Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Working Is Working!

Ahhhhh....working when ya got kids.

Pretty much!


As you may or may not know, I have recently jumped in, head first, back into the land of working outside of the home full-time.

I say "outside of the home" because as I well know, being a stay-at-home-mom (SAHM) is anything but a vacation. It is one of the hardest and thankless jobs there is.

Pretty much!


Frankly, I am not cut out to be a long-term, SAHM. I really wanted to want to be...but if I am to be authentic...just as I like to promote to others...I have to say that I am - in general - a happier mom when I have some time out of my house, doing something completely different than anything having to do with my family or my home.

Some people love being at home full-time...and God bless the stay-at-home parents who do!

I am the last person on earth to start a "Mommy War". I can not stand when fellow women choose to bash each other for the choices that they make for their own families. We ALL work hard.



End.

Of.

Story.

So yeah. I am back at the office.

And while I am only in my second week here - in a position that is so far removed from what I have ever done previously - I have to say that I am pretty sure that I made a good decision.

...unlike this little guy!


Now, what exactly I do...that is for another post.

What I will tell you now is that it is in an industry I have never been in so the learning curve at this point - the beginning - is pretty steep.

I will also tell you that in terms of position level in the grand, business hierarchy, I am significantly lower on the ladder than I have been in...well...basically since I started working in the mid-90s.

But that's OK.

I tried to find work in my sector (non-profit), at my level of experience (upper-management) - but it is rough out there peeps!

With the economic landscape being as it is, corporations are cutting back...and one of the areas where companies are first to tighten their purse strings is professional and trade association memberships (my experience is in association management).

Wonderful!

NOT!


And while I have been back and forth between staying at home with my boys as they made their arrivals, I always found it fairly painless to find a new job.

But times have changed.

And it ain't pretty.

So...I changed gears. And I decided it was time for a slight attitude adjustment.

Swallow your pride, check your ego at the door and broaden your horizens and scope girlfriend!

(And perhaps, stop talking to yourself on your blog!)

I knew I needed to get back to work - both for financial and personal reasons. My wallet and my emotional well-being depended on it. Being at home full-time - despite all the writing I was doing - was no longer working (no pun intended) for me.

I consider myself lucky that an interesting opportunity - and fairly close to my home at that - presented itself.

Sure, the pay is not what I have been accustomed to. In fact it is alomost exactly half. Yeah...HALF. As in 50%.

I don't have a lot of the things I have had for the past 10+ years of empolyment.

I don't have a nice office with a door. I don't have a company credit card or an expense account. I don't think I will be doing much travel, if any. I don't have the fancy job title on the business card, the stationary, la la la. I don't have a staff. I can't do my particular job from home if I am under the weather. I don't have a company laptop. I don't have my cell phone bill paid for.



Of course, I could go on...but I think you get my point.

I am in the trenches...on the front-lines...learning from a point of view where I think I will most likely learn the most.

I am not spending most of my time dealing with big-picture, management issues as I am used to...so I have the time to really get to understand the business and the company I am working for.

And this is a good thing...because at the moment, it's all Greek to me - as they say.

Exactly!


The level of responsibility is not as high either. I don't have to take my job home with me every night. I don't have people e-mailing me at all hours of the day and night...people who want answers, like, yesterday.

Now, don't get it twisted sister!

I'm so frickin' predictable I realize.


This position is not a job I plan on staying in forever. And I was very clear with my new boss about this. But I am not spending my evenings searching job sites in hopes of finding something else at this time either.

I am in a good place.

I am easing my way back into the workforce.

I am a busy mom with three boys at home. Two of them are very busy hockey players that require a lot of my time shuffling them here and there for games and practices and tournaments and dry-land training. And then the homework and la la la. One of them is a toddler. Enough said there!

I have only been at my new workplace for several days, but I can already tell you that it is very family-oriented, offers a certain level of flexibility that I require and the people I work with literally rolled out a massive welcome mat for me the day I arrived.



The group of women (females...yay!!!!) in my particular department are awesome. They are friendly, helpful and fun. There is a culture of teamwork, a healthy dose of silliness and extreme professionalism. It is a great balance and I really appreciate this having worked in environments where politics often overshadowed the work at hand.

So in a nutshell...working is working!

Sure, it is an on-going adjustment at this point - I am learning a lot and trying to retain a massive amount of new information while trying to balance all of the responsibilities I have to my home and family...but I feel I am off to a solid start.

I am even eating better and managing to exercise more. I am telling you...the less time I have, the more I get done! I guess being busy suits my personality best.

I just have to make sure that my stress levels stay in check.

But that is the beauty of being where I am now.

Rather than jumping back in at the management level, I think this stepping stone is a good place for me to get my feet wet again, polish some of my current skills while learning some new ones.

And I love me some new skills! And new experiences! And new friends!

It's a new life.

2013 is off to a great start.



And peeps...it's only January!

Well...my lunch break is almost over (usually I eat then take a brisk walk...but today it is so cold I am pretty sure my balls would fall off out there...and I don't even have balls!) so I am doing a little writing instead.

So peeps...back to work!

Smiles,

Lora

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