1795 Hobbies, etc.

[Cassandra]

I'm surrounded by successful career women, both friends and family, who think I'm wasting my education....

Hi Raineypark, Why would they say that you're wasting you education? You can always choose to go back to school or work when your children are grown. Women have so many opportunites these days. I think that's great that you are a stay at home mom too. I gave up a wonderful & high paying job 20 years ago to stay at home and raise my two teenage daughters, who are now 19(soon) and 16 years old and I wouldn't have changed it for the world! Seeing them grow up, taking them to friend's birthday parties, swimming lessons,ballet, the park, etc,etc, was well worth all the money any job could offer. I knew who they were with all the time and who their friends were and their parents as well. Now that they're older, we share a special bond and they talk to me all the time, (which is good, especially during the teenage years!) Now, Im working part time, so you can always go back later on. Unfortunately, some women are forced to work because they're the the only ones paying the bills, and I really feel for them. I salute you and Cheryl and all the other stay at home moms as well!  

[Carol]

Oh, I know EXACTLY how fortunate I am to be home with my kid....I'm the one who gets to meet the teachers, see the plays, and hear the concerts.  I've met every one of her friends (because I drive them all EVERYWHERE) and know all of their parents....because they all have me on their emergency lists.  I have a permanent "sick kid" kit in my car, I pick them up from school so often!

And, when my working friends call in sick at the office, because they need a mental health day, they call me next, because I know all the restaurants and tea shops in the area.

I may not earn a dime in money...but I earn heaps and heaps in gratitude!!

Oh, and if I lived in 1795 Collinsport, my hobby would be collecting Headstone Rubbings....isn't it amazing how fast those headstones go up!!  

Raineypark

 

 I left my PT(part-time, not to be confused with parallel time altho I sometimes felt I was in another world at my job) office nursing position after seven years. The simple 20 hour/week job had turned into 40+ hours/ week.  Weekends were a blur of housework and running errands.  I've been home since August of last year and I'm loving my free time. I miss some of my co-workers but not the crazy atmosphere that was our office.    

   Anyhow, if I were one of the ladies of Collinwood, I'd be busy getting dress fittings for all those gala parties that were planned but never held, sitting in the garden reading scandalous books that just arrived from England, doing needlepoint, and getting the vapors when some young man dared to kiss me on the cheek without permission.

   Back then, careers for women were limited to arranged marriages, positions as governess, plying one's trade along the waterfront or being a poor spinster selling apples & oranges to pay next month's rent. Even a modest inheritance didn't guarantee you a life of ease if marriage wasn't in your future.

   In some ways, women have come a long way!