Well, I am going to say it….today, Labour Day 2011, I am a bit (ok, a lot!) sad for a few reasons. Tomorrow its (drumroll please!): Back to School.
Summer is officially over. That makes me a bit sad. End of days of lounging around the house, end of days spent on the beach. This back to school year in particular, makes me feel sad since my oldest (17) is in his senior year. My last full year with him ever…Oh my gosh – how can that be?? He was just a toddler it seems like yesterday! I am definitely going to have the ’empty nest syndrome’.
Even though I have another son (he’s 12 and completely adorable!), one of my babies is soon to leave the nest and that just plain bums me out. I will only see him on the odd weekend and school holidays….aaagghhh!!!
But my other point is this:
I am not sure if it’s just me who feels this way, but I am a bit sad that the kids are going back to school and for me as a stay-at-home mom….it leaves me feeling ‘out of the loop’ and questioning “what’s next for me?”. I have been searching for a job for quite some time but have found nothing. The job market is depressing. The recession is just not ending. Having spent a number of years ‘on hiatus’ from my science career to raise my family full time, I have found it impossible to rejoin the workforce. I have found a few contracts here and there, but they all ended and never led on to anything stable. How do I go from being a corporate scientist who worked for Fortune 500 companies to ‘the next thing’? I have had no success returning to the workforce as a scientist so now what??
Oh yeah and my search has been complicated by a little thing like being a military spouse and moving every few years!
Although I kept current with my computer skills and volunteering, I just can’t seem to find my ‘niche’. Don’t get me wrong…I have LOVED every minute of being a stay-at-home mom and wouldn’t trade it for THE WORLD. And I am very fortuneate that I COULD be a stay-at-home mom because my husbands career/salary allowed me to do so. But now that my kids are older, I am looking for something else to add to my ‘resume of life’. And I’m stuck and can’t just seem to figure out what that is.
I am confident I will find it – but to be honest its scary that it is taking so long to find that ‘part 3 of life role’. Does anyone else feel this way?? Do you have the September blues??? The stay-at-home-mom-and-my-kids-are-getting-older-so-I’m-searching-for-a-career or ‘something’-again-blues????
Please send me your thoughts and comments. I would love to hear from other stay-at-home moms with both younger and older children as well as the work-outside-of-home moms too!!!!! Have you been able to find your ‘niche’ at this juncture in your life?? What was your process? What fabulous niche did you find?
Have a lovely Labour Day.
Heather
Heather Luckhurst is an Interior Designer and owner of the Interior Design and Lifestyle website 
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