We've been waging an epic battle against the dreaded flu, bronchitis, with a twist of sinus infection in my house for the last 3+ weeks which has caused me to be a bit MIA lately.
I got so behind in my candle orders and spent last week wicking my arse off! Caught up and delivered the behind orders but still some more to work on which is good! It's getting consistent and the stores that carry my products which were really stuggling seem to be picking up in business!
One of my retail customers is the music teacher in the school in which I taught 2nd grade. I left teaching at the end of the 1999 school year and I realized it's been 10 years already! It's great to get back there and see my old friends but it's also melancholy when I see so many who aren't there anymore. So many new faces! I worked with the same 2nd grade team of four amazing woman for 10 years! Out of the 4 of us there were three that left at the same time. We worked closely together, saw each other EVERY day, helped eachother through so many stressful professional and personal times, went out socially. We were friends. Out of the four of us only two of us still remain close, me and Judy.
When people ask me whether I miss teaching I'm never really sure how to answer that. I miss the fun I had with the kids and the comaraderie with my teaching partners, the great subject area themes that we developed together, (my favorite was frogs and toads), but the stress of paperwork, planning and grading papers was really taking a toll on my family life. I was the kind of teacher that was never satisfied with the quality of my work. I always thought I could do more, second guessing myself, always bringing tons of work home with me, sometimes I would even go in on weekends. I'm sure you can imagine how much this thrilled my husband with two young children at home. I remember waking up in the middle of the night after dreaming about my day like it was in a loop, then not being able to get back to sleep thinking about the day ahead, and what I needed to remember to get done before my students arrived. The last thing I wanted to do when I got home was help my kids with their homework, or spend time reading aloud to or with them.
Pretty pathetic when I was the one to encourage parents to read with their kids.
When I realized that I knew more about other children's reading skills better than my own, it was time to think about leaving. It wasn't an instant decision, and not easy. It felt like I was stepping off a cliff. But I did it. Not that it's been easy, especially financially, but I can honestly say that our household income has surpassed what it was with two incomes and the stress level has gone down, quality of life WAY up!
In the last 10 years I taught myself how to play the guitar & violin. My political views have switched dramatically since I began watching the news and reading more. I've been able to volunteer at my kids school and even be a homeroom mom. Was involved with helping to start a local charter school. I learned how to sew, which for me was a hugh accomplishment since I flunked home economics sewing. My friend Judy and I started a company called "Shady Characters Shadow Puppetry" where we gave workshops and put on plays for elemetary school students (now defunct), and started my own goat milk soap and candle company which is consistently growing. Took some amazing vacations during the "school year". Have started to learn and obsess about photography (which was something I never had an interest in before) None of these things would I have been able to do if I had stayed in teaching.
It was wonderful yesterday to stop in a see the teacher that remained. It's funny how we picked right up where we left off. We are definitely planning to get the four of us together soon!
