Talking to your kids about post high school

Hello Swarm Single Moms

This is a short blog post just to give you some information that you may want to think about over the weekend.

How far away are your children from graduating from high school? If they are freshmen in high school I encourage you to start speaking with them now about their dreams and goals for post high school.

I know that college is not for everyone, but continuing to learn should always be one of life's goals.  For the most part, the following statement is true: the higher your education, the more money you make.

This is true in most cases, but like everything else in life, there are outliers.  Plumbers, electricians, auto mechanics are a few jobs where you can make alot of money without a college degree.  Even elevator and escalator maintenance workers make over $50,000 a year.  My brother-in-law is a doctor and he said that these positions are actually better careers because there is no medical mal-practice and the hours are better.

So when you are speaking with your children, both the boys and girls, encourage them to follow their interests, but to be realistic about career choices.  You can have a job where you make enough money to have a good living AND one where you have time to devote to your other interests.  I know the mantra is to follow your dreams and the money will come, but the reality is that there are many college degrees that will not get you a good paying job.  There is nothing wrong with getting a job that pays well and where, if you keep in mind that it is only a job, you can still have your passions fed through activities outside of your job.