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8/20/12

Waaaiiiting, Endings, and Beginnings

My writing schedule has been a bit out of whack for the past couple weeks.  I have been a little preoccupied with job hunting and my current position of summer moderator for three unruly siblings with constant quarrels on their minds.  But seriously, in the ideal world, wouldn't schools all know their school choice numbers and what teaching positions they would need to hire for all on June first.  Then kids and adults would all know where they were headed by the first of July.  Children would know what school they are headed to and be able to relax and enjoy their summer.  Parents would we able to prepare kiddos for any possible change in school according to the child's needs.  Perspective teachers and school employees would be able to focus on   planning for the school year and or relaxing, rather than planning for interviews and fretting.

For the first time ever, my oldest child has a clear plan for the upcoming year that we can be confident in.  He has displayed none of his midsummer sleeplessness and doldrums that usually plague the Dog days of his summer.  This time it is the rest of us who are in flux.  Lila is off to preschool, away from me for the first time ever and it is starting to look like she will be jumping into full days away from a suddenly working mom.  (I will get to that in a minute, slow down! :)  I haven't talked to middle guy yet about school and where he is headed, though he knows who his teacher is if he stays at our local school, we are still waiting to hear from a school choice option.  Ten days to go and we are still waiting.  Tom Petty is totally right, "The waaaiting is the haardest part. . ."

As for me, after planning and fretting the summer away, I can't help but feel a bit wistful that my last summer, very last weeks as a stay at home mom have frittered away with planning, wondering, and worrying about the next step for me.  I am looking at a full time job possibility this week, if our meeting goes well, that will allow me settle into the work life without requiring me to take it all home every night. That is a sweet perk that more than makes up for the less than stellar salary at this stage in my life. The more I think about it, the more logical and practical it sounds.  After all, I cannot discount all the teachers I have spoke with lately who have said, "This job is just so time consuming now."  To do so would be a foolish disservice to me, my family and the children in my charge as teacher.  So the option I am looking at would be working as part of a third grade level team to support the children and teachers in endless, yet so far undetermined, capacities.  I have some thoughts on what the needs will be just from what I have seen with third graders in my past job and discussions I had with parents and teachers last year when my son was in third grade.  It can be a tough year for children, the point when the wobbly wheel finally falls off the cart.

So with this meeting pending over the next day or so.  I am determined to find cleats for two boys who have grown out of yet another pair, and find an appropriately fitting athletic cup for the oldest, and have fun doing it darn it!  I am going to take time. . .like right this minute to call the kids to peek out the window at the entire turkey family walking by our window as I type. (Be right back). . .

Ok.  We are back, and it wasn't the entire family, "Just the women" my middle son informed me.  I just realized we have gone the whole summer without a day trip to Great Grammy's or lunch trip with Grammy Gail, sheeeshh!  Haven't seen Super Grampy since who knows when!  What have I been doing all summer??  Well, we did do two weeks in Maine, and three weeks of 4 day a week swim lessons which was great fun, but seemed to fast forward us through the middle of summer.  So lets see how much fun, friends, and family we can squeeze into the next ten days or so.  Still haven't been to Mystic, Holyoke children's Museum, or the Montshire Museum, all of which were on my mental list buried under resumes, cover letters and application questions.  So let's dust off and see what happens.

 As for my writing schedule, I am going to make major efforts to keep to a Monday morning blog post (maybe posting Sun evening) and a mid week post as well.  That seemed to work this summer, before I slid off track.  Happy reading all.  Enjoy the last wistful moments of summer, while looking forward to the crisp air of fall and where leaves fall to feed the soil of days to come.  

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