Parenting and Career Choices

Sometimes Ryan asks me what I want. I don't mean if I want chocolate (yes) or vanilla (also yes). I mean more in the realm of destiny and the deepest desires of my heart. Like how does having a family play out in my imagination? Would I want to work if we had kids?

My imagination is a tricky world to be in. Like most self-respecting women out there, what I want changes. Am I a corporate-ladder-climbing go-getter? No, and God help me if I ever am. I've worked in an office for 8+ years, and while my current job as a production artist for a small publishing company is pretty nice, I've come to the conclusion that office life is not for me. It's too stifling and too conducive to focusing on irrelevant matters. Just yesterday I asked my coworker if she'd seen my stapler! Plus, I'm not as good at it as I appear to be. Most people I work with think I'm super organized and all "perfect" and have no idea that the only reason I'm organized is part luck and part personality-compensation: without it, I'd be lost because I'm so mentally disorganized.

That hardly means I'll never work in an office again after having kids. It's just so hard to avoid. Even if I do become a SAHM*, I imagine that I'd re-enter the working world after the [mystery] children are off to first grade or so. It would be nice, though, to do something a little less conventional. Like work from home or become a Professional Free Spirit. I've heard that's a great gig.

My Dreams:

be awesome.
befriend someone who works at the zoo.
be some sort of creative genius, and get paid for it. possibly.
be a nurturing, loving mom (who can also set good boundaries and limits).

How That Plays Out:

Not sure. But it probably involves hanging out at the zoo a lot.

Could I be a SAHM? A part-time work/part-time SAHM? A working mom? Oh wow, the options are dizzying, just like the chocolate/vanilla swirl ice cream I'd like to be eating right now. Mmm. What was I saying?

*Stay at Home Mom