Parent Conferences

These past 2 weeks have solidified for me all the reasons I am leaving the teaching profession. For the most part I really enjoy meeting with my students' parents, celebrating their successes and finding little sparks of "wonderfulness" in each child that I can send home with Mom or Dad. Usually, conferences are a good experience, despite being a long week with late hours and tons of talking.


Once in a blue moon, I've had to deal with unreasonable parents. It goes with the territory. This year I have the Ultimate Nightmare Parents. Just one couple, but one absolutely crazy mother and father of one sociopathic child. It makes every day a pain, and every evening a headache. I try to leave it at work, I really do.

Well, my request for a leave of absence for next year was approved by the school board. I got the confirmation letter today.

I could not be happier!

Now, of course, I have to figure out how we'll replace my income once the school year ends. I have plans...let's hope they work out!

One Thing That Makes Me Feel Better...

...is looking at this sweet little face.

This is our "Oops!" baby, our bonus, our surprise. I never thought we'd have a son. We had a pretty decent routine down, with two daughters born 18 months apart in 1998 and 1999. We were done with diapers, bottles, teething, carseats, tantrums (ok, maybe not done with those yet...I still throw a fit from time to time).

Boys are verrrrrry different.

I love my daughters like I love life itself, but this mellow, mild-mannered little ball of squishy love is something else. It is so amazing how your heart can expand to make room for a new little person.

I'll just sit here, wiping my nose and being grateful for my newest little blessing.

Bummer

I feel awful...

This cold has morphed into something evil and terrible. Facial tissue has become the enemy. Even the very softest aloe-and-lotion embedded kind feels like coarse grain sandpaper on my skin. My eyes are burning and I can't stop sneezing. I lost my voice toward the end of the day. My poor students, who absolutely HATE when I am gone, said, "Mrs. P., you should get a sub and stay home tomorrow to get some rest." I guess I look and sound that bad.

My poor husband is fighting off a different bug. He's complaining of a severe sore throat and fatigue. God, I hope we don't cross-contaminate eachother! He took all of last week off to care for the baby when he had RSV, and I have no sick days available because of my recent maternity leave. Thus, neither of us can afford to miss work this week. We slog on...

Hope your day was better than mine!

I have so much to do!

At the suggestion of a former colleague, I looked over a financial management approach by a popular author and radio show host. I had heard of this guy and his system of taking control of one's finances before, and even know a couple families who use this approach with great success. SO...once the baby is fed and the girls are bathed (and my darling husband decides to officially wake up for the day), I'm off to the library to see if I can check out the recommended book. If it's not available, I guess I'll use one of the many gift cards I've accumulated over the last couple holidays (thanks to my students) for one of the big-name book stores. I just received a "40% off one book" email from one store, so I should be able to get this book for just a few dollars on a gift card.

In addition, I have this overwhelming urge to clean house in the literal sense as well as metaphorically. I came across this fantastic website recently, and can't wait to put some of the suggestions into practice. I love this website's humor and positive attitude! I find myself giggling every time I read it.

Well, cleaning up my finances and decluttering my house...like I said, so much to do!

Getting the Ball Rolling

The past few weeks have been busy, with sick children at home and in my classroom, as well as my first baby steps toward achieving my goal of unsticking myself. Between wiping noses, making trips to the pediatrician and ER, working full time, and taking care of "mom stuff", I have accomplished quite a few things.

• I organized, advertised, coordinated, and executed a successful community-wide yard sale. In the process, I met quite a few people in my neighborhood and received many compliments for my efforts. Oh, and I earned over $300 while getting rid of some old stuff we didn't need anymore! It was a nice way to spend the weekend.


• I submitted my letter of request to the school board asking for a leave of absence for next year. I was not ready to burn that bridge entirely, I guess. So, I'll give myself a year to try "something else" and see if the grass is really greener before permanently kissing my teaching career goodbye.


• I set up my profile on a website that connects freelancers with individuals and companies looking for specific skill sets (writing, editing, web design, etc.). I even submitted several bids for writing and editing gigs. Wish me luck!

This weekend, I am fighting off a cold of my own (surprised it took this long to catch me!) and taking care of my baby boy (who is getting over RSV... ick!). My husband and daughters are up north until tomorrow evening visiting my inlaws and taking part in one of their most important cultural traditions. I am sad that the baby and I can't be there too, but part of me is a little relieved. It's always a lot of work, and very little sleep, for a daughter-in-law. If I was up there right now, with this cold coming on, I'd be very unhappy indeed. Thank goodness it's a three day weekend!

New Beginning

I feel so overwhelmed by the thought of radical change. I know a huge part of my failure to achieve the things I'd hoped to accomplish in my life by now is the fact that I tend to stay with the familiar. I am more comfortable staying in my rut, complaining about how much I dislike being in it, than jumping out into the unknown.

Since having children, my fear of taking risks has grown exponentially. I realize now that I've spent the last ten years accepting the situation because it was known and safe. I have used the excuse that I don't want to risk the well-being and security of my family (at least in the short term) by taking chances and jumping out into a financial free fall. Meanwhile, I have effectively backed myself and my family into a corner as far as long-term goals go.

I now owe MORE money on my student loans than I did when I graduated in 1997, thanks to several forbearances I'd taken out when things got really tight. So, I've paid more than $10K toward my loans, but owe $10K more than I did a decade ago. Damn that compounding interest! My student loans are the single biggest factor that prevented us from being able to buy a home of our own.

I know things have to change...they MUST change! I can't keep doing the same thing and expecting different results. I believe someone said that is the definition of insanity. I'm tired of being nuts when it comes to this stuff!

So, time to mix it up, get a little wild and crazy,and figure out a new road to take that will have a different destination.

More About Why

My need to get unstuck revolves around issues more complex than simply my dissatisfaction with my income. Certainly, I am unhappy with the lack of "financial progress" I've made in the past 10 years, however, it goes beyond that.

In a decade of worrying about paying the bills and trying to stay afloat financially, I've allowed a lot of things to slip. I have missed opportunities to grow new friendships. I have allowed old friendships to wither. I spent so much time and energy worrying about "stuff" that I found myself growing more and more isolated from the people and things I enjoy. Sad, huh?