Taken to Task

It is done. I have accepted a full time position teaching. I begin in two weeks. I've set my business up to run for the most part without me with my son as acting manager, and my office manager doing nearly all my duties now. I'm almost obssessive now about retiring my debts. This new job is the way to see that happen. I will be lead instructor of a team of three teaching OB/Peds. One has been a great partner to work with, and the other has yet to be discovered and hired. My goal now is to set about making OB/Peds the best rotation for the students. I want their experiences to be very positive (whether or not they choose these areas of specialization). I'll have the month of December to work out the kinks and get started in January. Simultaneously, one burden is lifted (steady income for the coming economic times) while two others are placed (dealing with the politics of the workplace and making a quality learning experience for my students). Today is my boss's last day. I will miss her, she has been wonderful to work with. Her replacement starts the same day I start fulltime. I'm hoping for the best. I plan for and look forward to the change and transition. My office manager and mother-in-law are our back ups for care for Josiah, otherwise he will continue here at home with Daddy since DH works nights, and the teens are home from school before he leaves for work. Even so, a part of me misses him already. Its amazing how much a baby changes the joy level of a home- even one that seemed perfectly happy before.
Speaking of babies, did anyone happen to catch the segment on Doulas on the Today Show? Well you can catch it now here. There were some nice things said about doulas, but mostly it just made me miffed. They made sure to play up the 'dark and evil' side of doulas as presented by a physician whose hospital had banned them! Then they ended by calling doulas a luxury for priviledged women! I can feel the letter writing campaigns forming. My doula listserve is already heating up. It seemed quite biased and portrayed physicians and nurses at the top of a birth hierarchy (with doulas firmly at the bottom), but I reject this view. In my scheme, moms and babies are central and everyone else is subservient to them and their needs (a circle, not a pyramid). I feel a new chapter to my book coming on...