I put off all of my professional desires to be a mom.

Back when I was planning my life, studies showed that, with regards to the health of the baby and mother, the best age for a woman to get pregnant and give birth is before she's 35, so I didn't want to wait until I was in my 40's or 50's to start a family.

I also didn't want to get started with a career and devote myself to it for a few years only to have to stop, put everything on hold, and try to pick up where I left off, so I went directly from college to marriage to motherhood by the age of 25. Yes, it was all very planned, but plans change.

I was going to put the kids in daycare and become a career minded working mom, but it wasn't long after I had my kids that I realized I just couldn't do it. I couldn't leave them for 9+ hours per day. They grow up so quickly, and before you know it, you've missed your chance to be with them when they're kids. But a career will always be there; you'll always have a chance to start a new line of work. Graduate schools aren't going to disappear any time soon either. I can always go back to school after the kids get older. I can always devote my days to a full-time career after they've grown up.

But I've been thinking about that next career after my career in motherhood. I used to want to be a teacher. I studied and trained for it, but now I don't want to do that so much. I keep thinking about becoming a mental health counselor or a marriage and family therapist. I've considered getting my doctorate in psychology. (I definitely have the personal experience in the mental health field.) I've dabbled with the idea of going into more physical fields of health care because I love learning about it, but honestly the bodily fluids thing bothers me too much (not blood, just everything else). Right now I'm a writer and document designer. It's fun, but I still want something more.

I admit that income is a factor in my decision. I used to say that income wasn't important to me, but it is. I grew up poor. I don't want to be poor again. I'm not wealthy now, but I'm happy where I am. I don't have a million dollar home, hobbies that cost thousands of dollars, or memberships in high end country clubs. I don't actually want those things. They wouldn't make me happy anyhow. But I do want enough money to maintain my current lifestyle, fix up my house (maybe add a 2nd floor), travel more, enjoy a few luxuries, and have enough left over to help some worthy non-profits.

Psychologists earn more money than counselors (the little entrepreneur in my head can do math) and get to work with more seriously ill patients, which is what I'd like to do, and the Dr. Kristen Beck title would be a nice bonus (I'll admit my ego's desires), so that's my ultimate career goal, and the ambitious "let's just do the big stuff now" part of me wants to jump right in, but it's easier to get an M.A. or M.S. degree first and then get into a Psy D. program.

So that's my career plan: a masters degree in counseling, work as a counselor for awhile, apply for entrance into a counseling or clinical psychology program (advanced standing), become Dr. Kristen, open my own private practice, and help people while earning a good income.

Now I just have to wait until my kids grow up. Oh well, that'll give me about ten years to study for my exams.

Labels: My Life