Quarter Life Crisis?

I am 26 years old, almost 27 in May and I think I am going through a quarter life crisis and here's why:

As much as I love children and caring for them I came to the realization that I am burned out on nannying. I used to really enjoy it, but after going back to more hours with a second family I started dreading it. It has nothing to do with the child or the family because they truly are great I just don't think it is for me anymore not as my "full time" job anyway. I enjoy watching Jack and the twins because it is only for 4 hours at most two days a week for Jack and once a month for the twins. Those are like side jobs, some extra cash, something to do to break up my week. I just know it isn't something I see myself doing forever, because I ultimately want to take care of our own children and not someone else's. I don't know exactly what switched in my my mind to make me come to this conclusion; probably multiple things. Getting married and just getting older and closer to becoming a mother myself are probably the major things. We are still a ways out from starting our family, but I think the next children I want to take care of on a full time basis are my own.

I am ready to do something else that isn't child related. I have gotten extremely comfortable being a nanny and know it is easy money for me because I am good at it and have a lot of experience, but like I said above I am just burned out.

It is scary to think about jumping into something completely different because I have been doing this for so long but I believe that is the only way I am going to grow as a person. If it doesn't challenge you it doesn't change you. There could not be a more appropriate phrase to describe what I am talking about. I am a very shy and introverted person so I want to challenge myself with something that will help me to come out of my shell a bit. I want to do something I enjoy again. Something that I can be successful at and prove my success. I want to do something I can be proud of. Not to say that caring for a child isn't rewarding, I think it is definitely a very under appreciated role to say the least, but I am just ready for something else.

I have been thinking about this for awhile, but have been too afraid to change gears. A recent situation with my most recent nanny job has made me really open my eyes and take a look at my life. It has brought me to this realization and shined a light on just how unhappy I am with what I am currently doing. Due to some unforeseen personal circumstances with the family this next week will more than likely be my last week working with them. When I was told the bad news I didn't really take it as hard as I may have taken it a year ago. I was surprisingly ok with it, maybe even a little bit relieved and excited. It has given me an "out" to pursue something more fulfilling for my life right now.

I will probably babysit occasionally for them, and I will be keeping my job watching Jack, but other than minimal babysitting hours every week I am going to start shifting gears and start down a new path. Something just for me, something new that will be 100% up to me to make successful. I am taking this situation as a blessing in disguise and going to take full advantage of this opportunity to better myself and grow from it. They say there is no perfect time for things, but I think in this circumstance this is the perfect time for me to change things up a bit.

I am still researching, soul searching, and figuring things out, but I have a pretty good idea what direction I want to go and what I want to do it is just going to be a matter of taking the plunge.

Stay tuned.

xoxo