As the New Year rolled in, my Christmas Break wound down.
I'd by lying if I said I was ready to go back to the daily grind ...
To answer emails.
To call students.
To grade labs, tests, and a multitude of other assignments.
To create "catch up" plans.
To motivate and encourage.
To prepare my classes for the coming semester.
To, ultimately, spend my day on the laptop (and not playing on the living room floor with Malcolm).
It is certainly going to be different ... A bit more career-driven and less carefree ... But it in no way will compare to the changes that are just around the corner.
I've realized that, next time I'll have a lengthy "break" from teaching, it won't really be a break at all ...
It will be maternity leave.
Time to adjust to being a mother of two.
Time to bond with my new baby and to continue loving on my old one.
While there won't be any classroom duties to speak of, this break will be anything but relaxing. It will test me in ways I haven't been tested before ... And push me to rise to the challenges of day-to-day life.
When I took my maternity leave after Malcolm's birth, I was fairly certain I wouldn't be returning to the classroom. My teacher's salary just wasn't enough to justify sending him off to daycare ... Staying home made more financial (and emotional!) sense to me and my husband, so the decision was an easy one.
This time, however, since I am already working from home (no daycare required!), the questions seem to loom a bit larger ...
How will I juggle all of my teaching duties and two children?
How will I get everything done?
Can this "working and mothering from home" thing still work for me and my family?
I know that things will be a bit trickier (and naps will be even more important to my sanity and productivity), but I think it can work. Once I'm back on the regular payroll at the end of June things will be winding down with the 2011-2012 school year ... There will be no students (and therefore no emails, or calls, or grading), just a handful of administrative tasks to contend with. Then, by the time I'm back in full swing in the fall, the baby will be about five months old ...
Talk about time flying!
On paper (and on this blog as I type it), it all sounds and looks feasible ... But we shall see when that day comes.
That will be the true test.
So, for now, I'm still mourning the end of my Christmas Break and looking forward to my next big "break" that begins in March ...
At the very least, it will seem nice to be dealing with only two children instead of two hundred (students)!
Just received a check for $500.
ReplyDeleteSometimes people don't believe me when I tell them about how much you can make by taking paid surveys online...
So I show them a video of myself actually getting paid over $500 for participating in paid surveys.