"When I grow up, I'm going to be..."

horseless carriage said:
You have nothing to regret, we should all honour and celebrate the incredible mothers of special needs children. Your love knows no bounds, your strength no limits, and your dedication is truly awe-inspiring. You humble me with your love of less fortunate children, to you I would say:

Thank you for your unwavering love and devotion, your endless patience and understanding, for being the voice for your child when they can’t speak for themselves. For your strength, your resilience, and your unwavering determination.

Thank you for showing us what unconditional love truly looks like. I salute you and celebrate all that you do. You are an inspiration to us all, and your children are blessed to have you as their mother.
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Whoa! I think anyone who had a child with special needs would do the same.
 

When I was 9 y/o I told my dad I wanted to be a state cop. He asked why and I didn’t have an exact answer, so I told him because I think I would really enjoy doing it. Dumb answer, I know, but at 9 y/o, it was the best answer I could come up with. I shaped my whole young life around wanting to be a state cop, which included “keeping my nose clean.”
 
I grew up on/in the water and I really admired the Mike Nelson (Lloyd Bridges) character on the TV show Sea Hunt as a kid. In college I pursued a degree in aquatic biology, but when I graduated I discovered that there were very few jobs available in that field. I was told by a career counselor that there were roughly 3 positions available for every 100 qualified applicants. :(

I started out working as a chemist but, as often happens in technical fields, was drawn into management. I still worked in the environmental field and was successful, so I can't complain.
 
MaidMarian said:
I wanted to be so many things! I wanted to be an elementary school teacher. I went to college and during the program became interested in special education and switched majors. I worked with mentally retarded adults for a few years and then I wanted to work in a veterinary hospital so I went back to school and became a veterinary technician and assistant.
I was a makeup artist for awhile
Then I went back to school again for nursing but never worked as a nurse as I adopted 2 babies and stayed home. My son has special needs.
I regret that I never had a lasting career.
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You've helped a lot of people in your lifetime, and that's a great achievement!
 
After a young cousin died from leukemia when I was 13, I wanted to be a biologist so I could learn more about that disease and help fight it. I ended up getting a biology degree and working in the cancer field (laboratory, cancer data manager) for several years. But after I married and stayed home to raise our adopted son, I evolved into a writer and wrote books and poetry, and in my retirement, now teach English online. I keep evolving....
 
MaidMarian said:
I wanted to be so many things! I wanted to be an elementary school teacher. I went to college and during the program became interested in special education and switched majors. I worked with mentally retarded adults for a few years and then I wanted to work in a veterinary hospital so I went back to school and became a veterinary technician and assistant.
I was a makeup artist for awhile
Then I went back to school again for nursing but never worked as a nurse as I adopted 2 babies and stayed home. My son has special needs.
I regret that I never had a lasting career.
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Special people adopt kids with special needs. Good for you.
 
When I grow up, I'm going to be...
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Like many children I wanted to be what my dad was, working for the State Dept. as a Foreign Service Counsel. As a Foreign Service member, knowing some foreign languages is necessary, so I took Spanish from 8th through 11th grade. Long story short- my actual career was based on my training in the Army, being proficient in electrical, welding, plumbing and HVAC + put dinner on the dinner table for 50 years.
 
I just wanted to be a wife and a mom and live in a pretty little house with a garden. I never wanted to work. I wanted to take care of my children and sew, and quilt and do art when I had time at home.

So instead I am a wife, no children ( two miscarriages, I married late) and had to work all of my life, 52 years of office work, many times so stressed, that I got physically ill from the stress and was on leave. I have always live in apartments and condos with no garden. At least, I got to enjoy my hobbies in art and sewing.
 
LoveTulips said:
52 years of office work, many times so stressed, that I got physically ill from the stress and was on leave.
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I also did office work my entire working life; sometimes people don't realize how stressful it can be. When I came home one day nearly in tears because my boss had been on the warpath with me all day and Huzz says to me, "Why don't you do what I do when my boss is mad at me? I just walk out." I said, "Uh, because I can't leave my desk in that tiny little office?" "Oh, right, right," he says; "I keep forgetting you can't leave." (He never worked in an office obviously.)
 
MaidMarian said:
It’s OK. I should have been more clear. I love my kids and am not sorry I adopted.Many people have kids with autism. I just would have liked to have had a career so that I could take care of me.
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My son and his wife could not have children. This wasn’t known until after they had been married for about a year. They decided to adopt. Luckily, a friend knew a woman that was having babies and adopting them out, but the new parents had to pay her a fee through her attorney.

There first child was a baby girl. She is now in college studying to be an R.N. Later, the same woman had 2 more daughters and they were being fostered by an interracial couple, but they were separating and had to return the kids. My son and D-I-L decided to adopt 1 of the bi-racial girls. They were sisters and did not want to be separated so they were going to go back to the stat’e for fostering again. They decided to take both girls. They were like 12 and 10.

Both are college graduates. Both are in professional jobs. We are very proud of our granddaughters. All 3 have really done well for themselves and they give a lot of thanks to my son and D-I-L.
 
Didn't know the whole time K12. Wanted to do something to make at least a reasonable salary in order to be able to build a life. With the threat of impossible to avoid being drafted into the Viet Nam War, then ending up in some leech, mosquito, and poison snake infested swamp carrying an M16 while dodging bullets, I instead took tests to control my fate and ended up in a USAF electronic field. Then after discharge ran with that which worked.
 
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