Stressed Sunday

I have been so on-edge and stressed out the past few days.  I had two job interviews this week, and they both went extremely well and both companies wanted to hire me, which is a HUGE blessing in and of itself, especially in this economy.

Both jobs came b/c close friends referred me to these people.  One job would be working in a call center for a mowing company.  I LOVED the owners of the company and hit it off w/ them right away and I could tell that I would just fit in there.  However, I had to turn that job down b/c the hours during the summer months were 7 am to 7 pm, which means I would be working 12 hour days, not including the 1/2 hour it would take me to drop Autumn off at daycare and get to work and the 1/2 hour to go pick her up.  So, Mom & Dad would have to pick her up for me everyday, and I just couldn’t ask that of them let alone being away from Autumn 13 hours a day.

Then the second job I have been looking into is also taking phone calls, but it would be for a company that remodels bathrooms in 2 days.  They are just getting started in this area, and I really like both of the owners and know I could be a huge asset to their company.  I even spent 4 hours (8-12) of my precious Saturday time at a training meeting yesterday to learn more about the business and see if this is something I really want to do or not.  The guy that was doing the training (which was mostly geared towards salesmen) was very charismatic and did a phenomenal job.  However, the downfall to this job is that they would need me to work every Saturday from 9-1.  Autumn’s daycare isn’t open on Saturdays, so I would either have to bring her into work w/ me (which they offered for me to do), or someone like Mom & Dad or Nick would have to watch her during those 4 hours.

I have really been struggling w/ this decision b/c this company is going to be incredibly successful and if I can get in at the beginning and be there while it grows, that would be great for me career wise.  And I really do want to work for this company.  But then I struggle with knowing that I won’t ever have a full day off where I can spend time w/ Autumn.  I only get to spend 3 hours a night with her, so Saturdays are our day to be together and run errands and get things done and go to the park and swim and play.  So to take 4 hours away every Saturday would be a big deal and would be asking a lot of Mom & Dad to help watch her for me.

The good thing about this job, though, is that I would have a chance to interact w/ a lot of people, b/c I would be at the front desk in their new big showroom they are building.  And they are going to have a huge trailer that they take around to trade shows and the State Fair to try and generate leads and sales.  I love being around people and interacting, so that would be a plus side to the job.

I’m just so conflicted about what to do b/c the money would be about what I was making at my previous job and would only increase the longer I was with the company, but at what cost?  Am I making more of this than there needs to be?  Would Autumn be ok w/ me being gone for 4 hours on Saturdays and not even notice?  I’ve been praying about it this whole week and decided to fast about it today, but no answers have come yet.  I don’t want to turn down a golden opportunity and miss out on something great.  And what if I turn it down and can’t get another job, which is a very real possibility in this economy.

Ideally, I would love to work in the office of a school  (elementary, secondary, or high school), b/c even if the pay wasn’t as much as another job I could get, I would be off by 3:30 everyday and wouldn’t have to work in the summer, which means I could take Autumn out of daycare for 3 months and save $2,000 by doing that!  Plus, in working for a school district they usually have good benefits and I could work my way up and get a job w/ the district and have some longevity.  But, it’s so hard to get a job in a school district around here unless you have connections in the school district.  Otherwise, you just have to submit your resume and application online and just wait and hope you get a phone call.

I decided to take matters into my own hands today and found out who I would report to if I got a job in two different school districts and sent an email to both principals in those schools to see if I could get interviews w/ them directly and avoid the online waiting game.  So, we’ll see what happens there and then if I don’t hear back from them by tomorrow then I’ll probably just go w/the office job at the bathroom remodeling place b/c they need an answer by Tuesday.

Anyways, today Tyler & Emily blessed their new baby but I couldn’t go b/c I had to teach my 9 year old class.  So, Mom & Dad took Autumn w/ them b/c they figured it would be fun for her to be around the cousins her age.  It was SO WEIRD, but nice, to be at church by myself and to actually sit and listen to the talks instead of trying to keep Autumn entertained.  After church I went home and put a roast and carrots and potatoes in the oven for dinner and then came over to Mom & Dad’s to use the internet to send emails about jobs.  This is what the guest quarters hallway looks like now.  They only tiled half of it so that Mom & Dad & Nate could still get around and use the bathroom.

I just had to take a picture of Nate’s room b/c we were laughing and joking the other day about how his room looks like he could  be on the show Hoarders:  Buried Alive, b/c there is just a little path for him to get around his bed b/c of all the stuff from the kitchen that is being stored in his bedroom.

Mom & Dad & Autumn got back from the baby blessing around 6:00 and came over to my house and we had our carrots & roast & potatoes for dinner.  It’s so easy and yummy!  Autumn wanted to watch “Hahn,” so we did and then Nate came over after we had finished eating and we decided to watch “Hello, Dolly”.  He’s the one that picked it, which is an odd choice but we used to watch it ALL the time when we were little and he thought it would be fun to watch it again since we haven’t seen it in years.

I didn’t get to watch very much of it b/c Autumn had another meltdown when we watched Hello, Dolly instead of watching Pocahontas again.  It got so bad that she threw a toy horse across the room and it hit the coffee table and made a big deep scratch on the table.  I put her in timeout and when she got out she still didn’t want to watch the movie and scratched my face.  So, she went to timeout again.

Then she wanted to go in her room and lay down.  I took her in there and turned on her night light so it wouldn’t be dark and she got mad and broke the nightlight and then wanted me to fix it (which would have been easy to do by just popping the nightlight cover back on), but I wanted to teach her that there are consequences for her actions so I told her it was broken and couldn’t be fixed.  Then she said she wanted her sippy, so I gave it to her and she got mad and threw it on the floor and then started crying and said she wanted it and told me to pick it up for her.  I just laughed and kindly told her that b/c she threw it on the ground, she needs to be the one to pick it up.  She had another fit and tried that w/ her blanket.

I kept my voice super nice and sweet, b/c I figured I would try and kill her w/ kindness instead of getting mad and being really stern w/ her.  It worked, b/c after a few more minutes of crying she realized she wasn’t going to win this power struggle and finally gave up and came and sat on the couch and watched the movie with us.

If any of you out there that read my blog have any suggestions on on how to lovingly enforce consequences or things that have worked for you, PLEASE share w/ me.  I want Autumn to know that if she decides to do something like throwing her sippy, then there are consequences for that and hopefully she’ll learn not to do it next time.  Ah, the joys of parenting!