Working Woman

I just got a job!  

For the past few months, I've been casually looking for another part-time SLP job opportunity.  I loved the work I did earlier this year at an urban elementary school while I covered a maternity leave, and I was looking for something similar-- an inner-city population, working with children, two days a week, a short commute, etc.  

I've received lots of ridiculous job offers recently (about one per week)-- places desperate enough for an SLP that they offered to move me to Kansas City, Des Moines, Detroit, Louisville, etc.  (No thank you.)  I had a few interviews, but they either wanted me to work full-time (no way José) or only on weekends (nope).  I found one opportunity that sounded promising, but they couldn't pay enough.  (Sorry Charlie.)

So last week, I got two legitimate job offers-- one for a maternity leave at a local school (is covering maternity leaves my destiny?!), and the other one for a permanent SLP position at Easter Seals.  Both places wanted me to start on the same day, I'd be working with inner-city children at either place, and they both offered roughly the same salary, so I had to do some quick soul-searching.  

And I chose...

All right!  I decided that I'd rather have some ownership with my job instead of being a short-term sub again, so I chose Easter Seals.  (Plus, it's more flexible, it offers benefits, it's much closer, I can set my own hours, I can drop down my caseload in the summer if I want so I can spend more time at home, and I was just very impressed with the organization as a whole.)  

I've decided to work 16-20 hours a week, and I'm hiring babysitters to come over and watch Benson and Cole while I'm away.  This hopefully won't affect John at all-- on the days I work, I'll leave an hour after him and return home a few hours before him.  But I will miss Benson and Cole.  They sleep and do quiet time all afternoon, so I don't mind missing that, but I'll be sad to be away from them on those two mornings a week.  (They'll be in excellent hands though.) 

John was concerned about me working with an inner-city population again, especially for home visits (let's face it folks, he's only got one Karisa, and Milwaukee isn't exactly America's safest city), but after grappling with it, doing his usual pro/con analysis, and most importantly praying about it, John feels good about this and has given me his blessing!  I feel good about this decision too.

I'm super-excited to work with disabled children on their speech/language.  I've always had a huge soft spot for them, and doing therapy is so much fun.  I get paid to be creative and play games!  Every day is unique with new challenges, and the kids say the funniest things.  It will also be nice to have a little outlet from my mom duties for a few hours a week-- when I've worked in the past, I come home so recharged and refreshed.  I'm glad to keep my foot in the door with my degree.  And I'm happy to contribute to our family finances a bit, especially as we chip away at our mountain of med school debt.

Sorry to ramble.  Here goes nothing!