Well, I had a kid! My daughter was born on December 21, 2010, and my husband and I couldn’t be happier. All has gone well. We’ve adjusted to having a new family member, and sadly, my time here at home with her is coming quickly to an end. I have two weeks left before I head back into my classroom. I’ve got these next two weeks full of visits and appointments, too…because there won’t be as much time once I am back for me to do these things.
A part of me is really depressed that I have to go back. Not because I don’t love my job – I do love my job – but it’s going to be really hard to leave my little girl. I do have wonderful people caring for her, so I know I won’t worry about her during the day. It’s still just hard. I’ve spent everyday (almost every moment) with her since she was born, and it’s going to be really weird being away from her for eight or more hours each day. I am also nervous about getting back into the routine of teaching with less sleep and more home responsibilities. Luckily, I am not too worried. I know I’ll make it. Things will work out, and I will adjust. It might be hard at first, but it’ll be fine.
One interesting thing about my six week maternity leave is that I actually didn’t miss many actual teaching days because of Christmas break and a huge snow storm! We had lots of snow here in the mountains over the holidays and early January – so exams were pushed back and the kids haven’t even been in school to miss me! I have a great sub who will be taking care of these next two weeks, but by the time I get back, I will be joining my new students on the third day of the new second semester. So really, it’s cool because I will still start a fresh semester with new ideas and goals.
As I wrap up my time here at home, I will be thinking these next two weeks about my goals for this semester. One great thing about teaching on a 90 minute 90 day block is that you get to start the school year over twice each year. We all love to reflect so much – my teaching schedule allows me to set goals and start fresh right now. I have tons of ideas for teaching. I also know that I will be thinking about ways to be more efficient with my time because unlike years past – now when I come home, I have a child to care for in addition to my wonderful husband and cat! So here’s to two more weeks with my little baby and the wonderful opportunity to think about my goals for 2011. I hope all my teaching friends out there are doing well this January after having a break. I’ll be joining you back in the classroom soon!
Tags: back to school, family, goals, roles
