Smiling Mom

Damn, when you ask God to help make your deci­sion clear, be pre­pa­red for the results.

My hus­band and I have been strug­gling with whether or not I should go back to work full time next year.  Part of me thinks that having a full time income would be really nice.  It would help our family breathe as we pay our monthly bills.  It would give us enough to pay for eClaire’s preschool and addi­tio­nal child care for both kids.  It would not make us rich, but help us breathe.

On the flip side, in August my youn­gest will only be three and a half and will have two more years until she attends kindergarten.

She still needs her mom.

Addi­tio­nally, next year I will be in the last year of my Master’s pro­gram.  Next year will be the most time inten­sive year of the program.

My family still needs me.

But the small finan­cial inc­rease would be so nice…

My gut says that one more year of part time work would be perfect.

One more year.

It’s been on my mind so much that I’m having dreams at night of going full time in August and sho­wing up on the first day of school to blank desks, no plans and abso­lu­tely no idea what to do.  But then, like a knight in shi­ning armor, my teaching part­ner walks in the class­room door and saves the day.

One more year.  That’s all I want.

Well today I was gree­ted at work with a stan­dard let­ter asking what is my intent for next year.  Will I be wor­king full time or part time.

There’s that ques­tion again…except it is in wri­ting this time, not just a hypothetical.

So I say a pra­yer.  “God, please help me make the right deci­sion.  My heart says one thing yet my head says another.”

One more year, that’s all I want.  That’s all my heart wants.  One more year.

Well I sure can­not say that God doesn’t some­ti­mes slap you in the face.  Because he does.  My deci­sion became pretty clear.

In the form of a let­ter from my district.

Wai­ting on my coun­ter was a let­ter infor­ming me that my leave of absence is offi­cially up in June.  I will not be allo­wed to ask for an exten­sion and will either have to go full time or put in my resignation.

And so now I sit here, pra­yer answered.

One more year…that’s all I wanted.

Some­ti­mes being a teacher is just too much fun! (No the heart and bear are not attached.   And yes, I did for­get to put makeup on today…oy.

I will never for­get that day.

Hubby, who was pre­viously Boy­friend, called my apart­ment early in the morning.

Hubby: SM, wake up.

SM: What’s going on?

Hubby: We’ve been attac­ked.  I have to go into work early today.  Our city is on high alert.

SM: What do you mean??!!

Hubby: Go turn on your TV.

And on it went.

I woke up my room­mate and we sat in front of our tele­vi­sion, jaw firmly plan­ted on the ground. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. After sit­ting, paraly­zed, for far too long, both my room­mate and I hea­ded to work. Our stu­dents would be wai­ting.

To read more from this post, click on over to Sili­con Valley Moms Blog.

School is back in ses­sion and many of our kids are ending yet another sum­mer of fun and relaxation.

In my ten years of teaching, I’ve encoun­te­red many chil­dren who could have bene­fi­ted from some basic hou­sehold rou­ti­nes.  As a result I’ve com­pi­led a list of healthy habits & rou­ti­nes that help make the tran­si­tion from sum­mer to school much smoother.

1.  Bed­time, bed­time, bed­time.
Your child’s body, age 12 and under, on ave­rage requi­res 10–11 hours of sleep per night.  Every night.  If you have a tee­na­ger, they gene­rally require 8 1/2 hours to 9 1/2 hours of nightly sleep.

Why is this infor­ma­tion impor­tant?  It’s sim­ple.   Kids per­form bet­ter, are able to focus more, and have bet­ter days when they are fully rested.

…sleep depri­va­tion adds up over time, so an hour less per night is like a full night without sleep by the end of the week. Among other things, sleep depri­va­tion can lead to:

• dec­rea­sed attentiveness
• dec­rea­sed short-term memory
• incon­sis­tent performance
• dela­yed res­ponse time

2.  Eat a healthy break­fast each morning.

Make sure that your child’s break­fast con­sists of high-fiber and nutrient-rich whole grains, fruits, and dairy pro­ducts.    Limit the amount of highly refi­ned sugars and car­bohy­dra­tes your child eats each mor­ning.  More sugar in the mor­ning equals a less focu­sed student.

Evi­dence from the report sug­gests that eating break­fast may improve cog­ni­tive func­tion rela­ted to memory, test gra­des, and school attendance.

Eating break­fast, a healthy break­fast, is impor­tant.  VERY important!

3.  Pack a healthy snack.

Around 5 1/2 hours pas­ses bet­ween the time a child eats break­fast to time lunch is ser­ved.  That’s a long time to ask one of our stu­dents to be without food, calm and on task.

Remem­ber to pack a healthy snack each and every day.

Not coo­kies or sugary, pre­pac­ka­ged foods. But healthy foods such as fruit, vege­ta­bles, cheese, or dried fruits & nuts.

4. Rou­tine, rou­tine, routine!!

Create a rou­tine your child can count on for the after-school hours.  Have a spe­cial spot for home­work com­ple­tion and make clear how much rest time your child has prior to begin­ning home­work.  Have a set din­ner­time and bedtime.

Having a family rou­tine can create a sense of secu­rity.  When a child feels safe and secure at home, he/she always per­forms bet­ter at school.

Good luck and have a won­der­ful school year!!

Ori­gi­nal Sili­con Valley Moms Blog post.