Well, I am officially back to being a stay at home mom/wife (SAHMW). I went into the office on Monday morning, called HR to tell them our decision, then spoke to one of the partners of the firm to tell him, told a few coworkers that I've known for a while, packed my stuff, then left. I went in at 8 am and was back home at 10 am.
The firm was very understanding (well, not so much the HR lady, but whatever), which I am so thankful for. I was so confident in my decision, but the only thing bothering me was that I would be burning the bridges that I had formed with some of the people at the firm. I mean, I'm sure they'll never hire me back (at least for a very long time, and even if I wanted to come back), but at least if I see them on the street somewhere I won't feel like I have to avoid them. And I guess I should say that I wasn't 100% confident in our decision, just because it was such a great opportunity and I was afraid that I was shooting myself in the foot by walking away.
There are at least two positives that are coming out of this situation:
1. For starters, now we KNOW that having two full time working parents is not an option for us. If I found something in my field that was part-time with A LOT of flexibility I would definitely consider it. But we really realized last week that at this time in our lives it is more important for somebody to stay home with the kid(s).
2. I am finally preparing (and have scheduled) to take the CPA exam. It's one of those things that I was putting off because the process was so intimidating. In fact, I take my first section tomorrow. I should be studying right now for it, but I have been studying all week and need a little breather. Once I post this I will get back to it, but I just needed a break, ya know?
Henry will still be going to daycare for the next two weeks since we prepaid, so I'm going to use that time to study for the next section of the exam and get back into "home" mode instead of "returning to work" mode. Because we've spent the whole summer preparing for me to return to work we really haven't enjoyed too much of our summer. We did have a nice family vacation over the 4th, but I still brought my books to study for the CPA exam. So, this Sunday is going to be Family Fun Day. I wonder what we'll do?
Friday, July 29, 2011
The shortest career ever!
*This was actually written on Friday, July 22nd.
I've been a stay at home wife (SAHW) off and on for the last 5 years. I've worked some, but most of the time other things have been going on in our life that didn't really allow me to work (i.e. school full time, temporarily moved out of state, etc.). Fourteen months ago we were blessed to add the role of Mom to the stay at home function (SAHM).
Since our son was born I have loved every minute of being at home with him. Sure, we had our frustrating days and nights, but I always loved the quality time that I've been able to spend with him.
I do have a degree in accounting, so from time to time I would search for employment. Most of the time my searches would come up empty handed, but occasionally I would find something that would peak my interest and I would pursue those avenues. I've had some interviews and even two job offers.
The first job offer I turned down after giving it some thought. The salary they were offering just wasn't worth being away from our son. Not to mention the position seemed a little shady.
I took the second job offer that I received. The position was for a full-time accountant, and the salary was much more than I had asked for. How could I possibly turn it down?
So, once I accepted their offer I spent the next 6 weeks preparing our family for this huge change in our lives. Our son would need to attend daycare, so I got that lined up. I would need a more professional looking wardrobe (i.e. suits, etc.), bought those (at a discount, of course). We would need a checklist of sorts to stay on top of all of the household chores, so I created a spreadsheet and used it (I was the ONLY one who used it). Oh yea, had to apply to take the CPA exam and buy study materials. Check and check!
While we were preparing for this change in our lives we failed to really consider a few things. First off, did we really want this change? If so, then at what cost? How would this new job really affect our home and family?
I just finished my first week at this new job, and let me tell you, it was an eye opener! Aside from the events of the week, my husband and I had many lengthy conversations about whether or not this was all worth it. As an accountant, typically January - April are the busiest months of the year with the longest hours. At this particular firm they established set hours for the employees. Mon - Thurs (8am - 7 pm), Friday (8-5) and Saturdays (a minimum of 4 hours). With these hours I would never see our son! Obviously I knew going into this that I would be required to work awful hours, but I thought that I had some sort of control or flexibility as to what those hours might be. When our children are older we could never take them anywhere on Spring Break, because the firm doesn't allow anyone to take vacation during the tax season.
Long story short, there are so many reasons that this just isn't going to work out. I talked to HR about this on Thursday morning and she wanted me to take the weekend to think about it.
After much careful consideration, I will be telling them tomorrow that this just isn't the right time in our lives for me to be working full time. I know there are going to be some people who think that I'm crazy, and others will be supportive. Either way this is the right decision for our family, and that's all that I'm really concerned about!
*If this doesn't totally make sense it's because I left some details out because this post was getting super long. So, ask me if you're wondering about something!
I've been a stay at home wife (SAHW) off and on for the last 5 years. I've worked some, but most of the time other things have been going on in our life that didn't really allow me to work (i.e. school full time, temporarily moved out of state, etc.). Fourteen months ago we were blessed to add the role of Mom to the stay at home function (SAHM).
Since our son was born I have loved every minute of being at home with him. Sure, we had our frustrating days and nights, but I always loved the quality time that I've been able to spend with him.
I do have a degree in accounting, so from time to time I would search for employment. Most of the time my searches would come up empty handed, but occasionally I would find something that would peak my interest and I would pursue those avenues. I've had some interviews and even two job offers.
The first job offer I turned down after giving it some thought. The salary they were offering just wasn't worth being away from our son. Not to mention the position seemed a little shady.
I took the second job offer that I received. The position was for a full-time accountant, and the salary was much more than I had asked for. How could I possibly turn it down?
So, once I accepted their offer I spent the next 6 weeks preparing our family for this huge change in our lives. Our son would need to attend daycare, so I got that lined up. I would need a more professional looking wardrobe (i.e. suits, etc.), bought those (at a discount, of course). We would need a checklist of sorts to stay on top of all of the household chores, so I created a spreadsheet and used it (I was the ONLY one who used it). Oh yea, had to apply to take the CPA exam and buy study materials. Check and check!
While we were preparing for this change in our lives we failed to really consider a few things. First off, did we really want this change? If so, then at what cost? How would this new job really affect our home and family?
I just finished my first week at this new job, and let me tell you, it was an eye opener! Aside from the events of the week, my husband and I had many lengthy conversations about whether or not this was all worth it. As an accountant, typically January - April are the busiest months of the year with the longest hours. At this particular firm they established set hours for the employees. Mon - Thurs (8am - 7 pm), Friday (8-5) and Saturdays (a minimum of 4 hours). With these hours I would never see our son! Obviously I knew going into this that I would be required to work awful hours, but I thought that I had some sort of control or flexibility as to what those hours might be. When our children are older we could never take them anywhere on Spring Break, because the firm doesn't allow anyone to take vacation during the tax season.
Long story short, there are so many reasons that this just isn't going to work out. I talked to HR about this on Thursday morning and she wanted me to take the weekend to think about it.
After much careful consideration, I will be telling them tomorrow that this just isn't the right time in our lives for me to be working full time. I know there are going to be some people who think that I'm crazy, and others will be supportive. Either way this is the right decision for our family, and that's all that I'm really concerned about!
*If this doesn't totally make sense it's because I left some details out because this post was getting super long. So, ask me if you're wondering about something!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)