Balancing Act
It is amazing how the wisdom of children can stop you in your tracks. My son is excited about school ending in a few weeks. He is looking forward to summer vacation, lazy days at the pool and staying up late. He mentioned to me that he was excited that I would have more time to spend with him this summer. I explained to him that I would not be working at the community college this summer but I would continue to work online. He replied, "don't you get the summer off at your online school?" I told him that online schools operate year round and that I will be teaching a class on Thursday night. He replied, "why would someone want to go to school at night?" I told him that I teach grownups who work during the day and they can only attend class at night. He replied, "I thought since you were working at home you would be able to spend more time with us." I didn't have a great comeback for this response.
The opportunity to work part-time at a community college and facilitate classes online has given me more time to spend with my family. Or so I thought, until my son let me know that I was still missing in action. When I worked forty hours a week, I didn't have the quality time to spend with my kids. I worked from 7:30 am to 4:00pm. This meant getting up at the crack of dawn and getting the day care bags ready and getting the kids ready to go. Some mornings were extremely difficult to get everyone up and going so that I would not be late to work. The worst days are the days when your kids don't want you to leave them at daycare and have a screaming fit. This ruins your day and makes you feel extremely guilty about working. Like most households, my family relied on a second income to survive the increasing cost of living. In today's world, a 2 working parent family is the norm. The majority of us have grown up with both of our parents working. Most times it is out of necessity. (http://www.dowhatyouloveandmakemoney.com/)
I look back at the day care days and remember how exhausting this whole experience was for me. I have no idea how I worked full time and took care of two small children. After a day at the office and getting my kids into their routine, I had nothing left to give my children. Like so many mothers across the country, we give every piece of ourselves to our jobs, children, spouses, and school activities. Since I started teaching, I have the flexibility to arrange my schedule to spend more time with my children. My routine involves getting the kids up for school in the morning and preparing their breakfast and lunch. They are at an age in which they are responsible for getting dressed and making their beds before the go off to school. After the leave for school, I have breakfast and catch a few minutes of Good Morning America. Next, it is upstairs to check emails from both of my jobs. I answer anything that needs immediate attention and table others until later. I check my drop box for any assignments that have been submitted for grading. I go into the discussion board to see if students are on the right track to help facilitate discussion. I review the upcoming week's course material so that I will be ready for class.
Once the kids come home, I have handled the majority of issues that need to be addressed. We talk about their day at school before we start on homework. Since television is banned during the week, the children have to find some other form of entertainment. We usually go to the park and hang out and enjoy ice cream or a cool drink. My son reminded me that he expects me to spend more time with him this summer. I have to remind myself that there is a time for work and there is a time to spend with the most important people in your life.