Gettib\ng depresed here. Not meant to insult anyone

[go-veggie]

Quote:
Oooooooooooooooooh, send some of your fudge to oprah..........oh yeah! Now that is a great idea! It can't hurt to try!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She might tell the world it's the best fudge she's ever tasted and you will become an overnight success! Tell us all what happens...or should I just stay tuned?????

 

[Rhett&SarahsMom]

I never thought of Oprah. Hmmmm
I was thinking of sending some to the radio station I listen to in the mornings. But Oprah?

When I get my kitchen time back(Sept 1st since I share a production kitchen) I will have to send her some. Who knows. Maybe she will be impressed enough to contact me. Martha Stewart too. Ok. so I will search addresses.

Thanks for the support everyone. I really appreciate it.

 

[Beekissed]

Rhett&SarahsMom :

I have a degree. I had to work my butt off to get it. Paid all of my college education myself. No help from mom or dad and little help from loans. Then I had to bust my hump to get a decent job. I am self taught on computers. Self taught on typing etc etc. Finally landed myself a job at an Ivy League University in the intellectual copyright dept. Had an office. With a DOOR!
Then I got pregnant. After doctors had told me that I would "need help getting and staying pregnant"
I had planned on going back to work after my maternity leave.
But then I held her.

So I have been SAHM/Daycare provider/Small business owner for the last 6 years. And now my baby is going to be starting KG the beginning on Sept. I had been thinking YAY! I can go back to work! I have been keeping up with things. Not letting my brain become mush or my skill set stagnate. Then I realized what the school day is. Basically 6 hours. And what the after school programs are here = CRAP. Cant find a decent daycare provider that will take my dd part time until 5:30pm Most close at 430

So here I am. Applying at fast food restaurants that dont even have "college" on the applications. And have questions about your grades in school. I am so freaking depressed right now.

I am going to be going to be starting a new "career" in fast food. Luckily the minimum wage here is $8 an hour. But after taxes that will probably be more like $4 an hour. So what the piddly amount of my paychecks is going to do to "help around the house" is beyond me. Maybe fill the tank on the car(mid size SUV) But most likely not much more than that.

Sorry.. just feeling poorly about myself. ignore me

Welcome to my life!

Raised three boys without the benefit of child support or a second income of any kind. Went back to school three times since having the first child 22 years ago. Again, with no financial help from family. Still earning crappy wages that just make enough so that I can afford to go back to work again tomorrow.

Thank God you got to stay home with your baby...at least that's something! I feel your pain and frustration....

 

[BowChickaBowMow]

Quote:
I haven't read all the posts yet, but wanted to add to this one.... why not use your expertise to write up an article and send to your local papers... about your fudge. Rent some booth space at local fairs/flea markets etc... and add the when and where to your article. Smaller town papers will probably pan out better (that's what's happened in our case anyways b/c they're desperate for ANYthing)

Do you only sell out of your home, by word of mouth now? Have you thought of taking a small display to local stores and asking if you can sell there. Gas stations also. I know our local gas stations sell "homemade" goodies from different people. (caramel corn, cookies, brownies, fudge, etc) Make up a nice small basket display that can be set on their counter. Work out a deal w/ the owner for how much they can keep of each sale. Then check your basket regularly. I'd start w/ every other day to guage how much, how often will sell. Then you can work out a schedule, maybe twice a week, or once a week. Make sure your display basket has a place for business cards.

Why not expand to goodie gift baskets? Make up some display samples, some flyers w/ photos of your display samples (including party trays of fudge?) Then whenever you run errands stop at local businesses (small and large) and sell yourself. Offer to set up a couple display samples at a local hotel if you have one. The hotel manager may want to order some for special guests... or guests staying there may want some.

You can do it!!! Use your gifts and talent!

BTW....do you cream your fudge?

I used to manage a fudge and ice cream shop... yummmmmm... I could live off of it!

 

[bluie]

I put myself through school too and had a good paying career and then had a daughter too. I went on to have two boys too, and I was a stay at home mom for 11 years. When my youngest was 2 or 3, I started thinking of what I was going to do with the degree I already had (a BFA) and what would work well with having kids (because I didn't want to go back to what I was going before). I decided to become an art teacher. It took about a year or a year and a half to take education courses and get my New York State teacher certification. It took another year and a half of substitute teaching before I found a permanent job. I had five years to complete my masters degree in education while working. I LOVE my job. I also have about the same hours as my kids, and health insurance and a savings plan, and built in sick days. Oh yeah, and summers off! It was absolutely the best decision I could have made. It was hard to find a job as an art teacher. Music, social studies, physical education-these are also tough. But if you can do math or science, you should have no problem getting a job.

 

[chiknlady]

Okay--here I go--

First forgive me 'cause I don't know you and believe me I am not insensitive--that being said--I want to say some things to you as much for you as for myself.

1) do not equate self worth for how much you sell yourself for on the open market.

2) you will never get the chance to repeat raising your children--I repeat you will never get this chance again--so don't screw it up

3) Find three, five, fifty, one thing to be grateful for today...

4) No one promised you it would be easy--no one--read the fine print in the life manual.

5) yeah I can even empathise with the collegiate frustration, but my degree just so happens to be from a somewhat famous Ivy League University in MA and you know what --no one cares!

6) Make it work--I and millions of others are in the same boat--or perhaps even sinking.

Last but not least

7) You are beautiful and perfect and are loved...know that you were made to make manifest the glory of heaven and that you can fly...

Stay positive and go after your dreams remembering to count your blessing along the way...

 

[Stumpy]

I wouldn't take the fast food job. It doesn't sound like it would amount to anything more than getting out of the house.

 

[FloridaChickenChick]

ChiknLady is right, especially with #7!

But here's some AWESOME advice:

Quote:
Here in Florida, the community colleges and universities have SBDCs..Small Business Development Councils (?) and also Business Resources Centers. Take advantage of these! Check with Chambers of Commerce to see if they offer any assistance to new businesses (the Chamber I work for has a $45 membership for home based businesses, which includes FREE exhibit space at our Home Based Business Expo every year).

Home based businesses are an incredible economic engine in the United States! Go for it!

Don't be dismayed that you may have to take a cr@ppy job at a fast food joint...you gotta put food on the table so take what you can get and keep moving forward. I can't say enough good things about the entrepreneurial resources at community colleges.

Good Luck!

 

[FlockEweFarm]

Hey, do not sell yourself short! If you take that job in fast food, you will hate it, you will resent it, and you will begin to resent the reasons you are there. You have to find something that not only feeds the piggy bank and the gas tank, but that also feeds your sense of self- worth.
I am in the same boat that you are in, only I am one step worse off than you, I am sharing a house with my EX-HUSBAND because I am too broke to live anywhere else, and being disabled, I have very limited prospects for employment. I did find that with my degree and with a Masters in progress, I was able to get some work as a substitute teacher and then as a Special Education Aide. With all the new diagnoses's out there, and with the high burnout rate in the educational world, you might look into Aide positions or getting on the Substitute roster. Good luck to you, and hang in there, it will get better. You are a MOM, you have done it all, seen it all, and you are a survivor!

 

[BJ]

Along with the fudge, could you also start a before and after-school care program?