Do You Work...

[Admin]

outside the home? If so what do you do? And do you enjoy your job.

I just started back to work after many years. I work three days a week dressing windows and setting up displays at a local gift shop. Perfect job for me. And I have to bookkeeping jobs I do in my home. One is a local trucking business that hauls coal, and the second one is for a refrigeration, plumbing business.

I love the gift shop job as it allows me to get out and mainstream with adults and meet people. Plus I can use my creativity at that job. And believe it or not I enjoy crunching numbers. I know, I am weird...

How bout you?

[sunshine]

Well, as most of you know-- I'm an RN - I work critical care in a teaching hospital.

Do I enjoy my job? Ask me again, when I haven't had patients dying I truely hate to tell family, that their loved ones have died. . . .I hate the drama, tension of codes. . . . .

I love it when someone gets better and goes home, especially after we'd thought they wouldn't make it.

[lucie]

I can't really say I work outside the home, except once every two weeks, I help out my friend at her bread outlet for 2 hours. She does pay me but I spend most of the money on bread and cakes which I would buy anyway, so I guess it permits me to save on that on my grocery budget.

For now, I don't feel I could handle working and raising 4 children. It's alot of work already! lol...

[braided-rug]

Thanks Lucie, I was nervous about replying. I don't work either. I have five children at home, next year four, if all goes well.

[violet]

I've worked in dribs and drabs over the past 21 years since son number 1 was born, mostly doing menial stuff like office cleaning (but a family owned office, and very well paid!) a day a week. A couple of years back I spent 7 months relieving in an office, but boy did that get boring, it was very basic clerical work. More recently I've been working as a casual "unpacker" anything from none to three days a week, for 4 - 6 hours at a time. When people move, a team of ladies will unpack the boxes for them and put everything away. A friend runs the business. I like having "spare" money, that's what it feels like it is anyway, and it forces me to be more organized now that I have less day-to-day stuff to do with the kids. Also, the other ladies are lovely and some jobs are quite fun.

[voodidit]

Not anymore, with the MS and the complications from the Thyroid cancer I am now on disability. Doing anything strenuous for too long can exhaust me.

[lucie]

braidedrug said:

Thanks Lucie, I was nervous about replying. I don't work either. I have five children at home, next year four, if all goes well.

I *know* you work very hard Braidedrug! Raising 5 children is definately a full time job!

[Deed]

Nope not me! ;D

I did work outside of the home for just over 20 years but took an early retirement 4 years ago. Best thing I ever did for myself!

Oops forgot to say whether I liked my job. LOL

I worked on the railroad and yes I liked my job. I occasionally miss it, but not often enough to go back. ;D It was a very highly stressful job and so fast paced it would make your head spin. I was very good at it and when I see co-workers they still want to know when I'm coming back. But no, the family's railroad careers ends with me. LOL

[beth2]

Do you work outside the home? If so what do you do? And do you enjoy your job.

I do, and I have since I was about 16yo, with very brief periods of not working when changing jobs (very rare, as I normally had a new one lined up before leaving the old one) and for nearly a year when I moved to NZ I worked 'casually' meaning I might work 3 days this week, none next week, and five the week after, or have two or three weeks where there weren't many shifts at all.

In Florida, I worked for nearly six years with the prison system, and for nearly a year part-time with the Dept of Juvenile Justice. Most days, I loved my job/s.

Here in NZ, I work with intellectually disabled and mentally ill adult males, some as young as 16 but most at least mid-to-late 20s or 30s.

Most days, I can like or love my job; however, the organization isn't well run, with lots of people sitting in an office making decisions that affect the lives of clients and staff without allowing input from clients and staff - and this from an organization that is supposed to be empowering clients with choices.

Also, most of our clients have had run-ins with the law and courts, and many have behavioural issues. When we have support from 'the office', we can manage those behaviours; when we don't, we can't. For instance, one client now, instead of working with staff to sort out his issues, phones a woman in the office, who inevitably rescues him and gives him whatever he wants in order to 'avoid an incident'. If she would be consistently firm, we could avoid incidents without giving away the family silver, so to speak.

And, I'm away from home too much. We sometimes do 24hr shifts, and I do five 'sleepovers' a fortnight which means I'm 'at work' 100 hours a fortnight altho' I'm paid for 60. That's too much time away from home.

So...yes, I like the work...no, I don't like the job.

[violet]

What a varied lot we are! And don't anyone dare apologise for not being in the paid work force! I like to go out to my occasional jobs because I enjoy chatting with the ladies and we are able to see inside some wonderful houses, and of course I get paid to do what I'd be doing at home anyway.

Beth, I sometimes wonder if there'd be more action in disability services if a couple of politicians had children with disabilities.

[beth2]

Violet - I'd be willing to BET there'd be more action in disability services if a few politicians had children with disabilities. For the most part, I think we get a lot of our guys almost too late - especially the younger ones as contradictory as that may sound. The guys in the late teens and early-mid twenties are the ones I'm talking about. I'd love to do more work with the younger groups, maybe pre-teen, and 'get to them' before they go 'too far'.

Over the summer, I hope to become a mentor to at least one kid; I have to go through the police department to do it. It's something I've wanted to do for quite some time and have decided to just go for it. The younger the better because then I feel as if I do have a chance at making a difference.

At least here in NZ, though, there are very limited dealings with at risk preteens with intellectual disabilities; it's like, wait til they ***** up and the courts get them, and they've been in the cells a few times, and totally mistrust authority, and then we'll work with them.

[ellise]

I have returned to work well, substitute teaching anyway and only work a couple days a week. Do I like my job? Oh yes. I love being around children that want to learn. Will I ever return to full time? I doubt it my back just can't handle it right now.

[Karen]

I'm too busy to work! Lol. The kids and ebay keep me pretty busy, but I'm looking forward to getting out of the house with my shop.

[violet]

beth, it would be nice to think you've had a positive influence on just one kid, one young life. I hope it all happens for you. The kids I know with disabilities who have the support and care of really motivated families -and early intervention - end up with the best possible quality of life.

[braided-rug]

I'm not overly fond of early invervention these days. I have had a negative experience with it. I guess it depends on the disability, or I hope so anyway.