The BIG Experiment!! Day 1 by Kim

6:30-7:30 Hit snooze until 6:40 but fortunately Shorty is a better morning person than her mom - so smooth sailing for a Monday morning.

7:30-7:45 Slowed down and she remembered to tuck and roll!

7:45-9:00 Didn't make the workout as I was obsessing about the huge amount of crap that I had to do. Hubby gets all chatty while I'm typing but after a few grunted responses asks if I want to be left alone.

9:00-9:45 Still wearing the pj, yoga pant, hoodie combo that I pulled on when I got out of bed. Soooo pretty. But have whittled down my to-do list enough that I'm able to see the rest of my week being ok which feels like a decent trade off.

9:45-11:30 Have gotten SO much done! Only played words with friends twice and danced with the cat once...not too shabby!

11:30 Made some lunch and walked past all the dishes still in the sink where they were left by unnamed family members. Maybe they will put themselves into the dishwasher...

11:35 Chuckle at Diane's husbands' quest for $10 socks and marvel at her restraint. Thank Hubby for picking up prescription and feel slightly bad that I didn't wait to have lunch with him.

11:45 Back to work. Edited seminar materials, posted the resume blog entry, paid bills, and did some more research.

1:15 Decide that today I'm going to "volunteer" to shower and the "passion" that I'm going to focus on is making myself generally presentable. Feeling like a scrub, albeit an extremely productive scrub.

So my following of the schedule this morning wasn't too great, seeing as I didn't get the workout or the shower in - but tomorrow is another day! And I'm feeling pretty optimistic about this afternoon...

2:20 Got Shorty picked up and ran to Walgreens. Now she's putting her clothes away while I peck away on this and then it'll be time for homework. Fractions today - it's a little disconcerting when you're apprehensive about 2nd grade homework but she still believes I know everything. Do you remember fractions...I don't!

2:30 - 4:30 Shorty does homework and I putter around in the house, nothing especially constructive. Hubby loads the dishwasher and starts it. :)

5:30 Realize that I bought flounder instead of ANY other type of fish plus it's been a couple of days so it's a bit sketchy. Hubby cooks flounder and squash while I make a chimichurri sauce to disguise flounder. Comes out of oven - blech, not eating it!

6:30 Make spaghetti. Laugh about disgusting flounder as a family.

8:00 Shorty to bed and Hubby and I watch House.

9:30 BED!!!

10:30 To sleep.

The thing that made the most impact on me today is that if I block out the time to work and have the discipline to stick to that schedule, I get so much more accomplished and feel better about myself (and things in general) at the end of the day. I was disappointed that I didn't get a work out in but have to really work at making that a non-negotiable priority, hence I'm walking with a friend at 6:30AM tomorrow. I also will remember that I don't like sketchy flounder.

Are you there job?? It's me, Diane...

Gotta love that story!! Hurray for the interview... I haven't even gotten there yet. As with many SAHs we now have the option to go back to the same career or industry, or to engage in a new one. Regardless of which we choose, we all have to reinvent ourselves. Not only are we now moms, but we are older (gasp!), wiser women. We should be able to ask for, and receive, what it is that we want. So, that begs the question: What kind of career do I want??

My husband asked me to write down all of the things that I would be happy doing, regardless of whether they were actual careers. As I pondered this, I thought, "gee, I'd be happy doing anything, as long as it was in the right sort of environment!" I want to work for a company in a position that is flexible, one that is challenging and engaging, and one that puts me in contact with (relatively) intelligent adults. I want a career that doesn't require me going back to school or spending tons of money to re-educate myself. As much as I'd love to be a child psychologist, my heart just isn't into studying late every evening and spending my afternoons around skinny 20-somethings who have never even had a child, but want to analyze them. I admire those of you who have the drive to do this, its just not me.

So, where am I going to find this job?? And more importantly, how am I going to convince them to hire me? What do I bring to the table??

For one, I am resourceful (always have been) - meaning that if I don't know the answer or how to do something, I will figure it out (fairly quickly, I might add). That's why I can fix an air-cooled VW bug with a gum wrapper and some duct tape.

Secondly, if you are willing to be flexible with my schedule, I will actually work during the hours that you employ me! Instead of surfing the net, tweeting my friends or checking facebook statuses. And, I promise, no blogging on the clock either!

I will get twice as much done in half as much time: Moms need to be efficient. We are masters at multi-tasking. We need to get as much done as possible in a short amount of time!

How will I do this? I am educated, experienced, and confident. I am able to make decisions quickly and easily, and I'll have a spreadsheet to back up my reasoning. I am a leader that others will respect (just ask anyone who has worked for me or with me in the past). I am also, because of the flexibility, the most talented and experienced individual that you will get for a reasonable price! We are former directors, VPs, managers of multi-million dollar companies, who managed teams with multi-million dollar budgets. Don't think we haven't continued to be efficient just because we managed our smaller household budgets!

Now, how do I put that all in a resume???

You mean I'm not the only one?? by Kim

Diane and I were walking one morning a few weeks ago (a future post about my newly discovered need for Spanx will elaborate on the walking thing), and talking about our ambivalence about going back to work. We’re both ready to regain the professional self that we used to be, adding to the wife and mommy selves that we have been for the past several years.

After reassuring each other multiple times that this desire isn’t a reflection of any sort discontent with our family life or the choices that we have made, we started talking about our efforts to rejoin the workplace as we had left it and discovered…that we have NO idea how to go about it, where to start or really even what we want to do when we go back. Plus random things like:

Do I remember how to interview as the confident, successful professional woman that I was when I left? Because I suspect that these days I will be more like the awkward, sweating, bright red (I'm a blusher) mess that I was when I first graduated from college and was looking for my very first job.

Are the professional contacts I used to have even still around, it's been a while.

Am I willing to work the way that I used to? Probably not

What will my kids think? More importantly, are they going to develop psychological complexes and juvie records that add to the burgeoning case of maternal guilt that I'm already facing for even considering this move?

Will my husband rally and truly help or will I have to kill him?

Where did I pack my business clothes away?

Are shoulder pads still in style? (Just kidding, of course they are.)

What did I do with the old PC that my last known resume was on? I'm pretty sure that I gave it to Goodwill....WTH do I do now?

Sorry for this Diane, because I wouldn't wish it on anyone...but it felt great to know that I wasn’t the only one feeling the pressure of wanting something that I couldn’t entirely define and the frustration of not knowing how to attain it.

Our conversation ended that day with a shared commiseration that it was a shame we weren’t bakers or we could open our own cupcake shop and be done with it!