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What Am I Going to Be When I Grow Up?
For the past three years, I have worked part-time in real estate. I've owned and managed several rental properties. I am the Jill of all trades in this business enterprise from advertising to evictions from painting to plumbing. Although I have learned a myriad of new skills the time has come to exit stage left. Our rental properties are sold. That means it is once again time for me to figure out what I am going to be when I grow up. First and foremost, I am a mom. And every Mother's Day card ever printed will tell you no job is more important. But, if you read the fine print you will find that the pay really stinks.
Luckily, my husband’s salary pays the bills. Technically, I don't have to work. But the truth is I want to work. I was babysitting full-time at 13 and have been pretty much been employed ever since. Although I know that I want to work, the problem is I have a few requirements. I want a job that pays a top salary, provides a wonderful work environment, is mentally challenging, has low stress level AND requires less than 20 hours a week.
You can stop laughing now. I know this job isn’t exactly easy to find and won’t be showing up in the want ads. I will have to figure out my next career path myself. I have thought about teaching, starting a new business, personal training, organizing consignment sales, staying in real estate and even writing as a freelancer to name a few. I have exhausted my husband’s patience for listening to my ideas. I am now branching out to my neighbors and driving them crazy too.
All the while, I am still knee deep in real estate and over my head in being a mom. So for now, I am still figuring it out and open to any ideas or suggestions that you may have.
Gigi appears every Friday on TriangleMom2Mom. Read more about Gigi at her blog Stroller Lane.
Gigi Harrell
Gigi is a TriangleMom2Mom featured blogger, appearing every Friday.
She's a mom of two daughters, ages 4 and 1½. Gigi’s path to a career in writing took the scenic route. She graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in Industrial Engineering and a husband-to-be. After a few years of work and lots of play in California, they returned to their roots in the South. They landed in North Carolina where she graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill with an MBA. She worked in marketing for a large multinational company, but career priorities changed with the arrival of her girls. She stepped off the corporate track to start her own business. She now works full-time as a mom and part-time running her business and writing freelance. Gigi lives in Cary with her husband and two daughters balancing the havoc and harmony of everyday life.
Comments
I think you should take up scrapbooking...and then I can pay you to organize my photos from the past 10 or so years!
Geuss what, I am a lot older than you are and now "retired" from life's work. I too am trying to decide what to do when I grow up. Grandparenting is great but I want more.