2. JOB SKILLS GAINED FROM PARENTHOOD The ability to learn and apply new skills quickly Multitasking The knack for thinking outside the box An aptitude for flexibility The capability to work in a high stress environment The capacity to have patience with the process and a long-term vision for the future
3. Ability to learn and apply new skills quickly You start out with no instruction, no training, and no handbook
6. Working under stress If you’ve never experienced it for any given amount of time, there is nothing quite like the surge screaming babies/ whining children gives your blood pressure
7. Gaining patience and long term vision for your goals Goals of parenting are long term and you don’t get immediate gratification of seeing the results of your efforts It may be years, or even a lifetime before you see the full effects of your influence 1st Day of Kindergarten
8. In the words of award-winning journalist Ann Crittenden:
Editor's Notes
TALKING NOTES:-One of the biggest barriers in my job search beyond needing “to know” people seems to be summed up in the words “experience required”—or further more, a supposed lack in my *recent* experience.-This is due to my *professional* employment gap to stay home with my kids for the past 5 years. -Unfortunately, because of the times, this seems to be a tough barrier to get across and a frequent reason for Employers (searching through loads of applicants) to toss you. -The idea has been thrown around many times before- and I believe it to be true- that many skills essential for success in the workplace are enhanced or even learned staying home as a full time parent. NEXT SLIDE
TALKING NOTES:Some of these skills I believe are:The ability to learn and apply new skills quickly ClickMultitasking clickThe knack for thinking outside the box clickAn aptitude for flexibility clickThe capability to work in a high stress environment clickThe capacity to have patience with the process and a long-term vision for the futureI’m going to briefly go through each skill and give examples of how these skills are needed or observed in parenthoodNEXT SLIDE
TALKING NOTES:*THE ABILITY TO LEARN AND APPLY NEW SKILLS QUICKLY-Parenthood is sink or swimThey don’t give you a training manualAs long as you have state approved car seats and are breathing, the hospital hands you your child, wishes you luck, and sends you on your way.Click for PICTUREThis is even more terrifying when there are two.-For most new parents, the drive home from the hospital is one of the most exciting and terrifying drives of their lives. No new parent I’ve spoken with so far could believe they were actually entrusted with such a defenseless and little human life. So now when you get home you are faced with the seemingly simple task of feeding, bathing, and caring in general for these little humans. Easier said than done.Click PICTURE-Have you ever tried to bathe jello-jigglers? This is what bathing a newborn with no muscle control over their slippery limbs or head is like.You must quickly tap into your resources to find answers and learn survival tactics for bath time-In acquiring this new skill you quickly learn:A bath seat to prop the baby up in the sink is pricelessA heater on the kitchen counter during winter time baths in the sink works wonders for keeping the chill off your exposed little oneHaving EVERYTHING ready is key to success and less stressful bath timesMaking sure your other baby is content and safe before the bath starts helps keep stressful background crying to a minimumJust like in work outside the home, a lot of times you learn what works best by first coming across what *DOESN’T work*HOWEVER you get it accomplished, you need to figure out how to do things you’ve never done before. And figure it out FAST. NEXT SLIDE
TALKING NOTES*Multitasking(If you’re not good at it already, you will be soon)-Parenting and multitasking go hand in hand-There are constant demands on you from many directionsClick PICTURE-You may be popping binkies back into mouths to try to get restless babies to sleep while trying to send out pictures of the same little ones to equally restless relatives-Attention from both of your children or from two different areas of your life will often be demanded of you at the same time.Click PICTURESometimes you will be able to fulfill both needs(for example, one multitasking skill I learned quickly for night time feedings was to put the babies in their car seats side by side so I could give them both a bottle at the same time) And, just as in on the job, sometimes you will need to prioritize needs and go at them one at a time the best you can with the resources you have or delegate if possible.NEXT SLIDE
TALKING NOTES*THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX-As a parent, you must continually come up with unique solutions to new and constant challengesOften times thinking OUTSIDE the box as a parent lead me to putting my children INSIDE a box--- or something similar Let me explain Click PICTURE-Bath time seems to be a continuing theme here, but as the kids grew bath time challenges also grew and changed. Once the babies were able to sit up and roll or climb out of a bath seat and move around, I wanted to come up with a solution to bathe them safely at the same time.Using resources online, I found an excellent solution from a fellow mom of twins who plopped an empty, clean laundry basket in a tub full with water then plopped both her babies in the laundry basket. Talk about pictureThe babies were free enough to explore a little, contained enough that I could handle both of them and each had support or something to grab onto if they needed it Click pictures-Another time thinking outside the box led to putting my kids INSIDE a box was trying to find something safe and entertaining for two curious babies during our long days to fill at home. I have to credit my mom for this idea and have no problem doing so because solutions and success often come about from collaborative efforts, brainstorming, and teamwork.Mom took a huge tv box we had just gotten, put a window in it and set the kids in there to have literally HOURS of endless fun. A very creative solution to the unique challenge of entertaining multiple little ones just learning mobility
TALKING NOTES:*FLEXIBILITY-Another key to parenting and success in the workplaceGuess what? your child’s bladder doesn’t care what you have scheduled in your blackberry each hourYou need to be able to adapt your plans and change them as necessary Explain next pic is Jerry O Connell with his twins Click PICTURE-The unspoken rule of the grocery store is that when you are three fourths of the way through a lengthy list, one of your children will have a total melt down or have to go to the bathroom.You were so close to accomplishing your goal of getting groceries. But you now cannot complete the task without accepting one of a few new options.*If going to the bathroom is the issue, this can *usually* be taken care of fairly easily by parking your cart near the restroom and praying an over-ambitious employee doesn’t take it and start restocking your carefully chosen groceries*If a breakdown is the issue you can try to nip it with some disciplinary actions, creative thinking or distractions ( such as food, an activity…etc) while you try to hurry through the checkoutOr*If you had to chance it and go come to the store when a child was over tired and the breakdown is inevitable you can choose to bare the stares of horrified onlookers as your child pitches a fit and checkout as quickly as possible or *You can ditch your grocery cart and run to the car accepting the fact you will be having peanut butter and jelly for dinner At any rate, certainly this was not the grocery store trip “as planned”-Another thing you need to be flexible with as a parent are your hours Click PICTUREThey will obviously have to be adjusted to the demands of the jobYou are now officially *on call*
TALKING NOTES:*WORK UNDER STRESS-There is nothing quite like a baby’s scream that raises blood pressure so quicklyYet, you will often have to work with this noise in the background Click pics as you goYou just have to learn techniques to keep yourself calm, know when to put the baby down and walk away, or get ear plugs-Have you ever been so frustrated at work you knew the best thing to do was walk away for a bit and come back to refocus?Let’s walk away now.Click to last slide
TALKNG NOTES: Gaining patience with the process and a long term vision for your goals-The successes of parenthood aren’t immediate gratificationYou may never, even in your lifetime, get to see the full impact of your influence on your children.-You need to learn to keep your eye on the bigger prize and the long term goal which is, hopefully one day, a well-adjusted, happy, contributing member of society.Just as in parenthood, I believe it’s important in the workplace not to lose sight of your long term visions and goalsNEW SLIDE
So finally,Along the lines of the words of award winning journalist Ann Crittenden, *I feel*“If you’ve stayed home with kids, you can manage anything”THANK YOU
