My baby got a job

My baby got a job! Okay, he’s not a baby and this isn’t his first job. But this is the first one that matters. Four years of college, a three-years grad program that he compressed into 2 ½ and a master’s in a field that is actually in demand… I’m so excited I could scream. I did scream! When he told me the news I screamed. He’s going to be the sole full-time speech and language pathologist at a rehab center and nursing facility nearby. He doesn’t even have to move across the country (one of my closet-fears).

A few weeks ago on one of those Sunday morning talk shows, I heard a prediction that chilled me to the bone. For the first time, debt from school loans has outpaced that of credit cards. They went on the say that this is the first generation that will not be able to repay their loans because they will not be able to find jobs. Just the other day, my friend told me about his niece who got her master’s in education last year. Unable to find a job, she has been thinking about becoming a cop.

I hugged my husband when we heard the news. For all our faults and shortcomings, we got this right. Perhaps because of our shortcomings… I’ve heard this theory that economic security runs in three-generation cycles: 1) the family that struggles to make ends meet and give their children a chance at a better life; 2) the children of those working families who go on to become professionals and live the “American Dream”; 3) their children who wind up squandering their legacy and falling back into poverty. Perhaps our economic struggles have served as a cautionary tale. All I know is that I am delighted our children are now both safe and secure in careers that seem to be fairly recession-proof.

Now I can just concentrate on worrying about me.