What do/did you do for a living...

[Mickey]

...and what would your "dream job" be?

I was a SAHM and I work part-time now as office manager and corporate secretary for our company. I love what I do and I love the flexibility (being able to take off or leave early if ds needs me). Before ds, I did office work as well as doing hair off an on over the years.

I always thought I'd like to be a psychologist and while I think it would be great to help people with problems, I think I would probably get too involved and take my work home with me and feel awful if I couldn't help.

I also find emergency medicine fascinating (Trauma: Life in the ER was my favorite show when we had cable!), but the thoughts of accidentally contaminating myself with a deadly virus like HIV scares the heck out of me.

So...come on! Share! What do/did you do for a living and what would you love to do or what job do you find fascinating?

[darlene]

Hi Mickey. Before kids (I think I remember way back then! LOL)I did office work too. I was a A/R billing clerk, then a paraoptometric for a few years. Since kids, mostly a SAHM....once ds was 4, I became a substitute Teacher Assistant in our schools. I was a library clerk for a term, and am hoping to step back into that job this spring (the clerk is headed off for another mat leave).
Not sure about a dream job......would depend on my income level......I would love to be a "baby rocker" - you know, someone who can spend hours in the NICU cuddling babies who's parents can't always be with them.
And honestly, I would love to be a full time SAHM....being able to do things for the kids when I want to and not around a "schedule" would be ideal.
:)

[KarlaB]

What a fun thread!! :) Let's see. I am a ft SAHM. When I first got married I worked in a youth group home for kids with troubled familes/lives. Then, we moved and I commuted for a while, but quit doing that after I hit a deer. Ugh! Then, I totally left my field and managed a Mail Boxes Etc for three years until our first ds arrived. I would love to get a nursing degree and work in the OB unit at a hospital or as a lactation consultant. I also love Darlene's idea of being a "baby rocker". Otherwise something in oncology - somehow helping cancer patients and their families. Actually, I would just love to help others in need, but I also think it would be very hard for me emotionally to just walk away at the end of the day and "leave" the stress and sadness behind me. I think I would get too involved....

[AnnW]

Let's see, before kids I was a banker in corporate marketing/lending. I enjoyed that, and it was what my degree was in. My avocation is dance...I studied for many years, but had to admit to myself that I wasn't good enough to make a living at it on Broadway my freshman year in college..I often wondered what would have happend if I had chosen that path. On the other hand, I debated going to law school after college, but was so tired of studying that I didn't...I think I would have made a great attorney.

[Mickey]

Now that would be awesome, Darlene--a baby rocker! I would love that and boy would it make me broody! LOL! ;)
Hope you get the library job again!

I think working on the oncology ward would be a wonderful thing to do for people, Karla! I really admire people who work in that field, but it would definitely be too emotionally draining for me. I'm sure you'd have to learn how to detach yourself.

You would make a killer attorney, Queenie!

[Sheryl]

I graduated with my Elementary Ed Degree finding myself working as a substitute teacher and teachers aide. I'm currently working as a full time preschool teacher in a child care center. I have been an Emergency Medical Technician for 5 years now and LOVE it. I take on call time when I have a chance. Our kids are now 9 & 6 and are very supportive of my work. They want to become EMT / firefighters and teachers too! What more can I ask for? I'm also a Certified Nursing Assistant.

In past, I've been a bank teller/bookkeeper, office manager, restaurant waitress, bar waitress, restaurant assistant manager, and cashier/clerk. A lot were part time through out high school and college so I didn't need any student loans!

[MK]

When I was six years old I became fascinated with human physiology/anatomy and decided I wanted to become a doctor. My senior year in high school I became burned out with school and changed my mind. I decided that my true calling was to be a mom. I worked in fast food (Taco Bell) for a couple of years then moved to California to help my mom with her house cleaning business. I did that for almost five years, then quit to be a SAHM after I got married and had ds#1. I was a homeschooling SAHM for four years, and I was in heaven. That was indeed my true calling! When my husband became ill and could no longer work full time I went to work in a daycare center, and now I work in the bakery dept. of a grocery store. I like it, it's fun, and it's a tasty job too. But I don't like getting up in the middle of the night to go to work, and I don't like the accumulation of all those goodies on my middle section, lol. These fat free :snickers: are pretty cool, though. :p

[Rae]

And a good way to get to know everyone again :) BK, I was Medical Assistant in a hospital nursery. I loved it there...I like the adrenaline rush of things, too, so I would probably like an ER setting. I like things to change around. My dream job? Several come to mind...a SAHM with unlimited resources...I am a SAHM but don't have unlimited wealth! LOL There are times I would like to teach med assisting (I almost finished my degree in that). I don't know if that's a dream. I think it would be neat to be an angel - I know a bit unreal - but I would love helping people in unseen ways! :)

[angie r]

Wow, alot of noble professions out there. You all impress me.

I started selling real estate right out of high school. Tired of that, then college, tired of that, managed a Western Sizzlin restaurant for 4 years and knew what I didn't want to do for the rest of my life!!! I worked at a bank for a while, then ran the cash office of a department store (met dh there.) When we decided to marry I went back into real estate. Baby #2 came and I decided to stay home. Nearly 3 years later I still work on Saturday's at the same real estate office. That is for 2 more weeks and I am done. I've spent 8 years there! Most of my selling was new home construction. I really loved helping people plan their home and building and decorating the model homes.

I am doing exactly what I want to be doing now, being at home with my babies!!

[Amy]

Hmm... Where do I start with my illustrious career. LOL During college I worked in Resorts and Country Clubs in Philadelphia, Cape Cod, Killington, and my hometown. I was a meeting planner for continuing education of nursing at a Philadelphia hospital. I also taught at a community college here in Colorado for a year.

Now Im a SAHM. Im getting prepped to start working again in about a year.

My dream job? hmmm.... I turned down two jobs that I might have regretted. One was working for a travel wholesaler for Bermuda (I was done with Philly and was moving at the time of the offer). And the other one was for a dolphin trainer in the Florida Keys at a resort. I really thought about that one, but it only pd. $7.00 an hour. I couldn't live on that! LOL The other job I was really excited about was being a counselor for a traveling summer camp for teenagers. It would have covered CA, AZ, NM, CO, UT,WY and Seattle. That fell through because there weren't enough signed up. :( At least I met dh that summer! LOL

[AnnW]

Thanks! Mick

AngieR...you are quitting your job???

[angie r]

Originally posted by annw


AngieR...you are quitting your job???


My company was bought out by another company and they are combining forces in one building. They have someone else in place there already. I could have stayed but I told them I would happily go. So, happily I go!!!!! I work this Friday and next Saturday.

[Melody]

I would love to be a make-up artist for people in magazines, award shows, that kind of thing.
I couldn't sit in a desk all day and not be creative but I wouldn't mind being a judge and give out sentences that people deserve instead of slapping wrists. If I had the talent a wedding cake decorator would be cool too. I found out I don't but I can pass off the character cakes for the kids okay.
I was working in a drug store before the kids and have been a sahm since.

[Linda/NE]

I've been an elementary teacher & a preschool teacher. I'm currently selling AVon and a SAHM.

My ideal job would be something I could do on the computer at home or a professional shopper. There's nothing more fun than spending someone else's money! LOL

Realistically I'd love to have my own preschool.

[Suz]

How fun! I have my elementary education degree and am currently the substitute teacher for my kids' preschool and primary school. Before that I taught GED classes and also ESL (English as a second language) classes to people from all over the world - was much fun!!
I am a SAHM and am debating on whether or not to begin homeschooling my children next year.
I love to sing! My dream job would be to be a professional singer and have my kids sing with me.
And by the way..... I think that I may have finally gotten the knack of this new board!!

[darlene]

Originally posted by Linda/NE
a professional shopper. There's nothing more fun than spending someone else's money! LOL


Great idea. My mom always comes to me for suggestions for gifts and things for herself. Do you think we could make a living at it??????
:)

[Diane]

My life seems SO boring compared with the rest of you. LOL After I graduated from HS I applied for and got the secretarial job at the same elementary school I went to as a child. It was different being IN the office after only looking in for so many years. I stayed there for 3 years and applied for a job typing audit reports at Farmers Union Exchange Co. (CENEX) This is where I met my dh. I worked there for 5 years until I got pregnant and quit when I had dd #1. I was a SAHM for about 2 years until a neighbor friend of mine had a baby and asked if I would consider taking care of it for her while she went to work. I enjoyed it so much I decided to take on a few more and I've been doing that ever since. I recently went back to school and got my degree in early elementary education but I'm not quite sure what I really want to do with it... if anything. :) As much as I love taking care of all these wonderful children, lately I've been feeling very restless and feel as if I'm ready for a change, but not too sure doing what. Hopefully it will involve helping others and being able to make a difference in their lives. I'm VERY good with younger children as well as working with the elderly, so I'm hoping that this time around it will involve working with the older end of the scale and their families. I guess I'm just going to have to wait and see what God has in store for me... :)
















[Edited by Diane P. on 02-14-2001 at 10:10 PM]

[Lynda/WA]

While in HS and college I worked in a bar/ballroom and my family's Ginseng garden. After 2 years of college I went into the Air Force as an automechanic. While still in the AF I cross trained (still working in transportation) and went into Maintenance Control and Analysis. Basically, I worked on a computer doing database/fleet analysis and every other desk job to keep a fleet running. About 4 1/2 yr ago I became a SAHM. I plan on going back to school for computers. DH wants me to go straight back to work without more school. As a dream job I would own a used bookstore (I nearly have one with all my own books!). But if I became a multi millionaire I'd start a charter school.