. Thanks for your comment on the Sundance post. We will definitely have to make a trip someday. Mae has so much fun exploring up there. Take care!
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