When you were young...?

I was tagged last week by Kate from The Five Fs blog. Kate has asked me to talk about what I wanted be when I was younger. It's a good job the question was "what did you want to be when you grew up?" because a) I still don't know and b) I'm not entirely sure I've grown up yet. All my life I have flitted about from one idea to the next, and I still do. I can never settle for one thing I want to do, there are so many wonderful careers out there I'd like to try but lets face it, I'll probably never do any of them!


At a young age, I guess around age 5, if you'd asked me I would have said "nurse". My parents were both nurses, as were both my aunties and my grandparents also worked in the same hospital. I grew up in the grounds of that hospital and spent many hours wandering the corridors and wards with my grandad and parents (We'll ignore the fact that it was a lunatic asylum *cough*). I guess it stands to reason that I wanted to be a nurse too given that my closest relatives wear. My auntie wore the most fabulous cape and hat which I was very jealous of. I guess I would have been very disappointed now if I thought I could dress up like that!


At about 9 I think I had settled on being a nun (no sniggering at the back, I don't think I was fully aware of what it meant). I was a good Catholic girl (until I hit my teens) and went to Catholic schools and was taught by a nun who was just lovely. I had spent time at convents and retreats with nuns and young men training to be priests and the whole thing fascinated me. However, it wasn't long before I discovered boys...

Around age 14 I dreamed of working in the media - journalism in particular. I loved English and writing assignments and liked the idea of writing articles for magazines and newspapers. I lacked a fair bit of get up and go at school however, and it just never seemed important to me to pursue this as a real option. I think looking back, I also lacked a fair bit of parental support. I love my parents but they were't that interested in my education and I just wish that once they had said to me "you can be anything you want to be" and spurred me on a bit.


I left school, did a course at college and then took on a job as an office junior. That was 14 years ago and I am still in the same job, albeit doing different tasks. My role is categorised as "business development" - marketing, promotion, tendering for new work and organising the social side of the business - events, team bonding sessions, parties.... not exactly the stuff of dreams but it's flexible and it pays well so that's my lot for now!

I still dream of what I will be "when I grow up". Home Economist? Archeologist? Child Psychiatrist? Police Officer? Teacher? All jobs I've thought about. I quite often settle on Midwifery and have almost taken the plunge once or twice however what I know about the NHS and how it works (a fair bit due to my current job) holds me back. That and the fact the midwives I met when pregnant seemed to be a certain type of person and not one that I would want to be. I still have the urge to nurse and care for people so I've decided for the meantime that when the children are at school I will volunteer at a local hospice as finances mean that it would be hard for me to give up my day job just yet.


A job in a caring profession was my childhood dream and it appears I am still holding on to that!

I'm not going to tag anyone on this post but do leave a comment and let me know what you wanted to do with your life!

love & kisses
Mrs M x