Once Again, It’s All In The Attitude.

We spent most of last weekend moving D from Kenosha to Madison (Wisconsin!). It’s an interesting time for him right now. After doing production work for a mid-sized marketing company for the last year, he was hired by a much smaller graphic design firm. He’s wanted to work at this place for nearly three years, since he was still finishing his classes.

Here’s the rub: he’ll be a design intern, which is fantastic for long-term and getting him where he wants to go in his career but in the short-term, it’s a pretty significant pay cut.

That’s why we’re focusing on the long-term.

His living situation is also being downgraded; we moved him out of the apartment he had all to himself in Kenosha and into one bedroom of the downstairs half of a house just off the campus of UW-Madison. It’s what was in his newly-chopped budget and for six months, he’ll be once again sharing a bathroom and a kitchen with people who are strangers now but will likely become friends. He’ll also be able to walk to work every day if he wants to (he does).

The mental transition, as you can imagine, has been hard for this twenty-two-year-old to manage. Or, it was. Taking what seems like a step backwards (but really isn’t in so many ways) was a bummer.

Luckily, he’s my kid and got some of that “half-full” mentality.

Last week we talked to him more than usual on the phone as we prepared for the big move and I heard a shift in attitude. He said things like:

“You know, I’m not very happy about moving into a house with other people but I’ve decided to focus on the fact that I will be working at one of my dream companies for the next six months and that’s more important to me right now.”

and

“It kind of stinks that I have to have all my stuff in one bedroom but really, I was picking up too much stuff anyway. I felt horrible when I was packing because I just thought, ‘Wow, I don’t need this much stuff.’ This is good.”

I can’t take all the credit for this, of course, and neither can Jim, but we sure are proud of how he was able to flip all of this around in his head and be grateful for this resume-building opportunity at one of his favorite companies even while he has to sacrifice some of his creature comforts. I think he’ll eventually look upon this time (and his ability to hang onto a great attitude) as completely invaluable to his career.

Also, we bought him a new mattress set so there’s another thing to smile about, you know? #HalfFull

Contrary to how this looks, he is not testing out a "crib mattress", as one of my Facebook friends suggested. The feet are hanging off, yes, but you can't see that there's plenty of space above his head. ANYWAY. I love this picture.
Contrary to how this looks, he is not testing out a “crib mattress”, as one of my Facebook friends suggested. The feet are hanging off, yes, but you can’t see that there’s plenty of space above his head. ANYWAY. I love this picture.

7 Comments

  • Kari

    I have no doubt in my mind that amazing things will come for him.
    And Madison is one cool city.
    I am going there this summer for the farmers market, eating at Ella’s Deli so maybe you could ride shotgun?

  • Patty

    I had to do the same thing. I was making decent money as a retail assistant manager after I graduated college and looking for a “real job”. The opportunity came to get into my field and I had to take the pay cut to get my foot in the door. I was reluctant but I did it and it changed everything. That opportunity lead to where I am today. No regrets. Congrats to D for making an intelligent choice. Best of luck to him!