Okay. Winnie the Pooh is Back~And I Have GOT To Tell You...

If you didn't read the post before you may think:

A. I love Winnie the Pooh and I am changing my blog name...

B. You have definitely stumbled onto the wrong blog. Winnie the Pooh is like, so yesterday.

C. You are just reading this because you have nothing else going on. And you want to laugh at someone else's life.

D. All of the above.

{Please don't answer that-Especially if it is C or D, or even B-}

Here is a little Ruby Red Trivia: My oldest son's nursery was classic Winnie the Pooh. So once upon a time, I really, really liked Winnie the Pooh.

Now?

Not so much.

Anyway, I refer to 'Winnie the Pooh' as in his personality.

And usually, I lean towards having the personality of Winnie the Pooh...and one week a month, I am a bit Eeyore-ish.

{Refer to previous post for more info...}

So I wanted to tell you some really great things about life these days.

About my 'life' as a working mom.

All of my working girlfriends told me -as I went from 'stay-at-home for ten years mom' to 'working mom' as a first grade teacher-that I was in for a really stressful, adjusting ride.

I was braced.

I was a bit nervous.

And a couple of months into it, I find myself still waiting for these emotions to surface.

I have to say: So far, so good.

Really.

I would tell you.

For our family, the good has completely outweighed the [possible] negative.

• I am teaching at my boy's school, and that is definitely the number one reason why it seems like this has been working so great.
• My boys have time to do their homework before they go home. So when we get home, we aren't fighting about doing homework or playing. They can just come home and play.
• My youngest {in preschool at school with us-} can have a nap every day, and play with friends when not in the preschool class three days a week. He is a very social little butterfly, and although my husband has had a few days he could keep him at home-Happy Boy cried to go to school and 'play'. So to school he went with me and his brothers-
• I have lost ten pounds (!!!) not even trying to-but I just don't have time to sit down for a second with first graders. We move at the speed of lightning in first grade, and although my feet are tired at the end of a day-I am all for losing some lbs., as I still have too many to go to be pre-pregnancy of my last baby...who is now FOUR. (And although birthday treats come in daily, I save them for my boys to eat after school. They love me all the more for that, and I am trying not to eat so much junk-) I maybe my former high school weight by the school year's end if this trend continues...or maybe not-the holidays are around the corner, so we'll see...
• I am not spending any money, as I am working all day, and don't have the energy to go anywhere to spend any money. And since I work at my boy's school-I am given a tuition break. So that means, for once, I have money that I could spend if I had the time, but I don't!
• Tin Man has always been very helpful, but I think I appreciate him even more now that I am working. He arranges his schedule to make sure to be home in the morning to make all of us our lunches, and has been making dinner so cooking (which I pretty much despise-) is something I don't have to even think about. The boys and I do the dishes, but other than that-we come home to a delicious meal cooked with love. If he is not home, and out of town for work- he makes sure I have a ready-made meal to cook easily, or leftovers.
• The ready made meals I use on occasion are from Schwan's. And I recently found out that if I order on-line, the Schwan's truck makes deliveries to my school, and puts them in the freezer so I can just get it after school to take home. (!!!)
• I have two aides that help me, and they are the reason this job is so far stress free. One aide (a certified teacher-) helps with both of the first grades. She helps me run centers for math and reading so we can do some differentiated instruction, and helps to make our classes even more interesting, and fun. She also helps me hang the kids artwork in the hall and grade papers. I have yet to be 'swamped' at night grading daily work. And, my second aide (a teacher in training-),  floats between the four sections of first and second grade to help with any behavioral issues. She has been helping grade papers, and pitch in whenever needed. Behavior issues? -Oh yes, our class has them- She takes them out of the room to talk about expected classroom behavior, so I can continue teaching. Or if needed, she will walk them to see the administration in the office. Seriously, I am so blessed.
• Don't even get me started about my Administration! They bring me near tears as I have gotten to see the 'working insides' of where we chose to send our boys, and now where I work. They are so wise,  and caring. They are so wonderful to work for, I really can't believe how awesome my job is-I consider it amazing that I can now say I work with them. I still can't believe I am considered a colleague. It hasn't sunk in yet-I still feel like a visitor some days.
• Okay, I will make this the last thing: I am having So. Much. Fun. Last week, I dressed up in a lab coat and safety glasses and told my little first graders they had to call me "Doctor", as in Professor. {They were giggling, and loved it when I put an A+ on the apple papers we did together!} We made an Apple Book with words that have the short a sound. We 'disected' apples and counted the seeds. We did the life cycle of an apple tree, and cut an apple horizontal to see how God put a star in the middle. When the kids saw the star, their 'oohs and ahhs' put a smile on my Eeyore face that is still there. I. Love. My. Class.

So, although I had a "Eeyore" few days earlier in the week, I really have so much to be thankful for, and I just had to share.

Do you have anything you are thankful for? I would love to hear about it-

And, thanks for listening...

(...who is thankful for all my blessings today!)