Fantasyland

Since I started walking for exercise (the other day), I've been entertaining a recurrent fantasy. No, not that kind. But about work.

I truly do love my job as a speech-language pathologist, and I love working with the veteran population. Specifically, I love working with survivors of (m)TBI and doing cognitive rehabilitation. I need to return this summer to work at the VA Medical Center because my fellowship goes through September, and I need nine months of full-time work in order to be licensed by ASHA, the profession's governing body. Plus we need the money, particularly if Alex loses his job at Southridge HS.

But my dad was right. He warned me that I wouldn't want to return to work after the baby was born. At least not full-time. While I love my job, I love the Bean even more.

My recent fantasy has been to have some sort of private practice. (Possibly inspired by the ABC show of the same name, which Francie and I have been watching obsessively on Netflix). I don't want my own place or anything, and ideally I'd like to specialize in brain injury and maybe aphasia. The fantasy was spurred by new signage outside a remodeled home just up the street from us in the Maplewood neighborhood. The sign is advertising the opening of a coffee shop, acupuncture, and yoga studio. I was daydreaming about how cool it would be to rent space from them. I could get several private pay clients - maybe my specialty could be post-concussive syndrome in order to cover the age span - and see them in that office for just a few hours each week. Granted, not a lot of people have extra money for such an expense, so I'd have to be crafty in how I attracted clients. Or maybe if I did some research I might find that it's easier to accept insurance than I imagine.

This fantasy involves me keeping my foot in both the Professional world and in the Mom world. I can't bear the thought of being away from Francie for 45+ hours each week this summer (although I don't have much of a choice). But if I can lay the groundwork for really fulfilling part-time work for after I'm licensed, that would be ideal. I didn't spend two years in graduate school to stay home, after all, but I am definitely looking for that theoretical work/life balance.