My own MT/kid-terruption schedule is no secret, it's posted in another thread.

My post is about my sister-in-law. Her background is that she graduated law school a few years ago, has attempted to pass the bar exam 3 times in the past few years and works for a small private law practice full time. Her original plan was to pass the bar, get established and then start expanding her family. Whoops! The first of many plans to go astray took place.

When she was still pregnant, I asked about her plans for her career, studying for the bar, work schedule and baby care situation, seeing as she needs to work as much as I do. I asked her if she was going to telecommute and start working at night to accommodate her new life. She shot back at me that she is taking the baby to the office with her daily and returning to work 4 weeks after birth because her boss is allowing it.

Enter in the unsolicited and unwanted advice from someone who's been there with kids and work already. I honestly tried make her a bit more realistic about what she will really be facing as a new mom undertaking 2 full-time jobs, pointing out that even stay-at-home unpaid moms have babies that get sick, babies that are demanding, babies that can and will keep you up all hours of the night and day and even stay-at-home unpaid moms have trouble finding the time for much else other than baby and they get sick too, but they no longer have the luxury of sleeping all day when a baby is involved. I mentioned that she should consider telecommuting and working nights, seeing as her boss is accommodating her new life and allowing her to bring the baby to the office daily. End unsolicited and unwanted advice. She had it all planned out and obviously knew better than I did.

In June 2008, my nephew was born after mommy suffered through 36 hours of labor; the second thing that didn't go according to plan.

She didn't return back to the work for a total of 8 weeks; unpaid for the extra weeks off and much later than her original plan.

For the first 6 months, my nephew decided he wanted to be fed at 2 am just about daily and decided it was play time until 4 am, cutting into my brother and sister-in-law's sleeping time. Again, not part of the plan. He now sleeps through the night though, just as planned.

My nephew, being exposed to germs at the office, had the usual childhood ailments of fevers and colds, but an added curve ball was thrown their way because he also had the flu with high fever, loss of appetite, weight loss, dehydration and was hospitalized for close to a week, forcing my sister-in-law to miss work, plus even more days of work missed as he shared his germs with his mommy and daddy, all not according to the plan.

As an infant, he would sit in his bouncy seat or playpen and play with the hanging noisy rattles and flashing lights while mommy worked in the office near him. He has since grown out of those forms of entertainment. He's crawling, walking, talking, climbing, falling, breaking, throwing, eating and touching everything around him at the office. Not sure if any of this was part of her plan either, but the real fun has begun as he's now a toddler, developing a mind of his own and creating his own daily plans, which do not currently include allowing mommy to work in peace in his presence.

It was cute when he first started crawling and lifting himself up to grab at things and then learned to climb. She used to send pictures of him in action at the office via e-mail.

Now, it's no longer considered cute when he's climbed out of his playpen, throwing the cups from the water dispenser all over the floor, yanking the phone off her desk or breaking the paper feed tray on the printer and she constantly has to attend to him at the same time she is trying to work. Definitely none of this was in her plan.

My sister-in-law has commented that she can't get as much work done with him at the office and has only recently come to me asking my advice about working and raising baby as she has become a lot more realistic about her 2 full-time jobs. She has been forced to take work home almost daily to complete at night when he is asleep.

She mentioned sending him to day care for a few hours a day so she can get work done. I told her to consider the cost involved. If she determines she is only earning enough to afford day care cost, then day care is not a solution and she should seriously consider approaching her boss with my original suggestion for telecommuting and working nights while he is asleep. This is still up in the air. I have no idea what she will do, but quitting is not an option for her.

Finding the time to study for the bar exam is currently nonexistent. To me, this is the fact I find the saddest of all for her. I'm sure she does too, but it remains unmentioned for obvious reasons.

It doesn't matter if you're an MT or aspiring lawyer, caring for kid(s) while trying to work full time is nearly impossible because of the kid-terruptions. I know I can't do both at the same time and my kids are older.

Asugar,
I enjoyed reading that. Very well written. And true. I hope it helps someone.

Kathy

Asugar,

That was very well written and we all appreciate you sharing. I do think that people, my pre-employment self included, do not look at MT like we do other jobs. If you asked me if I could be a lawyer while watching my children I would think you were crazy for even asking. I think that part of this comes from the stereotype that we "just sit at home and type." We have all known MTs who do just that. I know, my MIL was one of them for a brief time and made fun of me to my husband to no end when I chose to get a good education in MT school. After all, she made a WHOLE $10 an hour as an MT (if you're new and don't know, this is a low salary) and didn't even need a reference book, so of course I was being a "drama queen" when I needed to study for school. Sheesh, if I roll my eyes any further back in my head after that statement they might get stuck there.

I appreciate that you have pointed out the unexpected with our children. Even as a veteran mom, my 3rd child really threw me for a loop when she was chronically ill and failed to thrive (premature). My other kids had been healthy and happy. Now with my 4th, she has been the easy baby and that is 1 reason I can work some with her up and about.

As a military wife, the AHDI military spouse initiative really makes me angry. I feel for it hook, line and sinker. The whole idea that this was the perfect portable career for us appealed to me so much. Sure it is a portable career, as long as you PCS within the US and to a location with good internet service and work for someone who will let you have that time off while you move. Granted, that is a lot better than out right losing your job each time you PCS! Just try working with 4 kids at home on summer break while Daddy is deployed and your family is 3000 miles away and let me tell you that you will be ready to take that idea that this is perfect for the military spouse and tell someone to stick it up their....well it doesn't matter. Nothing is perfect though and it is better than paying for childcare for everyone, or traveling to work and working for so many hours that I never actually see my children and am essentially paying someone else to raise them.

I don't mean to come off as if I am not happy with my career choice, as it actually is great for me right now and I enjoy what I am doing. It, however, is not as easy to make it work as I thought it would be.

Thank you again for sharing this, Asugar.

Hi everyone.
This is my very first post, but I wanted to say that the thought of staying home with my 9 month old is the reason that I am now studying to get into this field. I've read through all of the post in this thread and I am thankful for all the different opinions stated- on both sides of the fence.
I’ve spent over 21 years in the Army and I am soon to retire. I typically get up before the baby and start my days at about 4:30 a.m. Is it realistic to think that I can work from 4:30a.m – 8:30a.m (when little one wakes); 10:30 a.m-12:30p.m (baby napping); 5:30p.m-8:30 pm? I know that schedules changes daily and things come up. My question would be, are the work hours set by the company you are employed? Are you given a set number of dictations for the day? What is the process?
Thanks,
Skyy

Welcome, Skyy! There must be hundreds of variables, so it's hard to answer your question.

Some medical transcriptionists do very well working from home without help with their small children. I don't know how they do it, but they do. Others have someone to 'supervise' and alert them if they see blood. Many have tried it and have found that it doesn't work for them.

Some employers are very flexible about scheduling and others aren't. That's something you will want to find out before you take the job. Some companies have a certain amount of work that medical transcriptionists are required to do per day/week/month. I hope we'll hear more on this thread about the different situations found out there.

Skyy, after army life I think you will find even the most structured employee position to be pretty flexible. I had hoped to work as an IC (typically able to set your own hours as long as the set quantity of work is completed), but ended up in an employee position with a set schedule. The adjustment has been challenging but worth it. Even though I do have a schedule to follow, it offers me more flexibility than working in an office would. For example, last week I had a sick child and the MTF had 1 appointment that was right in the middle of my shift. I simply flexed the time, meaning I took 2 hours off and worked those 2 hours later in the evening. I have friends who work as ICs and are able to work whenever they want to as long as they meet their line goals for the day and are within turn around time. Being retired military, an IC position might really be ideal for you because you won't need the benefits of employee status as much.

Good luck to you in your MT education and with your transition out of the Army. The idea of civilian life scares me!

Thank you both for the encouragement. It is greatly needed. I tend to agree that being an IC would seem to be the perfect fit for me once I retire. Judging from the course materials that I am working through, this field is very challenging. I’m up for the challenge. Thank you again.
Skyy