Hey friends! I thought I'd share a little something from my heart today and post a little update about what's new with me.
I'll start at the beginning...
Teaching is my passion and I believe that I was born to be a teacher. I taught 5th grade for 7 years and loved every second. However, when my second child came along, it became too difficult to teach full-time, so I found a half-time position at another school where I could job share. I did that for 3 years and absolutely loved it. However, after my 3rd child came along, I started feeling like I was being pulled in too many directions.
(My 3 cuties!)
Fast forward a little bit and this summer I had a moment where I realized I couldn't be a good teacher and a good mom anymore. There were a lot of factors that lead to this decision, but the final decision was made when I went to sign my daughter up for preschool and realized I had no way of dropping her off or picking her up from school. I had to do a lot of soul searching to figure out what was best for me and my family, but in the end, I came to the conclusion that I just needed to take a break from teaching. It was a happy moment as a mom because I could finally be at home with my kids, but I was also very sad because I was giving up something that I loved very much.
(The day I signed my resignation papers, I just cried and cried. It was so hard to make it official!)
(The day I finished packing up my room. So many emotions: sad, happy, scared and excited all in one.)
Now I'm half way through this school year and I am loving being home. I thought I'd have a lot of extra time on my hands to blog and work on TPT, but it turns out that being a stay at home mom all day is a lot harder than you think. (Seriously, it's so much busier than I ever imagined. Ha!) I still really miss teaching and having that special relationship with a class full of students, but I love knowing that I'm helping my own kids learn and grow at home.
Do I miss it?
Yes!! So much!! But I know I'll go back to teaching some day, and right now I'm in the place I need to be.
So, besides being a mom, what else is new?
My daughter and I are doing a neighborhood co-op preschool 2 days each week. I only have to teach a few days each month and love that I still have the opportunity to teach!
(I converted our extra bedroom downstairs into an office/preschool room. This is my happy place and I absolutely love having this space!)
I joined PTA and School Community Council. I wanted a way to volunteer and feel involved at my son's school. I'm also a room mom for my son's 1st grade class. It's a lot of fun planning parties for the kids in his class!
I started a little social media business, where I do VA (virtual assistant) work for a few of my blogger friends. It's a fun way for me to bring in a little extra income to make up for not teaching anymore.
Recently I was asked to be the leader (Primary President) of my church youth group. I am now in charge of approximately 100 kids and 20 teachers every Sunday. It's been a big job, but also a lot of fun to spend so much time with the kids in my church.
Even though I'm not teaching, I am definitely staying very busy as you can see. I'm excited to share some more of my ideas with you as I create resources for preschool and continue to update my TeachersPayTeachers store.
