We are also part of a giveaway! Check out Lisa at Learning is Something to Treasure and her great 400 follower giveaway!!
I stopped by school yesterday, and Katie was right, it was HOT! I was glad that I wasn't staying for long. My hubby watched the girls (and by watched I mean listened for them while they napped!!) so that I could run up to school and see what my classroom looked like. Since having my girls my ability to spend time at school getting ready has drastically changed! I used to go up to school and spend the whole day working, of course with breaks for lunch with the girls, shopping trips for last minute classroom items, catch up chats with friends, etc. I would be able to go up whenever I wanted to...and I did...A LOT!
Last year, during the summer, I found out that I was going to be able to use an extra 4 weeks of maternity leave that I didn't think I was going to get. Total bonus...but I hadn't counted on a sub starting off my year (I am a little bit of a control freak).
So I not only had to get my room ready, but I also had to have 4 weeks of lesson plans ready and a really great letter for my new parents explaining why I wasn't going to start the year off with their children. I loved, loved, loved my parents last year, but they didn't seem to understand why I would want to stay home with my newborn twins for an extra 4 weeks instead of hanging out with THEIR little darlings! Go figure!!!
My husband is law enforcement which equals a CRAZY schedule at all times! So I called in the troops. I actually had my dad and grandpa come to school with me to baby wrangle and my aunt and mom come to help me put up my fabric on my bulletin boards, arrange the classroom, etc. Luckily, at the end of the previous year I had taken pics of EVERYTHING and was able to pull up the pics on my computer and have them duplicate the bulletin boards. Still, it was difficult! This year my fam is out of town and my husband is STILL crazy busy with work and on top of that he is currently a campaign manager for a candidate for KS state senate! Yikes!!! Lack of down time for sure! So he will watch the girls during their naptimes so that I can run up to school a couple of hours at a time (I live 3 minutes away!) to work on setting up my classroom. Since he is still technically working I get a call whenever the girls wake up and rush home to take over. We make it work, but man it is exhausting! :) I'm sure everyone with kiddos goes through this tug of war between home and work, but I am still new to it and having a hard time finding a balance!
Does everyone else with kiddos feel torn between home and work? I feel like I am not 100% at either of them and it is killing me!
[Glitterfy.com - *Glitter Words*]
I just found your blog and I have to say I absolutely love your name! I love calling my kids smarty pants and they love it too! Congratulations on so many followers! Stop by my blog if you get a chance.
ReplyDeleteLaura
Mrs. Castro's Class 2nd Grade...Spanglish Style
couldn't do both well, so I decided to saty home. We were P-O-O-R!!!!! But we were so young and clueless we didn't know any better. I did break down and do home daycare. I only took part time kiddos. The parents had similar feelings about being with their children as I did. They just needed to keep their foot in the door of their careers. It worked for us and I have no regrets, but they were some crazy times!!
ReplyDeleteThat first summer before going back to school after I had my daughter was really hard for me too. Like you I was totally used to going in whenever and not having to eek out time in my day. My husband has a pretty regular schedule but he works until 5 or so everyday and who want's to go in at night by yourself. Creepy! Now that my daughter is 2 1/2 it is much easier because she can entertain herself while mommy works for an hour or two at school. We have alot of mommies of young kids in our school so we also have a running facebook message going to see when anyone is available to go into school at night so we arent in our big creepy building at night alone. :) I dont think I am 100% at either. But I think it is a constant lifelong balancing act. The hubs is really good at picking up the kiddo slack and understanding when I need to stay late or go back after he is home. I also think it helps that I have a killer daycare lady who loves my child and who my child loves so I have never really had the pull of feeling as if I should stay home with her. Whew, that was a long comment! :) Come check out my blog sometime, I am having a giveaway.:)
ReplyDeleteJean
Diving Into 2nd Grade