It didn’t start out this way, but somehow I ended up being my kids’ secretary. Not that I don’t have enough time at the keyboard, tapping out the stories that stream through my head. Love that time. It makes me feel happier and more human, all at once.
My kids started as adorable, sometimes exasperating little people who didn’t like to sleep. Then they morphed into teens that wanted to sleep the day away. Go figure.
As they progressed from middle school to high school, it only made sense that I helped them learn how to write papers. I am, after all, the writer in the family. I love words and I like to think they love me back. Somehow, the lessons in sentence structure and how to craft a paragraph led to me handling other things. They were busy kiddos and they had jobs after school. It only made sense that I’d handle random phone calls. I ended up helping them with college aps when they neared the final stages of high school. It was in everyone’s best interests that someone scurried around looking for scholarships. I was pretty good at that.
Then, of course, I became the proofreader for college papers, in addition to handling filing. Their father and I both functioned as sounding boards for papers and the like, but I do details better than he, so I somehow became the secretary.
Having spent a little time in grad school to earn the degree that allows me the other job I enjoy, I recommended they spend four years in college, get a degree doing something they love and get out of school. Of course, they both ignored me and sought higher degrees.
I don’t want to talk about it.
The bottom line is that I’ve somehow become their secretary. I still proofread for one and until only recently filed for the other one. Maybe I should have gone to secretarial school myself.