In between the silver lining

The other evening, I was talking to our program manager at work about how her experience had been transitioning from doing outpatient therapy to being in the managerial position at our program (while still doing therapy in the program and on the side).

Her response was pretty funny and surprising. She told me,

"Ya know, I never thought that my position would come down to basically being the Underwear Police! That's not somewhere I ever saw my career path going really."

She talked about how a lot more time than she would like is spent dealing with petty things like making sure our staff was appropriately dressed and didn't have their underwear bursting out here and there or weren't sharing cigarettes with clients or doing other things that just seem like common sense to most of us, but not to everyone, apparently.

I also have experienced times at my job where I do a sort of double-take and wonder why my job involves doing the dishes or helping people get dressed into their pajamas or washing bed sheets. What? I got my college degree and endured through the bachelor's experience of academia in order to get a job ... taking out the trash?

And at my work a lot of these unexpected duties come in the form of Housekeeping stuff. Ironic because I barely manage to get that done at my own house!

I have had jobs before that required me to do this kind of thing. When I was an intern or a tech, I felt like I was the one expected to do the jobs no one else wanted to do. It's one step up from slave labor-- getting paid next to nothing because you're young and inexperienced. However, they were the jobs that helped motivate me to get through and finish college. So I would never have to do that stuff again!! (Outside of my home, of course.)

My job in a lot of ways is more than I ever hoped to be able to do with my Bachelors in Social Work. I get so much client interaction time that has given me such incredible experiences. I get to facilitate and conduct group and individual counseling sessions and have had some of the most profound conversations in my life and heard some of the most incredible and sad life stories. I really really love my work, especially when it feels like I've helped someone in need.

It's just sometimes when we're short staffed, or when a patient hasn't pooped for 4 days so she was told to show staff if she was able to have a bowel movement and I'm the only one not in group (gag), so I get to go in her bathroom and check out the stuff in the toilet. awesome.

So have any of you had the experience where you end up being responsible for something that you never thought you'd have to be? Whether it was a job you're over-qualified for or some other adult responsibility you didn't expect, etc?

A lot of being a mom feels like this to me. I think that's one reason it's still a slow, hard transition. The job description screams things like "Must be qualified to hop like a bunny, roar like an elephant, make raspberries with your tongue, and wipe poop up before kids step in it!"

But I guess the message is that we do it because we're motivated out of love. I love my job. As a social worker and a mother. And love doesn't have clean-cut boundaries or tightly maintain job requirements. That's why it's unconditional. Which is the kind of life experience I want Eliza to have and the kind of service I want my clients to be able to rely on. And most of all, it's the kind of sacrifice and performance I want to offer my Heavenly Father.

"Fear not to do good, my sons, for whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap; therefore, if ye sow good ye shall also reap good for your reward." D&C 6:33

"... For all this there is a reward in heaven." D&C 127:4

And I write all of these words hypocritically because my husband is downstairs doing the laundry and cleaning up the kitchen. Hehe.