My name is Sarah… pleased to connect with you online. As I approach my 46th birthday, I am “officially” entering the 21st century era of communications by finally getting around to trying my hand at blogging (better late than never, as they say!) Given the internal challenges I have been facing lately, I expect it will be a therapeutic exercise in laying out my situation and clarifying my thoughts. Meanwhile, I’m hoping you, the reader will find this post to be helpful in some way as, together, we explore the possibility of entering the home health care or personal home healthcare market via the tools CaregiverUSA provides.
Here’s my backstory to give you some context. My husband David, a mid-level accounting manager, and I have been married nearly 19 years and have been busy rearing our two sons, Mike, now 16, and Zach, 14, at our home in a quiet middle-class Columbus, Ohio suburb. While we’ve had our ups and downs like everyone else, overall we have been blessed with good health, a vibrant family life, wonderful friends, and steady employment for David.
I must say David is great – he has always been totally supportive of my decision to resign from my frenzied position as a marketing manager for a major telecom company to be a stay-at-home mom, starting at around age 30. After all, what better investment can parents make than funneling their energy and gifts into their children’s well-being? As we see it, our job is to nurture and develop our sons into caring, responsible human beings who will, hopefully, make the world a better place to live.
To this end, I have proudly and happily worn the multiple hats of full-time homemaker for the last 16 years: layperson nurse, laundress, organic vegetable gardener, bargain shopper, home decorator, wardrobe consultant, meal planner, chief cook and bottle-washer, chauffeur, amateur psychologist, Cub Scout den mother, sports team spectator, PTA chairwoman, social director, church bake sale point person, school basketball team fundraiser, holiday event planner, tutor, and, last but not least, housekeeper and organizer. In fact, I have been accused of being a “neat freak” by the men in my family. So what if I store the canned goods in alphabetical order?
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But, I admit, kids grow up fast and things have changed; the boys don’t need me as much anymore. Mike is able to drive himself and his brother to and from school and their various sports and social activities. Mike got his license the day after his 16th birthday – we were so proud! It stings a little that they are in that phase where they really don’t want mom hanging around too much, particularly when the boys are with their friends.
So, I’ve found I am kind of restless, rather at loose ends at this crossroads in my life’s journey. This means it is time for a new challenge, a positive change. Besides, as David says, “How many times do you need to dust the shower curtains?” David thinks I need to get out of the house and find something I enjoy doing. Granted, while my husband does make reasonably good money, we both realize that with the prospect of putting two boys through college looming on the near horizon, it would be wise to figure out something for me to do that will allow me to put away some cash each week toward their higher education pursuits. I’m sure you’ve heard, in this election year, how college tuition costs are going through the roof! I know we’ll get through it, but we should be proactive in finding ways to increase our household income.
Of course, I’ve ruminated quite a bit about what I should do. Considering how much I enjoyed my former career in marketing, I always thought I could return to it eventually, once my children became more independent. But so much has changed since I left the industry at age 30 – in technology, in new best practices, etc. The learning curve would be very steep. Plus, I’ve heard so much about age bias in hiring (let’s face it – I’m well over 40, it happens) so it’s possible I might hit some resistance re-entering that particular job market. Of course, I know I could prevail, but the thing is, I have to really want it.
Truthfully, I don’t relish the thought of taking on a stressful position, and that certainly comes with the territory in a marketing career. I am really only interested in working part-time, and I considered healthcare, but have decided that at this stage in life, I don’t want to submit to the late-night study sessions and rigors of academia all over again. Because I love healthy cooking so much, I also toyed with the idea of opening my own “organic only” cafe, but David and I eventually decided the hours involved and the financial risk would ultimately not be the best choice for our family.
After much soul-searching, I’ve figured out something I’ve known inside all along but never articulated before. The bottom line is: “I need to be needed.”
But please read on, because an exciting new development is unfolding. Ironically, despite all the things I have been doing the last several years to take care of others, it never crossed my mind that I would consider becoming a professional part-time caregiver – after all, that’s what I’m doing on this CGUSA website. But life has a way of opening up new possibilities where you least expect them.
Call us at 614-408-9939 to learn more about the career as a caregiver.
Long story short: I love Facebook and these days, I am probably on there a bit too much. Several hours ago, in a light moment, I posted a funny meme about “Pre-empty Nest Syndrome.” It got several likes, which led to an old high school friend, Ashley, messaging me about her new career as a part-time personal caregiver and suggesting it may be good for me, too. Ashley used to tease and call me “Mother Sarah” way back in the day (I loved playing with little kids, and I would always be offering up home remedies to my friends’ random case of sniffles or sore muscles after a softball game). I asked her how she got into this field, given she had been an insurance adjuster for many years, and she told me about how she was able to easily find flexible and convenient work opportunities as a caregiver via CaregiverUSA.
I was interested, of course, but mentioned that I do not have any kind of nursing certification. No worries, said Ashley, neither does she! We actually jumped off Facebook and onto our phones, where we talked about how she was being paid to go into different people’s homes and cook, clean, organize, babysit – all the things I have been doing for years as a homemaker. She was so enthused about convincing me to do this I finally had to beg off the call so I could take action.
You’ve made your case, Ashley, this home caregiver situation is definitely worth looking into!
I am happy to report that I did not procrastinate. I hung up the phone immediately and went to the CaregiverUSA site, which is very easy to navigate, and just signed up, taking about 40 minutes to throw together and submit an appropriate resume highlighting my homemaker skills. I have already received the email acknowledgment for my application.
Ashley says they move quickly and told me I can expect to hear from them in a few days regarding the requisite background check, setting up my profile, etc. She described CGUSA as sort of a home healthcare match-making service and told me there are a lot of people on the site looking for help with elderly parents, Alzheimer’s patients, childcare, housekeeping and errands during illness. Of course, skilled nursing services from Registered Nurses (RNs), Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) and Certified Nurse Assistants (CNAs) are also in demand. Ashley said in ten days or less, I should be able to start looking at the CGUSA electronic job board for care seekers in my area, and, conversely, have potential employers contact me via specific searches on the website database.
Can all this really be happening so quickly? Absolutely. In this amazing human journey, we’ve all got to “seize the day.” I am so looking forward to seeing how fate will bring me together with “just the right people” at “just the right time” so we can learn, grow, and help each other through life’s joys, trials, and tribulations.
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