Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho

It's off to work I go!

So tomorrow morning I'm going to get up early (EARLY!), get the kids ready, and go to work.

And then I'm going to do it again the next day.

And again.

And again.

Every weekday for about the next eight weeks.

Huh?

It is a bit of a long story, how this all came to be, and I'm not going into it tonight because I should probably be sleeping already. . .

I have taken a long term substitute teaching job that will begin tomorrow and last until the end of the school year. However, it isn't quite as dramatic as it sounds because. . .

I'll only be working half days!

I've known about this for maybe a month now? And every time I start to freak out about what a huge, despite being temporary, change this will be for us, I take a step back and remind myself that the kids and I will be home by noon every day.

I have been reluctant to write about the situation because I was a little fearful of offending someone by bringing up the whole stay-at-home vs. work outside the home debate. Right now I have many thoughts about the stay-at-home or not situation and what it means for our family specifically. Part of the reason I took this job was to get a little taste of what my returning to work might be like for us.

I am subbing for the maternity leave of an elementary intervention specialist, working with small groups of fourth graders on reading, writing, and math. I'll be working right up to the end of the school year. Kind of wild to think that summer vacation is only about eight weeks away!

Wish me luck.

Please.

6 comments:

Erin said...

GOOD LUCK!

I actually woke up thinking about you this morning. I will be so anxious to hear how things are going. I realize you'll have a FEW other things to do other than update your blog, but-- you know-- we'll be here DYING to hear.

Don't worry so much about the work/ stay-at-home debate. It's such a personal decision, and only YOU know what's truly best for you and your family. I've had some anonymous trolls make some pretty meanie comments on my blog about working, and you know it really doesn't bother me AT ALL? Which is funny because I tend to be sensitive. But somehow I can't take anonymous troll comments too seriously because WHO says those kinds of things?

Sorry-- kind of went off track there. Should have sent an email...

Giselle said...

Good luck!

And I too hate the "working vs SAH mother" debaucle. I don't EVER say how glad I am that I stay at home or how much I think it has benefitted my children, because it automatically is interpreted as an insult to working mothers. Which it ISN'T. But everyone seems so sensitive about it. Why does the same thing have to be the right way for everyone. Doesn't make any sense.

Anyhoo...the half day thing seems like a great way to break yourself in. Are your in-laws watching the kids?

jill said...

good luck. I too think that this 'debate' is something that a man probably sparked, so women would have something to bit-- about to each other, instead of just being happy for the other person, no matter what they are doing (I won't say choice, because sometimes its not a choice)..if we all just supported each other it would be a lot better.

Emily said...

Wow, what a neat opportunity to "try out" working and see how it goes! I can't wait to hear! And I'm always curious to hear the details of the childcare situation and how all of that works out. Please keep us posted, and good luck!
(and I get nervous about meanie comments, too, but really, those people are just RUDE.)

Swistle said...

This sounds so great! Best of luck!

bluedaisy said...

I hope that your day went well. This is such a cool opportunity. My ideal would be part-time work (which I have done in the past) and while the schedule is still hectic, it really is a nice balance of both worlds. The athome vs. not-at-home mom thing is such a touchy topic... I still wonder if I am doing the right thing. But we are still here, my kids haven't undergone a majority personality shift & they adjusted faster than I did (oh, I'm still not adjusted). Anyway, glad this is happening for you- keep us posted on how things go :)