Thursday, August 12, 2010

Summer Time Wrap-Up

With my summer vacation very near its end I am feeling very ready to go back to work. One thing I love about being a teacher is that I get to spend a quarter of every year as a domestic engineer a.k.a. stay-at-home-mom. Another thing I love about my job is that just when I start to feel mom-burn-out I get to go back to it, which will give me a much needed break from all of the domestic engineering I've been doing. Don't get me wrong, I love being at home with my daughter, playing with her and getting to see her achieve developmental milestones rather than hearing about them second hand from her daycare teacher, but I seriously need a break. This lifestyle is killing me. I don't know how people do it full time, year in and year out. I think it's far harder than being a working mom in many ways and I have a seriously high level of respect for anyone who does this job full time. It's hard for me to put into words why staying home is so hard for me, but I often feel like I never really get to go home from work. The only comparison I can think of is if I lived in my classroom. While I realize that I am still going to have to do all the same stuff I have been doing all summer with less time to do it I somehow know that it will be easier than this. I talked to the mom of one of my students last year who said "I think some of us are better parents because we work". I have always appreciated that she said that to me- it helped ease some of the guilt I felt last year for leaving my baby in daycare to go back to work.

Now that I have that off my chest, let me share some of my favorite moments from my summer with Aven:

Playing at Red Butte Gardens on a weekly basis.

Spending time at the cabin and getting to see countless hilarious facial expressions every day.

Getting plenty of exercise chasing Aven wherever we went.

Getting dirty on a daily basis.

Playing at the park with friends

Hiking in Milcreek Canyon

And last but not least- relaxing and playing at home.

It's been an unbelievably fun summer. By about Christmas I will be excitedly looking forward to doing it all again next summer!

1 comment:

  1. I know what you mean. I love being home all day with Adelaide, but I swear I am more excited to play with her and am a better mom when I have worked for at least part of the day. Being a mom is hard, whether you work or not! I guess the goal is to find the right balance between the two.

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