what did we all do before the kids?

[lisad123isasnuttyasaboxoffrogs]

or until we had to make changes due to our LOs SN??
I trained to work with children and families. I spent 6 years in SS working on child protection and parenting assessments. I also used to manage a respite group for SN children and worked for 2 years in an emotional and behavioural difficultie unit for chidlren expelled from school.

what do you all do?

LOL ... I was a Lifeguard .

The gym skirt seems a lifetime away now, OMG it is a lifetime away Dd1 is 22. .

I was a nurse and looked quite young for my age! Continued with nursing when DS2 was born in 1996 but eventually gave it up. Was contemplating moving to Spain with the family at one point. Now doing bits and bobs of gardening which I re-trained for.

DS will be 15 next year. I am now at the stage of wondering what I am going to do for a job if he leaves home for residential care at 18. My brain as atrophied somewhat. I cannot envisage DS staying at home as he is too challenging, otherwise I would just continue being a carer. What I'd really like to do is drive round Europe in a camper van for months on end!! My time for a bit of well-earned freedom

This and that! I trained as a fashion designer - which wasn't my original course, embroidery - it got closed a week before i was due to start (don't get me on to the politics) and was told either do this or there's nothing, which with a single parent mum and no job to go into, having paid for a term's accommodation, i did. I sold a few collections, worked in restaurants, hotels, shops, visitor centres, and government departments.
I'm now at the needing to get back to doing something stage, but realising that i am the primary care giver, so it will need to fit around that. I will also need to pay for any re-training - so that has a few implications too. Just need to decide on a direction.

I was a care assistant.

Sorry - had to laugh when i saw your name 'colditz' and then your job. How mismatched can you get

I worked in residential childcare for about 10 years, then became a children's right's worker and advocate for children in care. Moved to Holland with Dutch hubby and worked in an international school nursery!!

Once Luuk arrived I couldn't go back to work.Now busy in the aplication process for fostering.

xxx

I was a ch and fam social worker, and before that sw with D/deaf people,(and now am (very part time) assoc lecturer in social work, as it fits round ds) what future holds,,,, who knows!

I was a shop assistant, then care assistant in a Care Home, then a payroll assistant, then a Care Assistant in a hospital as a teenager/20 year old.

Then I finished my degree, did RN training & worked as a Nurse until DD1 was 20 months old.

Then I had DD2, went on Mat leave, and never returned, because DD1 was dx SN.

I am still registered (just, if I pay my retainer this month), but will lose my Registration in 2012 because I haven't worked since 2007 so won't have 450 to reregister.

I was a doctor working in a rheumatology research centre; vague plan was to go back & finish my MSc or do a MSc conversion to pharmacy (slightly more family friendly). I can't see either happening now tbh :(

Himself worked for social services (mental health team), and then for united response.

I worked for a housing association providing supported housing for adults with LD, then support (residential) for same company in home for young women with behavioural problems, then for the council (housing & repairs).

We then quit all that and set up a care agency, providing support workers to registered residential homes for adults with ld / mhp

Then branched into providing training (I'm a member of the CIPD - lapsed now) and 'rapid response' - basically big burley blokes to rush to kicking off type situations )and then also consultancy and designing policies and procedures.

Didn't see the second part of the question:

What do you all do?

Well now DD is full-time in school, I have a little more time to get some intellectual stimulation. I crave mental challenge, and my brain has turned to fudge.

So I am Chairing DD2's Preschool committee from January, which will be challenging because staff morale is quite low, and we need to turn that around. They are lovely people who are at the mercy of whoever is on the committee - it must be soul-destroying. So I want to tighten up policies and make some new policies that benefit staff, such as 'snow closure policy', so that they don't have to beg to be paid when the preschool is shut due to H&S

Also, I have been Chairing the Interim Partnership Board for our new local Children's Centre, and will be on the Partnership Board itself from Feb when we form it! That is a great opportunity to shape services for 0-5s in the area, and support the Centre Manager in her role.

I am getting involved in DD1's new school too on their 'Friends of....' organisation.

I have absolutely no idea what I'll do now!

Lougle...Good for you I have been working in commitee controlled preschools while Dd3 has been little. You are right at the staff being at the mercy of them. [we to don't know if we will get paid on snow days!!]

I have signed up with a education staffing agency so hopefully will get some work in schools from January.

I worked as a TA for 11 years before I had Dd3 and discovered that it is really hard to hold down a job when you have 3 children in 3 different places during the day.

I was a teacher. One without anything like the insight I have now, mind. I find it embarrassing how little I knew about SN.

Isn't it amazing that so many of us were already involved in some way with what we fight for now

Star I was waiting for a

But there wasn't one!!!! You really did that??? That is one crazy turn of events - you could almost say that you were set up for it

Nursing student

working in LD unit

A few eyars temping in both care and admin

shite job with VAT office

job in haulage where I met DH

great job in student admissions at fe college

fundraiser for MAcmillan

manager for homestart

tehre is a career path in there somewhere but until I got a good job (macmillan) I had aan attention span of about 7 months max

Oh my new job title from April is Craetive Designer- was meant to be a basic sort of post in family business until I did a trial stage tender for DH and now apparently earned the title ten times over LOL

A year of that to decide if it is what I want or to finally do the sw training.

Ah you see starlight what I learned was we kept SSD afloat, took ar more of their workload than our contract specified and at a higher level (technically we were supposed to support families with volunteers, in fact I had my own caseload of harder families on top- alcoholics, etc). We saved SSD IIRC £80 for every £8 spent on us.

And yet we still went under as soon as SSD hit a budget worry becuase they pulled us up on a technicality about volunteers recruted (one had just left and not been fund a replacement), closed us down and dumped our famillies.

I learned not to trust anything. great lesson

I was a fine art student ( having way too much fun hense ds1)

am now a portrait artist.. Mostly can fit this in around ds2s needs but would love to be able to take more work on.

Auntevil we need to share exhibition space ! :)

I do what I've always done - banking. Covered a huge variety of roles but now investigate fraud (must be why I don't trust anyone ).

Teacher then and part time teacher now.

I too, am mortified about how little I knew about SN and now the staff expert on ASD though.