Working Mom Chronicles Part 1

First, the last four months have been amazing. I will never argue with anyone who says stay at home mom's have the hardest and most rewarding jobs in the world. A part of me knows I could be happy staying at home forever, while another part of me has missed utilizing my criminal justice background. I actually found myself analyzing crime patterns to the mom's in Isla's play group when one mom asked if the park was safe (this was one of many wake up calls that I wanted to use my degree). When I first started staying home I said I wasn't making any plans to go back to work. The right job could land my way in 2 weeks or 10 years, but I knew I would know it was the right job when I found it. Well a few weeks back I was selling baby stuff on craigslist when I clicked on the nonprofit job board and a position called Part Time Juvenile Assessor was listed. The job looked great. It was working for a non profit in the juvenile system working on assessing the juveniles that have been brought to the facility and later making recommendations to go forward with them to court. The facility is actually a school/detention center so for most people that know me this is where my passion is. I spent two years writing my master's degree thesis on the impact of educational variables on the criminal justice system, only to later graduate and end up in a job that I won't mention the name of only refer to it as 19 months of my life that I will never get back. Although my last job wasn't related to my degree I think I learned more about myself in those 19 months than I ever had in school. I always knew I was an ethical person, but I never truly understood how upset wasteful spending and unethical people were to me until I left that job. I met some great people at that job as well and even in a sea of corruption it was nice to know that truly good people still exist. Well long story short I interviewed about two weeks ago for the juvenile assessor position. I didn't tell anyone except my references about the interview because I didn't want to go into the interview with any thoughts about the position other than my own.

I knew that I needed to be very selective when I was looking for a new job. Leaving Isla part time is hard enough, but leaving her for a job that I don't even like is even worse. I tried to look at the positives and the negatives and still was at a loss if this was going to be the right fit for me. So I looked in a place that I wouldn't really think to look, but I was pretty sure it would give me the answers I needed. After what we will call the breakdown in Chicago I wrote a blog entry that I never posted on here (this was pre online blog and when I was writing the old fashion way) about what I was looking for in a job. Here was what I wrote (May 2009):

Over the last few years the hot topic has become self help, self purpose, and finding what we really want to do in life. Finding your purpose is an ever changing mission and what you may want at one point in your life will be something different the next, and although our dreams never truly change the perception of how obtainable they are shifts based on the complex aspects of life. This last week I have been at a conference in Chicago talking about sponsorship, big business, and how to market in these tough times. As others around me sat in the ten hour a day lecture conference they look attentive and they were taking intense notes. I caught myself thinking a few times this is such a waste of time, I feel I walked away with more than I ever could have imagined. I have realized that what I stand for is helping others, bettering society, and working for the greater good rather than the greeter greed. Sitting back listing to big business talk about sponsoring huge promotions at the sporting matching and launching national campaigns while they lay off hundreds of hard workers who now face loosing their homes as they watch their families fall apart, I realized now more than ever that finding a new job needs to be my priority. During the first day of the conference I felt like an outsider looking in. A year ago at the TRiO conference in Washington DC I felt like a part of history and that the people in the room were making a difference today. I was hoping for the same uplifting feeling and instead I felt like I had somehow turned to everything I don’t stand for. So after lunch I thought I just needed to take a short walk and clear my head for a few minutes, and I could come back and focus. A few minutes turned to three hours at the art institute, walking on the pier, dinner at the Hard Rock Café, and a walking over two hours trying to figure out where to go from here. I guess I started thinking about the age old saying what is the shortest point between two points? Almost everyone is thinking it is a straight line. Often times taking the most direct route shows us that we have reached our destination, but what truly makes us understand why we need to move from point A to point B is the journey it takes to get there. I am realizing that as I write this my story still remains particially unwritten and the only way to truly write our future is to create it by controlling our actions. I need to find a job that supports my values if I am ever going to be happy in a job.


So after reading this I guess I reminded myself of the type of job that I want to do on top of my most important job in the world being Isla's mom. So long story short today I just received a call offering me the job. I feel so blessed in a very tough economy to have landed a job that fits me so well both personally and professionally. I will be working part time in the mornings and will be home by 12:30 everyday to have the afternoons and weekends with Isla. I am excited to have this new adventure ahead of me and looking forward to updating me new career journey.

Thank you to my wonderful references you are all truly the best and thank you to all my friends and family that support this next step on my professional journey.