I've Just Decided to Take a New Job ...

Job Title: Full Time Mommy

Job Description:

• Manage day-to-day activities, wellbeing and mental health of 2 young children (and their father too).


• Strategic management of children’s education and future


• Will involve great joy as well as great frustration.
  

Key Responsibilities:

• Make sure children are fed, bathed, napped, dry. Wipe noses, tushies and clean up vomit as needed.


• Drive carpool and learn carpool line etiquette (may involve a Blackberry and a Kindle)


• Handle discipline with care and consistency


• Provide a lot of love (and receive it in return)


• Take note of every cute anecdote to report back to father and grandparents
  

Candidate Requirements:

• No experience required


• A lot of patience


• A lot of love


• Common sense


• Willingness to spend extended periods of time with no adult interaction


• Ability to cook an entire meal with 2 kids screaming, one who insists on being carried and the other holding on to your leg.

Measure of success:

• Well adjusted, happy children
  

About the employers:

R is almost 4 years old. He is a very smart, funny and playful little boy. He LOVES dinosaurs. Before he LOVED dinosaurs, he LOVED trucks and trains (now, he will let you know, he only LIKES trucks and trains). He also likes Superheroes, but hasn’t really figured that whole thing out just yet (he keeps insisting that he wants Wolverine toothpaste – does that even exist?!). He also LOVES his baby sister and doesn’t always realize that his “loving” cheek pinching, etc… is a form of torture to her. His favorite color is Orange. He insists that his mommy’s favorite color has to be pink or purple because she’s a girl. R can be very stubborn. HE knows the best way to do many things and doesn’t want to hear otherwise. He has a quick trigger temper which can easily turn into a tantrum. Any candidate has to be prepared to both have long conversations about dinosaurs, and manage screaming, kicking, tantrums on a regular basis.

B is 1 ½. She is very much a girly-girl. She loves babies, hair bows, bracelets and purses. She goes into the closet every day and can’t wait to pick out a pretty dress and put on her shoes. She loves Mommy’s shoes too. She is a smiley, good natured, joy to be around. She has a great sense of humor and delights in being playful. She LOVES her big brother, except for when he chooses to torture her. She has not yet started her terrible 2’s, and there may be reason to be afraid. She’s not as verbal as R was at this age, and he was an easy baby once too… But there’s always hope that her good-natured, easy going attitude will continue.


Let me back up…

I quit my job yesterday. I’m going to be a full-time, stay-at-home mom. I’m terrified.

I’m 33. I have an MBA from a top school. I have 10 years of corporate work experience. I’ve taken many tests and gone on many job interviews in my life. And this one scares me more then all of them. The stakes are higher.

Will I screw up my kids?
Will I still like my kids?
Will I be able to keep my kids entertained so that they don’t chew me up and spit me out?
Will I be bored?
Will I fail?

I don’t like to fail. And I definitely don’t want to fail when it comes to my family. If I don’t like being a stay-at-home mom, or am not good at it, does that make me a bad mother?

I don’t think it does. And in order to alleviate my fear, I’m going into this with what I believe to be a healthy attitude: I’ll try this out for a few months. If it’s not working out, I’ll go back to work. After all, that’s the way I’d approach any new job – if it doesn’t work out, look for something that will work better.

This is how – after years of schooling and working – my brain operates. I am able to approach challenges logically and productively, when I view them as business challenges. If I view them as personal challenges, I’m more likely to react emotionally – and then it all goes to hell!

So, I’m going to be running a business – my family. This blog will document how I approach family situations as business challenges – and you can all see if it works out for me.

As you will find in the business world, some businesses are smaller and scrappier, and some have more resources that enable the executives to focus on the big picture. I’m fortunate enough to be a business with resources. I will have some help to keep things clean and occasionally help out with the kids. But I will be careful not to let this resource do my job for me. I will still drive carpool and make sure my children are eating balanced, healthy meals. I will be involved in their schooling and plan fun, constructive activities. I will make sure they understand that there are consequences for their actions, but will also know that they are always loved unconditionally.

I have 13 days left until I start my new job.

Any advice?