Changes

So many things have changed since May 26 when our dear little peanut made her entrance.  I was reflecting on this the other day as I was preparing my letter of resignation for work.

Before, when I was a teacher, I used to roll out of bed at six, take a shower, eat breakfast and get ready for a day at work.  Now my wake-up time depends on the amount of sleep I got the night before, and I only get a shower if I manage to wake up before Clare.

Five days a week I welcomed students into my room at 8 a.m.  Now what I'm doing at 8 a.m. depends entirely upon another little being.  I'm either getting Clare up, changing her diaper, feeding her breakfast, or playing with her on the living room rug.  And this doesn't change just because it's Saturday. 

I remember clearly how structured my days used to be.  ...9:15 social studies, 10:00 recess, 10:15 snack, 10:30 math, 11:45 lunch...  Now our structure is: wake-up, breakfast, morning nap, lunch, afternoon nap, snack, maybe another short nap, dinner, bedtime... almost always in the same order but never at exactly the same time.

One thing is the same: lunch is still peanut butter and jam on whole wheat (though now I toast the bread and eat it open-faced -- much less boring that way), carrot sticks, and yogurt (though now that's homemade to save $$).

Before if I got to work tired I could count on the stimulation of teaching to keep me energized and awake.  Now I find myself nodding off as I sit on the living room rug building my 24th block tower for Clare to knock down.  

Before if the sun was shining and the sky was blue, I was stuck in my classroom whether I liked it or not.  Now I can pop Clare in the Ergo, put Molly on her leash, and off we go to enjoy the sunshine.

Or, like today, when the sun is rising I can enjoy it through my kitchen window as I wash the dishes, or soak it up at the table while I feed Clare lunch.

If I didn't sleep well the night before, I can nap while Clare naps.  If Clare and I want to go visiting somewhere, we can.  We don't have a rigid structure to our days and I like that.

I'm trying not to forget my life as a teacher because it makes me appreciate what I have now that much more.  In many ways I am a homebody but I don't think there's anything wrong with that.  And now that there's such a precious little peanut here to share this home with, our days are abundantly full.  I can't ask for more than that.

My letter of resignation was very easy to write.  :)