The school year started this week. Yellow school buses vroomed by. Staples had their one cent sales. The morning air now has a slight crisp edge. Autumn is coming.
There’s another notable change in my life… the house is suddenly emptier, bigger. Why? My husband’s a school teacher and went back to work this week. And for the first time in seven years of teaching, I stayed home. I did not clean a classroom this summer. Did not prepare opening lessons, a grade book, seating charts. Did not go crazy over erasers being sold for a penny. It was a strange feeling, not gearing up for work as the summer drew to a close.
I get asked the question a lot: “So, are you going back to work?” I know they know a baby is work too. I know they really mean, “Are you ever going to return to teaching?” There’s no short answer. I don’t plan to be back in a classroom for some time, as we plan to grow our family a little bigger than just one, Lord willing. I can’t imagine NEVER teaching in a classroom again either. Then, again, we plan to homeschool for at least the beginning years, so I will return to educating, just in a different format.
I may one day find myself dusting off the old clipboard and creating a seating chart for a new class of students. But I don’t think it will ever be the same. You see, I have held a lot of jobs: babysitter, sales associate, writer, receptionist, sales clerk, production assistant, intern, teacher. They all had one thing in common. Eventually, these jobs ended.
Now I have a new job. I am cuddler, hugger, tickler, feeder, bather, horsie-rider, carrier…in short, I am MOTHER. You can be a teacher and then NOT be a teacher. But you are a mother, forever.
The quiet of the school year settles around me in the house these mornings. It’s different. Some days, it’s even strange and awkward, this shift in how I define my days. But I smile to think, this is my permanent position: Mother.
He may outgrow my arms, my tickles, my silly “monkey-doodle-doo” and “kisses, kisses” songs I make up for him. I may hold other jobs in the future. But I’ll be his Mommy forever. And I like THAT thought!
Songs:
Monkey-doodle-doo–
Monkey-doodle-doo–
Monkey-doodle, monkey-doodle,
Monkey-doodle-doo—!
Ki–sses, ki–sses,
Kisses in the morning,
Kisses at the noontime,
Ki–sses, Ki-sses,
Kisses in the evening too!
How has motherhood changed your job situation? How did you feel those first few months either staying home or getting back to work?
