I’ve been a stay-at-home mom (or SAHM) for 10 years. My oldest child turned 10 this year and it really hit me in a weird way. I initially decided to stay home because it kind of made sense at the time—I wasn’t really going to be bringing home a lot of money after paying out the costs of daycare, commuting costs (I was a pharmacy technician trainer at the time and using my own vehicle for travel), food costs, dry-cleaning costs, etc. My late husband was also someone who felt that his job came first and mine came second. He wouldn’t have been available to do daycare pick-ups, etc., so it seemed like a good idea at the time.
It wasn’t great.
We never had enough money and I felt kind of isolated. I made it work the best I could.
Then my late husband died. And I had two kids, not just one. Still I made it work.
In 2005, I met a wonderful new man and we were married in 2008. I was still home. It was what I knew. I made it work, even though I had days where I loved it and some where I hated it. My job credentials were out of date at this point, so I knew I was going to need to need to go back to school if I wanted to find a decent job. In 2008, with my husband’s encouragement, I decided that medical assisting was a decent option. After all, my previous job has been in health care, it was what I knew and I liked it….kind of. I took a few classes at a local community college and medical assisting seemed like a good option, but I wasn’t ready to formally apply to the program.
When I looked into applying to the program last fall, I missed a deadline to attend a meeting that was required prior to the application process. I had already attended one of these meetings in 2008 to get more information and needed to go again, but I forgot I needed to do it again. Because of this, I looked into another more condensed program at a local state college. It was going to kill this summer for me, but I was prepared to do it. It was going to start in April. When I went to register in March, the earliest they were going to accept registrations, I found out that the program wasn’t going to run. It was going to start in September. At this point, I felt defeated. I was mentally prepared and didn’t want to wait. <insert a pouty face here>
That’s when my bright idea to return to college for my bachelor’s degree was born. Ultimately, I wanted my bachelor’s degree. It annoys me that I never finished. I’m not a complete idiot–I should have a degree. My insecurities got the best of me and I felt inferior without it.
I want my degree in communications.
So began my quest to apply, gather transcripts, meet with admissions counselors, pay deposits, attend <gulp> transfer student orientation……
I’m ready. I’ve registered for four classes. I have some textbooks, some notebooks, a cute messenger bag to carry these items and my laptop, I have a parking permit.
There’s still some work on the home front to be done. We need to get some stuff organized so that I don’t completely lose my mind. I probably will anyway. But in the meantime, there’s meal-planning to be done and systems to set into place, just like there would be if I were returning to the workforce. After all, this is my job now. I might not be getting paid, but eventually this will all pay off for my family!
