My identity

I have gone to three new doctors/dentist offices in the past six weeks I've been here. I am not one to have to go to the doctor or dentist office, so it's very strange. With each new office I go to, there are those questionnaires that you need to fill out with your health insurance information and also about yourself, etc. In addition to doing that, a nurse practitioner at the OB/GYN office had a laptop and was asking me all kinds of questions and filling in her own questionnaire. She asked me about my occupation and I didn't know how to respond and so I said, "Unemployed." I explained that we had moved to the area recently because of my husband's job and was not currently working. She thought for a moment and said, "I'll put Homemaker-it sounds better."

The nurse practitioner was fine and not rude at all when she said the comment above, but I keep thinking about this. I sent off resumes before we moved once I knew that we were moving and have even sent some off while down here. I have gotten numerous phone calls for interviews, and I keep having to call them all back telling them that I'm withdrawing from the search process. I feel silly doing it, but I don't want to not call them back. Not working is something that right now I am really struggling with. Some days I am extremely grateful like when I've been so tired, and other days I really miss working and feeling a part of a team and feeling like I'm accomplishing something and the social interaction you feel when you have friends at work. So, I decided that I did not answer the question of my occupation correctly when I said unemployed because I am technically not looking for employment, yet it is something that I feel that I should be doing. Yet I know that I don't want the stress of telling a new employer that I will need to go to doctor's appointments once/month, then every other week, and finally every week and then will need some time off after that and may not return to work.

I was asked the same question this week at the dentist office about my occupation and I told the hygientist that I wasn't working and I explained the moving a month ago and she knew that I was pregnant from my medical history. She asked me what I did before and I said "Human Resources" and she didn't say anything.

I've heard that many mothers often lose their identity when they become stay-at-home moms. I feel like my identity from the viewpoint of others is all in a job title from my few experiences at the doctors' offices. I know that a job does not define who I am, it merely is only a small piece of a larger puzzle called me.