My gosh, Marilyn! Never had a 'real career'?! You've done more different kinds of things that I've ever imagined! What a broad spectrum of experience you've had! I, on the other hand, went to school, babysat (teaching), trained my dog (teaching); went to college, married, taught, raised kids (teaching), went to college, taught, went to the Marshalls and taught, taught, trained a couple of foals (teaching again), back to college, taught.... you get the drift. Don't get me wrong- I'm not complaining about teaching; I believe it's what I was born to do. BUT, having said that, it IS a lot of the same kind of activity. You've had an incredible range of experiences from which you've developed many skills. That has many of the earmarks of a 'real career' to me. I think THAT'S exciting! Jill in Washington state ----- Original Message ----- From: "Marilyn Otterson" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, October 01, 2006 5:24 AM Subject: [ARMSTRONG] occupations I wish I had something exciting to add...I never had a real "career"

Hi, Jill, Well, you know, by "real career" I meant a career where one learns a certain skill or degree of knowledge in a pursuit and follows that through the lifetime...as a physician or a lawyer or a real teacher. I never did that and was really more of a Jack...er, Jane... of all trades. That was fine, once I realized that I'd chosen my life path by getting married right out of college (as so many of us did in those days of the 50s and early 60s when the common professions for women were teacher, secretary or nurse) and had 3 kids in short order. There were fewer opportunities for childcare outside the home then and most of us who had kids stayed home and took care of them, husband, the house and garden, and any assorted other things that needed attention. It was a full-time job that lasted from dawn until about 10 p.m. so I never felt that I wasn't working. When the kids were in school I had part-time jobs so I could be home when they got home. I never had the urge to go back to teaching full-time although I did substitute for several years. Women have more opportunities now and the glass ceiling is a lot higher than it was a generation ago. It's easier for a woman to get a job in professions, business, etc. than it was then. If I were a young woman now I probably would not have been married or had children so young, would have gone to graduate school, would have pursued a career, had children later, maybe put them in daycare and gone back to work. Because I didn't work outside the home full-time we never had as much money as we would have had if we had two full incomes, so we lived frugally and I had the huge vegetable garden, made clothes for the kids and myself, cooked nutritious but inexpensive meals, and generally made do. We had a nice home but no extra money for frills whereas now young couples and families where both parents work seem to live a more upscale kind of life than we could then. I'm not sure this is better, just different. I don't regret at all the path my life has taken and don't think I would have been happier or more fulfilled if I'd had a profession or career, although it's interesting to wonder what it would have been like. I was always there for my kids and my husband, still am, and I'm really glad the kids had everything they needed and got a good start in life and are now successful and, I hope, happy adults. But I still don't think that most people in a younger generation would think of what I've done as a real career! But thanks! I bet you were and are a great teacher...my heart was never in it and I think I was probably just adequate at teaching. Cheers, Cousin Marilyn ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jill Johnston" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, October 02, 2006 11:39 PM Subject: Re: [ARMSTRONG] occupations > My gosh, Marilyn! Never had a 'real career'?! You've done more different > kinds of things that I've ever imagined! What a broad spectrum of > experience > you've had! I, on the other hand, went to school, babysat (teaching), > trained my dog (teaching); went to college, married, taught, raised kids > (teaching), went to college, taught, went to the Marshalls and taught, > taught, trained a couple of foals (teaching again), back to college, > taught.... you get the drift. > > Don't get me wrong- I'm not complaining about teaching; I believe it's > what > I was born to do. BUT, having said that, it IS a lot of the same kind of > activity. You've had an incredible range of experiences from which you've > developed many skills. That has many of the earmarks of a 'real career' to > me. I think THAT'S exciting! > > Jill in Washington state > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Marilyn Otterson" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Sunday, October 01, 2006 5:24 AM > Subject: [ARMSTRONG] occupations > > > I wish I had something exciting to add...I never had a real "career" > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message