How being a veterinary technician prepared me for motherhood

Diagnosing sick animals is difficult. They can’t tell us what is wrong, and they can’t always show us where it hurts. We ask clients questions, get a detailed history, and then run diagnostics to hopefully get an answer. This is the world I lived in for almost 15 years as a veterinary technician. Then my world was turned upside down when I had children. I had little creatures in my house who were entirely dependent on me. They looked to me to take care of them and help them when they were sick or hurt. They couldn’t always tell me what was wrong, and I had to do some detective work to come up with a detailed history and ask myself questions about what was happening...sound familiar? I know this might be a little silly, but being a veterinary tech prepared me for motherhood.

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I can’t tell you how many times my kids were sick, and I knew what they needed and what to tell the nurses when I called the pediatrician because of my background in veterinary medicine. Fever? Give them an NSAID. Ear infection? Antibiotics. Vomiting and diarrhea? Bland diet and fluids. Parenthood is scary daily, but especially when your child is sick or hurt. I am thankful for my medical background when my kids are sick because it helps me keep a level head in order to get them the help they need. My pediatrician has thanked me for the detailed information I provide to them during appointments. Not that other parent are not capable of that, I just feel that it comes more naturally to me because of my experience in veterinary medicine.

Another aspect of veterinary medicine that has helped me as a mom is the ability to multitask. In veterinary medicine, I can be answering client communications, running appointments, and submitting lab work at the same time. At home, I’m keeping track of dance and sports practice, planning dinners, and helping with homework, all in the short hours between after school and bedtime. I’ve been very lucky to work part time since my son was born. He is turning 10 this year, and I can’t believe I’ve managed to make it work this long. It has been difficult to have my foot in both worlds at times. When other nurses had 4-5 days to get their work done, I only had 2 days. However, my time management and delegation skills have grown immensely because of working part time and it’s made me a better nurse. I think it’s also made me a better mom. I must be organized every day, regardless of which role I am in that day.

When I was the lead internal medicine nurse, there was a lot more required of me when I wasn’t in the office. Was I checking emails and calling in prescriptions when the kids were napping? Yes. Did I come in late and leave early for school functions or when I was on bus duty when my husband traveled? Also, yes. Now that I am not a lead and work in cardiology, I am not required to do any work outside of my working hours on Mondays and Tuesdays. I loved being a lead in a specialty department, but when I was at work, I was thinking about the kids and when I was with the kids, I was thinking about work. It was hard to juggle being present in both situations. Work-life balance is talked about constantly, but I do think I am much more balanced now. I leave work at work. I am also able to leave home life at home more easily because I know once my 2 days of work are done, I’m in “mom mode” for the rest of the week. In addition to work-life balance, I can’t underestimate the importance of the support system I have. My parents are always there to pitch in on days off from school or when my husband travels and I need the extra hands. My neighbors will cover bus duty if I’m running a little late. I also couldn’t have worked part time this long without the emotional and financial support of my husband and I realize what a privilege that has been.

I’ve recently discovered a drawback of working part time: summers with school aged kids are tricky. My husband and I crunched some numbers this winter and it turned out that sending our 9-year-old and 5-year-old to full time summer camp would cause us to lose money since I only work 2 days a week but they’d be at camp for 5 days a week. I made the difficult decision to leave my current position when the school year ends so I can be a more full-time mom for my growing kids. They need me around more than they did when they were little, even during the school year. Working in a clinic with set shifts where people depend on me to be there isn’t working for my family anymore. I will choose my family every time. I was a vet tech before I was a mom and that part of me will never go away so I am optimistic about my decision. However, there are so many other opportunities in our field now that provide more flexibility than working in clinics.

Currently, I am working for MentorVet by facilitating meetings for their veterinary technician mentoring program once a month. I meet technicians from all over the country during these meetings and it’s been lovely to build camaraderie with them. I mentor younger technicians individually through MentorVet as well as working currently on a yearlong mentoring certificate program, too. I am also going to do relief work during the school year. Although being a technician will look a little different moving forward, I am thrilled that I can continue to balance my two worlds of being a mom and being a vet tech.