You couldn't pay me to do that job...

But I'll do it for free instead.

I was having coffee with a friend and fellow parent from school the other morning.  She and I seem to have the same problems.  First, we each had a job that included high-stress, long-hours and intimidating responsibilities.  Both she and I now are officially, intentionally and happily unemployed. 

We both seem to have that problem I mentioned before about jumping, no, diving in, getting involved, volunteering and helping out where needed.  We laughed as we talked because for the amount of work we do some days, we're right back where we started with overall workload.

But would we be as willing to do what we do if we were being paid for it?  I've thought about this on and off for much of the school year.  Our school is, in part, such an excellent school because of the dedicated families that give of their time for events and other school needs.  We had one parent that dedicated so much of her time that she was given the job of office manager the following school year.

And yet I don't want a job doing what I do.  I don't want to have a connection to some amount of money that I tie to why I'm doing the job.  Because I'm not doing it for money.  If the amount was low (and since it's in the field of education, you know it's not going to be high) then would I feel I was underpaid?   If it was high, would I feel more obligated to nights and weekends and time I might have willingly given for free, but begrudge because as an employee I feel obligated?

It's an interesting perspective and I'm in a fortunate position that I can give of my time while being a mother to two small children at home.  But bottom line, I would rather have the satisfaction of giving to the school through my actions than I would a check at the end of the day.

The Big Boy Update:  "I want him out."  This is relatively new.  We know little boys are interested in their penises.  That's just the way it is.  Of late, he wants to pull it back out of his underpants after he's gone to the potty and wander around with it sticking out.  And I'm not even going to mention the "thrusting" that goes on.  Today we needed to get pants and shoes on for a trip to the store when he pulled it back out and said, "I want him out."  Apparently it's a boy.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Houdini.  She is suppose to sit on the bench and wait with the other toddlers until she's escorted to our car at pickup from school.  Apparently she will agree that, yes, she's ready to sit and wait on the bench.  But then she dashes off.  The school administrator today told me she's nicknamed her, Houdini, because she can disappear so quickly.

Fitness Update:  Back to sore.  We're doing the more aggressive exercises lately.  Initially, there were some people in the gym that were clearly doing harder exercises/sets/circuits from our trainer than we were able to do.  But lately he's been putting us on the same track.  It's encouraging that we're making some progress.

Someone Once Said:  I learned centuries back that there is no privacy in any society crowded enough to need ID’s.