My other full-time job

You read correctly. My title implies that I have 2 full-time jobs. As a matter of fact, I'd say my jobs (sometimes intermittently) carry through the majority of my 24-hour days, 7 days a week.

My first full-time job is my joy. I am a wife, a mother, a homemaker. I adore my "title" and consider it a blessing to be able to be all three of these things at once. We have a happy home, filled with love and laughter, and it is an honor to be a piece of such a perfect puzzle.

My other full-time job is what pays the bills. I started working as a professional childcare provider (okay, okay - some might call this a "nanny"), about 5 weeks ago. I work 40 hours a week (8-4), at a home in South Pasadena, for a family with a 4 month old baby boy. The situation is actually more than ideal, as I am able to bring Maddie to work with me everyday. This gives Brant the ability to focus on his studies each day, without the interruptions of a 1 year-old begging for his attention. It also allows us to continue raising Maddie under our care, and not have to pay for someone else to watch her while I am away at some job elsewhere. The family takes excellent care of us, providing so many wonderful toys, baby supplies, space for play, etc. The job also provides me with paid vacation, holidays and sick time. What a deal, huh? It is an absolute phenomenal scenario for our life right now.

However...(you knew this was coming, didn't you?), a job like this can also take its toll. I mean, doesn't every job? I have had people tell me, "You're kidding me! You get paid to hang out with Maddie all day long? Its just like what you do at home, that's awesome!" Yes, it is awesome, but it is nothing like doing "what I do at home" all day. As a stay-at-home mom, I can take care of household chores, Maddie has free range over our house and I don't have to worry about her as much, I can do little hobbies (like scrapbooking or blogging), I can bake, or I can even lay down and close my eyes for a bit.

I think the hardest part for me right now is dealing with two, very young children at the same time. Their baby is a fairly mild-mannered little boy, which is great, but he can also be a baby: i.e. he will go from 0-60 in no time flat; he does cry; he can be irritated by various things; he is teething; he gets frustrated for no obvious reason, etc. Add that to a toddler with her own personality, and it can be quite the day! Maybe I'm complaining too much. I think I'm still adjusting to this new lifestyle.

I find myself in awe over the amazing job I have, and 30 seconds later, I can be thinking, "I wonder how long I will actually be here..day, after day, after day...will I really last indefinitely?" I cannot go back to teaching at this point in our life, and that is okay with me; I'll get there again. But I can become inwardly frustrated that I have this degree and I'm not using it right now. I'm a licensed special education teacher, and what do I do currently? I nanny. Hmm. Doesn't quite have the same prideful ring to it as my career job does. I admit it: I am prideful. I think it is okay to be proud of the degree I worked hard for. And I think my current job situation is an excellent opportunity for me to work on humility. It is an extremely low to zero stress job. I don't bring work home with me (well, with the exception of Maddie Mae! :) ), I don't have paperwork, deadlines, meetings. I just report at 8 and go home at 4, end of story. I think another big difference for me is the concept of starting and finishing a job. As a teacher, I started at the beginning of the school year and I had a goal; a finish line to cross in June. With this job, I signed on, and now I'm just going. Like any job, yes, but this isn't my career, so it is difficult for me to relax into the position without knowing what my end point is, you know?

Sigh. So I guess the lesson learned from writing this post today is to work on patience and humility. I think I just signed up for a third full-time job!