The Choices We Have Made

I'm going to be honest. I get really nostalgic at this time of year and have every year for the past three years. Going back to school time. A new school year, a fresh beginning. New things to be learned. New people to meet. More math to tackle and take down. Teaching hundreds of eager students about the importance of the slope intercept equation and how to solve an equation for the missing variable. Ok, I know, I'm about to lose you. I'm getting a little too nostalgic. The students aren't really that eager. But in all seriousness, I do get a bit nostalgic and sad at this time of year. I just can't help it.

I knew that I wanted to be a teacher when I was eight years old. I carried through with my dream and not only got my undergraduate degree in education, but also my Master's degree. I loved it that much. [And the state of Massachusetts also highly recommended that I get that graduate degree within a certain timeframe, but that's another story]. School and teaching were just ingrained in me. They were part of who I was and they defined me. 

I love teaching. And I think I'm pretty good at it, which is why we have made the choice that we have made. That is, for me to take a break from formal classroom teaching, to take on the even more important role of raising,nurturing and teaching our children at home while they are young. We look at it as me making a solid investment in our own children rather than hundreds of other children.

Do I miss classroom teaching and high school math? Absolutely. But do I miss it enough to trade in my current role as teacher of my own children? Not a chance. My days here at home are quite often long ones, but there has never been a single moment when I wished I was back at school in the classroom and away from my own children. Not once! That is how much I love this new teaching job that I have been called to. And if I'm being honest again, I think I'm pretty good at this job too. 

Now with this massive choice, we have also had to make a lot of other choices. You see, when you give up a career with a paid income for another career that is unpaid [monetarily speaking], you also have to give up a lot of other things. Like a big house with our own yard. We won't have that for a long time. But do we really care? No. Living in our townhouse right now is perfect. It's enough space and it's affordable. And we have awesome neighbors. You can't beat that! We also had to give up glamorous vacations. Darling Daddy and I had a honeymoon in Jamaica and two Caribbean cruises, along with several other little trips pre-kids. Now all of our vacations are spent visiting our own parents in different locations. We stay for free AND get built-in babysitters. And of course we get to see them and spend time with them. Winning all around! [If anyone wants to offer us a glamorous location to travel to with free babysitting, we'll take you up on an offer too!]

We've also had to make other smaller choices, like having only basic cable TV, limiting our meals out at restaurants and no smart phones. What?!?! Yep. We might be the only two people in their thirties that don't have smart phones. We are getting them soon though, since the prices of both the phones and plans have dropped drastically since we last renewed our contract two years ago. That will be exciting.

But all of these choices we made because we decided that our children being home with their mother every day and being nurtured, loved, cared for and taught by me is much more important than the income I could be bringing in. And we hope that our choice and decision is the right one. For our family, it is. It may not be for your family, and that's fine. That is your choice.

So, what is in store for the future? Will I have to be nostalgic at this time of year forever? We're still not sure. I will probably be back in the classroom teaching math once my children are in school full-time. But that is a long time away. So until then, I'm going to continue to enjoy this career that I've been called to for these early years. I'm going to love it and make the choice to learn from it every day.