Hi Everyone,
I know that I am on maternity leave but today is the first day that I feel like I can stay at home and enjoy my baby. Leah went back to the doctor yesterday and has finally gained up to 6 lbs 8 oz. She is finally starting to gain weight (she is now 1 month old). We don't have to go back to the doctor until January! Her jaundice has cleared and she is now waking on her own to eat. We can now start enjoying our time at home. The pediatrician still doesn't want her to be out of the house until she is two months old so we are still very protective of her. I am so thankful that I don't have to put her in daycare when I return to work.
I also have news about work. I have decided to leave teaching and return to nursing. I have accepted a job as a school nurse at my kid's school. I really enjoyed teaching and may return to it one day but for now this is the best thing I can do for my family. I was at a different school system with an entirely different schedule. I will now be able to take my kids to school, be there all day and bring them back home. We will have the same schedule. Since my husband works 45 minutes away and doesn't get home until 6 pm this will take a lot of burdens off of us and my mother who has been picking them up and keeping them until I get home. She will now only be keeping the baby and won't have to take Leah out to go pick up my other kids. I think God puts us where he wants us and for now I think this is were I belong.
Good for you and your family.
ReplyDeleteJJackson
Taking care of your Family is your main goal,I'm glad everything is working out for you .Have a very Merry CRISTMAS and a wonderful time with your family.
ReplyDeleteHi Jamie,
ReplyDeleteSo good to hear that Leah is doing better! And you too!
Jamie, I understand your decision to leave teaching for now. You have to do what is best for you and your family, and it sounds like this is a very good decision for you and your family.
My first year of teaching was 2003-04. It was a very rough year. Teaching is very demanding. And weekends are not really off. Papers to grade, planning what needs to be done, etc. Lots of time is required for teaching. And all the stress that goes along with it.
I decided to leave teaching after that first year. I worked as a school nurse for next year and a half at an elementary school. I enjoyed school nursing. School nursing has its own stress but it is nothing like the stress that teachers have. And when you are off, you are truly OFF. No papers to grade. No lessons to plan. No clubs. Just time off to be with your family.
The School Nurse salary was pitiful. In Henry County school nurses are paid on the secretary scale. Pitiful! I know in some counties school nurses are paid on the teachers scale. And that is how it should be in all counties.
But at the time, it was the right choice for me. I needed less stress and I needed time to think and reflect on what I needed to be doing. And I needed time for my body and my mind to recover from the shock of what it was to be a teacher.
I enjoyed every minute of being a school nurse. (Except for the pitiful salary!) And then I made the decision to go back to teaching. My husband complained loudly because I had traumatized him as well as myself with that first year of teaching. He is still not happy with my decision. He hates it when I have papers to grade. So I am trying to do more and more at school, and less and less at home. One day I hope to have my system worked out just right! Ha! Ha! Definitely not there just yet!
Jamie, good luck to you! I think you will truly enjoy being a school nurse just as much as I did. You are a kind, sweet, wonderful person. And I think you will be just as successful with this as you were with teaching.
It has been a pleasure getting to know you this year. And, who knows, maybe our paths will cross again one day.
Merry Christmas to you and yours! Enjoy your family! They are only little once!
Love, Connie
Your most telling statement was "God puts us where we are supposed to be." You could not be more correct. All of my life has been leading me to where I am now. If there is anything a poor old broken-down construction teacher can do, call.
ReplyDeletejoec