Teaching is such a fulfilling and wonderful job, but it is also soooooooo time consuming! It's more like a way of life rather than an occupation. Seriously! So here's my question, and I would REALLY love to hear from you out there!
Before I got married and started a family, I was able to bring work home and work on it any time I wanted . . . and I DID! (Does that sound pathetic?) It seems to me that teachers are teachers at every hour of the day not just on the clock. So my life was teaching, friends, and church. (My family live kinda far so the "family" portion was mainly on the phone or vacation/holidays.) I had time to cook, exercise regularly, and stay very active in my church.
Now I have my husband, my baby, teaching, and church. It's important for me to do things well, with a spirit of excellence and not just get it done. So, how do I find that balance? I try to get everything done at school so I don't have to bring things home. After I'm done with work I want to be able to exercise, cook dinner, have time with my baby, have time with my husband, stay active and involved with friends and church and do all of that well! (Oh, yeah . . . and a little time for myself would be nice too.) Have you found a way to achieve that balance? I'd love to hear from you!
I have taught 22 years in kindergarten. My family always comes first especially when they were little. Now they are 14, 17 19 and my time is doing stuff for my job (hobby as my husband says). Which is TRUE I do love my job and tend to get CARRIED (obsessed) with my classroom even after all these years. Just remember we do the best we can from 7 am -5 pm with our classrooms and lessons and students and the rest HAS to be our family they are only young once and you can never make up the time you've missed!
ReplyDeleteI always set a timer after school and have until it goes off to get any work done. Usually I set it for 1 hour. If I bring anything home,I work when my kids go to bed. Again I have a timer at home and set it too. Other wise I will spend the entire night working on school!!
ReplyDeleteI am married but we do not have kids. We're involved in our church, too. We always feel busy and then I look around at my teacher/mom friends and I do NOT know you do it. Honestly, I see my teacher/mom friends giving 100% to school, 100% to their families, 100% to their church, 100% to their kids' sports and activities . . . I am usually crawling into bed at the end of the day and I only have to take care of myself (and my husband and my dog but that doesn't count). My hat goes off to all of you. I don't know if this helps AT ALL, but it continues to help me when I need it. Recently, our pastor made this statement, "You have to say no to some of the good things so that you can yes to some of the best things."
ReplyDeleteHang in there!!!!
Kristin
A Teeny Tiny Teacher
Wow. I'm really loving the comments/advice. Such wonderful reminders.
ReplyDelete@Kool Kindergarten Kids - You are so right. Family first. I don't want to miss any of my baby's childhood. That's why I am putting my foot down and not allowing myself to go back to school this last week of vacation to get a jump start. This last week of vacation is devoted to my precious girl!
@meadowt -Love the idea of the timer. I am definitely going to give that a try . . . at school AND at home!
@Kristin - Thank you for the words from your pastor. So true. I'm learning to say no . . . trying. =)
I have taught for 14 years and love it. I am also married with 3 very active boys. In addition to all that I taught Sunday school for the past 4 years, served on the PTA board, and the HOA board. Like your pastor said I had to give some of it up especially as my kids got older. So now when I'm at work I am fully at work. I do bring work home only 3 nights a week and I work after the kids go to bed or while they are at their practices.
ReplyDeleteI love the timer idea though. That is terrific.
I can completely relate to you! I love working on my classroom projects, but it's been really hard now that I have a six month old! I usually have to just work on things after I put my baby to bed. It's so hard to balance everything though!
ReplyDelete@Nina - That's exactly why I put myself out there in this post. I knew I'm not the only one looking for ways to do well in what I do but still maintain a balance with family and whatever else we're involved in! All the feedback is truly helpful and I hope it can help others who are looking for that balance too. =)
ReplyDelete