ReadySetMom

In my next career, I'd like to be ...

Here's a conversation I had with my daughter the other day:

Daughter: "Mommy, are you old enough to work in a doctor's office now?"

Me: "Yes, I'm old enough, but doctors have to go to special schools to learn how to be doctors. I went to school, but I didn't learn how to be a doctor."

Daughter: "Oh yea, because you learned how be a mommy."

Now, Renee, Heather and I could fill this blog with the oh-so-cute things that our kids say. But we want you to keep reading us each and every day, so we don't.

I'm telling you about this conversation only because it seems all my friends are having that talk again. You know, the one about our "next careers."

For many of us, our last-born or only children are heading off to kindergarten. My 5-year-old (and youngest) starts next week. Ostensibly, we'll have more hours during the day when we're not physically taking care of/entertaining/shuttling a child. Do we head back to the workforce? Do we tackle long-ignored projects? If we're able to swing it financially, do we enjoy this "free" time for a while?

Most of my friends are not considering a return to their former careers. Been there, done that. Don't need the full-time grind. I put myself - a newspaper journalist in a previous life - in that group. We still want to be at-home moms when our kids are at home, so that means doing something part-time and flexible, yet meaningful. It wouldn't hurt if it were lucrative, too. And didn't involve wearing high heels. Or commuting.

We're not particular, we just know what we want.

What are you going to be when you grow up?

Question for female doctors returning to work post maternity leave

One of our readers, Melissa, who works in the medical profession has a few questions for female doctors:

I have noted that some of your bloggers are physicians and was wondering if you might pose this question to your readers? The medical clinic I practice with is looking to hire a couple of physicians.  As many of you may know it is currently difficult to hire primary care providers as many younger physicians in training are deciding to go into speciality care for a variety of reasons. We have also noted that the applicant pool for female primary care physician is lower than their male counterparts. For this reason at a meeting recently I wondered how many mommy MD's would consider working full time/part time/job share if they did not have the responsibility of call and hospital work. What would draw a female physician who is already a mom to return to the work force after maternity leave?

Any female doctors out there who have any insight for Melissa? On the flipside, for those of us who aren't doctors... How do you feel about a part-time/job-share doctor? Do you fear your doctor won't be available when you need to come in? My kids' pediatrician (a mom of 3 kids) job-shares with another female pediatrician (I'm not sure if she has kids or not). I've actually been surprised at how rarely the job-share schedule has been a challenge. We almost always see our regular doc vs. her partner, and it never seems really hard to get on her schedule (although I know she's super busy and booked. That's just my 2 cents... What are your thoughts?