The Mom Chronicles
Jan. 18th, 2010 10:08 amTalked to my mom last night. Here's an excerpt of that conversation.
Mom: I did my own dishes today.
Me: What?!
Mom: I was talking to Ida. She had her knee done last year, and she said she did her own dishes. I figured if she could do it, so could I.
Me: Oh dear god...
At least she seems not to have done any damage. And I suppose more activity isn't a bad thing. As long as she doesn't do anything too, um, dumb.
In other news, I've just completed my first phone interview this morning. The job sounds interesting, but they're pretty adamant that I be willing to fully commit to the 75% to 100% travel thing. And when I asked if that meant I wouldn't be home on weekends, the best the HR person could come up with was "Let's assume you'll be home weekends." Not comforting.
I have to get back to the interviewer tomorrow with my decision on whether I want to go forward with the interview process. I'm trying to weigh the "I want a job!" panic against the desire to actually see my daughter grow up. ::sigh::
Mom: I did my own dishes today.
Me: What?!
Mom: I was talking to Ida. She had her knee done last year, and she said she did her own dishes. I figured if she could do it, so could I.
Me: Oh dear god...
At least she seems not to have done any damage. And I suppose more activity isn't a bad thing. As long as she doesn't do anything too, um, dumb.
In other news, I've just completed my first phone interview this morning. The job sounds interesting, but they're pretty adamant that I be willing to fully commit to the 75% to 100% travel thing. And when I asked if that meant I wouldn't be home on weekends, the best the HR person could come up with was "Let's assume you'll be home weekends." Not comforting.
I have to get back to the interviewer tomorrow with my decision on whether I want to go forward with the interview process. I'm trying to weigh the "I want a job!" panic against the desire to actually see my daughter grow up. ::sigh::
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Date: 2010-01-18 03:23 pm (UTC)Ah yes, our mothers are obviously each other's missing twins. *g*
My mother drove Meals-on-Wheels with a catheter in her because she didn't want to let the "old dears" down, several of whom are *younger* than she is.
As long as they don't start doing a trapeze act I think resting in a way that's out of character for them can be far worse for them in terms of healing and their mental state.
There's probably no harm in going ahead if the job sounds interesting as it's probably in the face-to-face interview that you'll get more idea of what they actually mean by travel and how far that travel is. It's not like you're saying yes to the job right now.
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Date: 2010-01-18 03:29 pm (UTC)That's the kind of thing my mother-in-law would do. In fact when she was taken into hospital after she'd collapsed on Exmoor, when J called to ask how she was the nurse was very diplomatic and said 'she's a spirited lady, isn't she?' When J asked what she was doing the nurse told him she was 'helping the poor old dears, who were at least ten years young than she was'.
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Date: 2010-01-18 03:40 pm (UTC)My Mother is a human dynamo... By my very conservative estimate she travelled to 13 different countries last year. My 16 year old nephew finds her exhausting. *g*
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Date: 2010-01-18 03:43 pm (UTC)Nope, can't match that. But M-i-L has flown to New Zealand on her own two if not three times in her late 80s and is still visiting us in her mid-90s.
I find your mother exhausting just reading about it *g*
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Date: 2010-01-18 03:48 pm (UTC)You should try being her daughter. *g* I'm proud of her but she's a constant reminder of what I'm *not* getting done.
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Date: 2010-01-18 04:07 pm (UTC)I'll pass, thanks :-)))
Poor you, I can totally understand how you feel.
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Date: 2010-01-19 01:54 am (UTC)I think I'm actually going to turn down the job. They pretty much told me the travel is to all parts of North America, remote or not. Considering Ros is now grabbing my hand at bedtime and begging me not to leave, I don't think I want to put her through an absentee mommy.
The second interview also wasn't promising. It's writing financial risk analysis documents, and the one they gave me as a sample to critique made me hyperventilate. (The friend who recommended me for the job is convinced I can do the work, I'm just not sure that I want to.)
Oh, for the perfect job to fall into my lap.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-18 03:26 pm (UTC)You know your mom and my mother-in-law would probably get on very well!
The idea of that kind of travelling sounds horrendous to me. But no one but you and sweetie can make that kind of decision. I know, but I remember the 'panic' feeling the three times I was made redundant.
I hope you don't mind me saying this and it's totally without knowing your situation in any way, beyond what you share here, the only bit of advice/ I can give is unless you really, really, really, really have to, don't rush into something and grab the first job just because it's a job.
Good vibes for the decision making.
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Date: 2010-01-19 01:55 am (UTC)As for the job, the more I think about it, the more horrendous it sounds. Too bad, because the actually training part sounds right up my alley.
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Date: 2010-01-19 12:35 pm (UTC)To me it sounds horrendous and with your lovely daughter . . .
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Date: 2010-01-18 03:48 pm (UTC)Good luck!
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Date: 2010-01-19 01:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-18 03:52 pm (UTC)As to the job, do you really need the money badly right now or soon? If you do, take the job and see how it works out. Also: does the job seem just too too good an opportunity to pass up? Would you seriously regret not taking it? You can always quit if it gets too much.
On the other hand, if you don't need the money right now, if you think you can hold out, or if the position isn't anything special, then pass. You have good skills and experience; something better will come along. It also may get a bit much for Sweetie to be the full time parent and that may strain your marriage on top of it [unless there would be enough money for more child care].
Speaking from my own experience, I know I sacrificed a part of my career by delaying my diss work and staying on part-time through most of my son's childhood, but I don't regret it. The work of parenting really gets done before age 12. After that, if you haven't given them a good sense of reposnbility and moral structure, it's hard to recoup.
I made a conscious decision to have my son and I didn't want anyone else raising him [except, of course, his father and my mom for back up]. I don't think one needs to sacrifice one's career entirely, and shouldn't because then it puts you in a bad place later on.
I was lucky: I ended up in the place I wanted to be, albeit, after a considerable delay but if I'd not done it, my son would not be who he is.
Of course, you realize, as with all mother things, it's always a damned if you do/damned if you don't.
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Date: 2010-01-19 02:00 am (UTC)And as for the job, I think I'm going to turn it down. My package was big enough that I can take some time to find the right job, but man, it's hard turning down something.
I think I'm going to do the same with the other job, on account of the writing of financial docs looks like it would be as exciting as making paint dry and would make me miserable. I don't do boredom well. I need variety, and human interaction, and fun things to learn.
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Date: 2010-01-18 03:59 pm (UTC)You're such a bright talented woman that I doubt this will be the only job offer you'll have. And even if it is, write down the pros and cons before you make a decision. Is it okay with the family that you could very well miss Roz's birthdays and plays and ball games over the years? Keep in mind that I don't believe in daycare by anybody other than very close relatives, so I'm coming in prejudiced in the first place, if daycare is in the cards. But that's just me.
In the end, what you decide will be what you decide. Eh? *g*
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Date: 2010-01-19 02:02 am (UTC)My dad was Coast Guard, and back in the 60s and 70s that meant we didn't see him for months at a time. I still don't know how my parents handled it, and I've always sworn I wouldn't have a career that demanded the same sort of absences.
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Date: 2010-01-18 05:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-19 02:04 am (UTC)I'm hoping she's going to have the same easy time of it. I just called, and her foot's become bruised. She's got to go see the surgeon tomorrow. Looks like I'll be making a flying trip up north to make sure everything's okay.
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Date: 2010-01-18 06:31 pm (UTC)And yes, that's a tough decision about the job. But you have to be happy to some extent, hon. And being away from Ros and the Sweetie constantly would not work for you, I think.
But hell, take the interview to the next stage and get more details. Can't hurt, right?
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Date: 2010-01-18 10:47 pm (UTC)I find myself pondering whether the world would simply spin off its axis if we put all three of them together in the same place... Eeeek! *G*
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Date: 2010-01-19 02:08 am (UTC)It just might at that. *g*
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Date: 2010-01-19 02:07 am (UTC)As for the job, I'm thinking it's a bad idea. Ros put a death grip on my tonight when I went to leave the room at bedtime. No one knows how to lay a guilt trip like a 3-year-old.
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Date: 2010-01-18 10:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-19 02:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-18 10:59 pm (UTC)Good luck with whatever you decide *hugs*
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Date: 2010-01-19 02:11 am (UTC)I've been considering starting my own small training business, and I do have the leisure to actually start working towards it. And I don't have to stop applying for corporate jobs in the meantime. One that don't require stupid amounts of travel. (Time enough for that when the Ros is in uni.)
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Date: 2010-01-19 02:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-19 02:42 am (UTC)