A friend of mine recently started a blog post with that same sentence and it certainly caught my interest. She went out to list her reasons for resigning, and summed it up by saying that while quitting work may not make sense to many people (with or without kids), it made sense to her. Knowing her and her husband, who is probably keeping his fingers crossed that she'll make more of her yummy cookies in her time home, I'm sure it's the right decision for them. I'm so happy for them.
And now it's my turn. It now makes sense to me and to our family. For the past two months or so, I've been attempting to work part-time, still doing social work consultation at Head Start centers, like I did before Brinn was born. The so-called life-work balance has yet to take form. Brinn refuses a bottle. Mali came down with Fifth disease. Regular night-time sleeping has not been occurring. Jonathan's job requires his 100 percent, as well as us as a supporting cast. Our baby-sitters are wonderful (I'm not just saying this because they read this blog), but I missed any time with the girls. And even though I was only scheduled to work PART-time, my job exists FULL-time and it was often on my mind. It is difficult and frustrating not to be able to do a job well. I NEED to do the job of parenting well.
Of course, this is bittersweet. I work for an amazing agency (how many non-profits can be described in that way?) and for the best supervisor in the world. They have been unbelievably gracious with this transition. I will miss them, and the work. While contemplating this, I read another friend's blog post about her resignation (by the way, I didn't ask anyone's permission to quote them, so I'm not identifying my sources). She explained "I'm glad to be sad about leaving. Because if I was glad to be leaving, then that would be sad. I've always felt very blessed to have my job...doing something meaningful, and getting to work with some pretty great people. Very blessed indeed"
We are all really excited to begin this new phase in our lives. I have lots of ideas of how to spend my time at home and with my girls. Maybe I'll finally make a few of the updates to this blog that I've been thinking about. I'm actually going to a puree-party next week to learn how to sneak veggies into recipes. (Does that sound like fun or what?) This is a really good move for us--just look how cute my new bosses are!
10 comments:
Yay! for you all! I've been waiting for this news. I am glad that you're able to make this transition AND that you're sad about leaving your job. I remember leaving a job and spending the first week crying. It demonstrates that you actually invested in your work, co-workers and experience. I think it is a good thing. :)
Congrats to you all and Kaethe, welcome to the "SAHM" work force.... "stay-at-home" mom's that is. Who ever came up with that name anyway? We're very excited for your promotion. Let me know how that puree party goes--- I could use some tips myself!
Congratulations Kaethe! How lucky you and Johnathan (and the girls) are to be fortunate enough to be able to stay home! I am jealous. Wishing you many fun-filled days with the girls!
Kristi
What, you think BCBS was dysfunctional or something?
Those bosses there are cuter than any boss you'll ever have. Even though I"m still a little involved with our business, especially since Meg's been born I've felt pretty out of the loop, and sometimes it makes me sad. But then I realize that my kids are only little ONCE, and jobs will always be there...
Good luck doing the hardest job in the world.
Um, Marian, we worked at Big Brothers Big Sisters, NOT Blue Cross Blue Shield. Glad it was so memorable for you. :)
Kate - I think now is definitely the time to take up scrapbooking. I think that Jon is totally behind this idea as well.... HA HA HA.
Happy for you guys.
OK, so I was off ONE letter, sue me.
A brave and noble transition indeed, Kaethe. Your girls are precious and I know that you will all be blessed by the experience. There are pros and cons to both the work vs. stay at home issues (btw, I firmly contend that even as a stay at home mom, you are still VERY much a working mom),but I am confident that this will be a great experience for you. Good luck with your "Deceptively Delicious" endeavors. Let me know how they turn out...sneaking veggies and fruit is not just for kids, you know. :)
Hi ya!
just wanted to welcome you to your first day of WORK! and FUN! challenging, mind numbing , rewarding,to the " what were you thinking????? " days that are ahead. some days are just insane. the good days an in the years to come , it will be worth every oounce of energy it took to do. (speaking from experience you know!) your in our prayers an thoughts. wish i could be there on the days when "you just got to get OUT". remeber we are just a phone call away. gotta get the kids to the bus! kiss those babies for me. xoxoxoxoxo
julie
Kaethe and Jonathan - A word about pureed veggies. I used to do that with Dell years ago in hopes of getting more veggies into his cuisine. It worked for a while. In fact, it was working so well that I became bolder and bolder but I finally overdid it. I was mixing pureed carrots in with my spaghetti sauce until one day it caused the sauce to look positively orange instead of red. Dell looked askance at it, pointed at it with a scornful,suspicious finger and blurted out, "What's that STUFF?" That was the end of the pureed veggies trick. Love those pictures of the little ones. Love, Great-grandma Dena.
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