Thursday, April 5, 2012

Teacher Mommy

I once had a conversation with another teacher about being working mom. She was teaching third grade at the time that her boys were four and two years old. She told me that after putting in a full day's work at school, she would drive home to her family. She would park the car in the driveway and put her head down on the steering wheel to gear up for the REAL work to begin!

I heard this as a first year teacher - back when I was staying at school until 5, coming in on Saturdays, and obsessing about every detail in my lesson plans. So you can imagine how scary this was to hear! I was always exhausted - I couldn't imagine adding a baby to the mix!!


Fast forward seven years - I'm still teaching! And pregnant.

The good thing is that I'm leaving school before 4 and I never come in on Saturdays. I don't bring work home. I've found a healthy balance between being a good teacher and staying sane.

But still... I have this nagging feeling that after the baby I'm going to be too tired to be a good mom OR a good teacher!

But this is my hope:

1. That being a mom will help me to be a more compassionate teacher.
2. That being a teacher will help me to be a better mom.

Are there any of you teacher-moms out there? How do you do it?

6 comments:

  1. i wish i could have a teacher schedule, esp. summer's off! ;)

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  2. Oh I wish you the best! Sandy makes a god point that at least you'll have the summers with baby boy. :)

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  3. Your hopes are right on. My mom works at an elementary (secretary/nurse), and I've been around those teachers since I attended that school. They're all really incredible women, as both mothers and teachers. Now if you were teaching at the middle or high school levels.... you may want to kill everyone. :)

    http://mandycrandell.blogspot.com/

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  4. I am sure that you will balance being a teacher + a mom beautifully Sarah!!

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  5. After having experience in the classroom with subbing and all that, I think being a teacher will really help you with the mom gig. There are so many times in class when I think "Why on earth haven't your parents taught you - insert proper behavior here - " As a teacher, you know firsthand that it starts at home so already you're ahead of most! :)

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  6. I think your two hopes sound about right.

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