Wonderemployment

My cousin asked people to write letters to her daughter for her 13th birthday with advice, thoughts, and reflections. I loved the idea, but it took me a long time to figure out what I wanted to say. There is so much to say to someone so young. And we are all on such different paths, who knows if any advice is the right advice. I'm not sure that I whittled it down to the right things, but here is my letter. --- Dear Cate, Thirteen is one of the most vivid years of my life, mostly because it was one of the hardest. Many adults will try to tell you how easy you have it now--no responsibilities, no work, no bills to pay-- but I don't know a single adult who would rather be 13 than 30. I don't say this to fill you with dread, but more to let you know that if things feel hard and confusing, it's not just you. It's universal. It's nature's hazing ritual. If you're feeling any pressure that these should be the best years of your life, let it go. There ar...

1. Hear baby crying for another hour on end and fantasize about going back to work. 2. Casually search your usual suspects for job openings. You know, just to see what's out there... 3. Find something that actually looks pretty good! 4. Decide it wouldn't hurt to apply-- probably won't get it anyway. 5. Send in your application and forget about it. 6. A month later, get invited to interview. 7. Ask a friend to babysit so you can actually accept the interview. (Thank you Trisha!) 8. Try on all your interview-appropriate clothes and realize that pants are out of the question and only one dress zips up and doesn't look like it will bust at the seams. Go with that. 9. Have a great interview and then get really nervous about what a great interview could mean. 10. Get invited for a second interview. (Crap, time to find another outfit...) 11. Have your mom dig out some maternity pants that you swore you were done with. Ahh yes, hello elastic waistband! 12. Wo...