Hard Work

It’s been almost three years since we moved to Owen Sound…three years since I quit my nursing job in Peterborough. It was an ideal job for me. I was a visiting nurse with a community agency that has a self-scheduling philosophy. We worked in small teams and could manage our own schedules and caseloads. I worked two evening shifts per week and then one weekend per month. It was a great way to keep my skills current, yet stay home with my children most of the time. I could work at my own pace; take my time and do treatments and procedures the way we were trained. No short cuts. I felt great at the end of my shifts.

I’ve been missing my job a lot this week. I miss the clients – how happy they were to see me and how grateful they were for my help. I miss the days that seemed to flow so smoothly that it really felt that I was on the right path. I miss the moments that I was in the right place at the right time. Like the day I had a feeling to see a certain client at the end of the day instead of in the morning. When I arrived, his wife was just beginning to have symptoms of a stroke. I also miss my managers – someone in my corner to tell me when I was doing a great job. Almost like cheerleaders. I sure wish stay-at-home moms had cheerleaders.

I miss my old job most when I’ve had a rough week with the kids. This was one of those weeks…and it seemed to drag on forever. Ryan developed a sore throat last Friday, so we were up more than normal for a few nights as his chest began to tighten up. Then Rebecca started to get sick on Sunday with a really runny nose and dry cough. And you would think that being housebound might mean the house would be tidier. Nope…it’s actually even worse than normal. To top it all off our computer stopped working this week. I hope we get it fixed soon…we’ll have a mutiny on our hands if the kids can’t feed their WebKinz.

Ahhh…but it’s finally Friday. Jason has the weekend off and we’ll be able to recover from our week from hell. I’ll be able to clean the house tomorrow with everyone’s help…hopefully with minimal nagging. And my little cheerleader, Sarah, has just tucked her dolls into bed – kissing them softly on the forehead and whispering “I love you”. Maybe I won’t go back to work after all…