projections

After some conversations with Sasha's family, it's looking like probably what we'll do is have me finish out my three-days-a-week nannying as the school year ends, and they'll hire a new nanny to replace me. They would like to keep me as long as possible because, they say, the kids just adore me. (Apparently Sasha asks every morning if it's a "MP day," and Monday as I was leaving for class she told me, "I like the days you stay longer a lot better." UGH BREAK MY HEART.) But they understand that I want to intensify my class load and move on to preschool teaching, so they're willing to let me go sooner than initially planned.

We are talking about the possibility of Sasha's family keeping me on as a reading tutor for Sasha through the summer and maybe the fall. One of the things I've most enjoyed working for Sasha's family is designing Harry Potter themed activities for Sasha. Lately those activities have veered away from "potions" (chemistry) or "Quidditch practice" (large motor skills) and more toward clever disguises for literacy therapy. Sasha responds so much better to reading she's interested in than anything coerced through external motivation (class assignment, sticker chart, prizes). Sasha's parents have noted that ever since I started prioritizing reading practice after school with Sasha, her reading has markedly improved. She's still reading at a kindergarten reading level, but she's certainly made progress since September. Sasha's dad never did get around to hiring an actual reading tutor for Sasha, and I would be a good fit once I'm not the regular nanny; I already have good rapport with Sasha and I know in which literacy areas she needs extra support. Plus, I can make everything Harry Potter themed! Being a total nerd is serving me well.

A tutoring option would allow me to still be part of Sasha and Ezra's lives for a little while longer, help Sasha continue to develop literacy skills through summer break, and make a few extra bucks on the side. A possible win all around.

Starting sometime in June, I will most likely be teaching preschool part-time at the center where I take my classes in addition to taking extra classes through summer and fall terms. I'll probably continue nannying for Athena's family for awhile longer. HB and I are making plans to travel abroad for three months at the beginning of 2014; I envision that trip serving as a clean break from nannying altogether. When we return, I'll likely be looking for teaching jobs at local preschools that feel like good, long-term fits.

High fives,
-MP

in which grad school is the best

Mondays are solidly my favorite day of the week. I have just Ezra for the first half of the day, and then sometime after a nap, a walk, and several rounds of snacks, I plunk him in the Ergo and go fetch Sasha from school. We always meander home fairly slowly, swapping weekend stories, pointing out the things we see, and of course discussing Harry Potter.

I get Sasha set up with a snack, lay Ezra down for a nap, and return to Sasha to get her going on her math or reading homework, and then it's time for me to clamber onto my bike and head off to campus, leaving the kids in their dad's care for the remainder of the afternoon.

The reason Mondays are my favorite is because I get to go to class.

This is a stark departure from my undergraduate college experience, which for me was much more about community building and identity formation than academics. In undergrad, two thirds of the classes I was taking were not in my specialization, and many of my classmates would show up to class not having done the reading homework and then bullshit their way through the day's discussions. (I was absolutely not an exception.) In grad school, everything I take is immediately relevant, and I can trust that not only have all of my classmates done all of the reading, but they've also likely done extra reading and research simply because they are as excited about what we're learning as I am.

This semester the class I'm taking is a diversity & social justice course. I consider myself fairly well versed in social justice issues, but I didn't know there are so many resources for early childhood teachers for building anti-bias themes into their curriculum! I read both of our textbooks in just a few days each, and launched into an independent project where I'm reviewing children's books that feature diversity and anti-bias themes. It's a really fun project, and one I've been meaning to start since I began collecting names of social justice themed children's books two or three years ago. My professor just gave me the kickstart I needed. If any of my readers are interested in seeing the blog I've started to document my reviews, email me at hugsorhigh5s at gmail and I'll send you the link. It's connected to my real name, so I won't post the url here.

More and more I'm feeling ready to take on more coursework and scale back on nannying. I really miss the classroom environment, and I'm so incredibly excited about curriculum development, so I'm hopeful that I might be able to move on from private childcare to preschool teaching as early as this fall, and increase my classload as soon as summer term. I'm waiting to have those conversation with Sasha's family, because it will mean my slow and inevitable goodbye.

Hugs,
-MP

balance

I had Wednesday off this week. A relative was in town or something and Sasha's family didn't need me that day.

I... I can't believe how much less stressed out I've been, and how much happier I've been this week, with that one eight hour shift obliterated.

Over the last couple of years, I've had jobs with different hours. When I did AmeriCorps I was regularly cramming 60 hours of work into each week. Lots of 12 hour days, lots of extra work on weekends. Before that I was working maaaybe 15 hours a week in a research-y type position that mostly had me sprawled on the couch in my pajamas at 4 in the afternoon writing about community building activities for teens. That wasn't quite enough work to keep me from getting restless, but damn I had an awesome garden that summer.

When I was trying to piece together nanny jobs after my exhausting, overwhelming AmeriCorps year wrapped up, I was aiming for close to 20 hours a week. I ended up with 35 hours a week. This week was a good reminder of why 20 hours a week is my ideal work load. While almost-full-time means I'm building up a cushy savings account, it also means I cling to the weekends like I'm an invasive species of blackberry bush and weekends are native underbrush -- and I have a harder time enjoying my time with the kids when I am at work.

HB and I don't really make formal New Years resolutions, but we do talk about what I call, in a deep and foreboding voice, "our hopes and dreams."

My current "gosh wouldn't that be nice" is to work halftime in a small, progressive preschool, and work halftime as a freelance artist. I really miss painting.

I've been trying to partition off more evening time for art lately, but it's hard to motivate myself to work on it when I get home from eight hours of scrubbing baby chins and cajoling a belligerent six-year-old into starting her homework. When I work close to full time, all I want to do with my free time is eat, sleep, and watch shoddy escapist shows (current favorite being Once Upon a Time which is thoroughly, thoroughly mediocre).

Little by little, and with HB's encouragement, I'm reclaiming parts of my evenings and weekends for making some real progress on art projects, and that feels fantastic, but oh, I do look forward to an employment future of fewer hours spent in other people's homes raising other people's children.

For now, it's what it is, and I'm thankful to be employed, housed, and partnered, even when the balance isn't quite ideal.

Hugs,
-MP