How Being a Teacher Has Made Me a Better Mom

Last week, my husband Trey went on a trip to Canada (Winnipeg, to be exact), and I had to become a true "supermom". I had no idea how much I really depend on his help to carry out the evening activities. I think our night time routine (dinner, bath, and bed time) is the hardest part of the day, because everyone is tired. Tired babies (which are sometimes overtired babies, due to being two-years-old and trying to skip nap time!!) are a lot harder to work with. Naturally, everyone needed mommy at the same time. So, for about an hour (sometimes longer), I learned to take a deep breath, pray to God for patience, and hold my babies tight as we worked our way to sweet slumber.

How does being a teacher help me accomplish this? Let's see if I can effectively explain. When you teach, you are challenged with teaching a large group of children, who all have different strengths and weaknesses. As a fifth grade teacher, I had to teach five subjects everyday, to 20+ kids : below grade level, on grade level, and above grade level, while maintaining a structured, disciplined classroom, and keeping my sanity. And some of those kids are running up and down aisles, slamming themselves onto the desks of other children, screaming out randomly, and throwing objects. I kid you not. Of course, for students like these, I usually had a second hand in the room (you know who you are and I am forever grateful for your help), but nevertheless, it's utter chaos. And you know that if you don't figure out how to get the material taught and mastered, you could lose your job. These days, teaching jobs are a lot harder to come by. So you figure it out and you get it done. 

That's how I felt this last week as I was putting my two children (ages 2 years and 6 months) to bed. I know, it's a bit of a ridiculous comparison, but it made me feel like I could persevere. Now, I know there are "supermoms" out there who have to do this everyday because their husbands have jobs that make them unavailable, or maybe things didn't work out with their husbands and they're single moms. I praise you all - you are ROCKSTARS in my book. Somehow, I thought that with my husband being on vacation, I too, would have a little vacation for myself. HAH! I forgot that he helps me with so much in the evenings (this is a shout out to you, babe). By the time I got everything done that we both usually tackle, I was exhausted and ready to pass out in my bed.

My good friend Kate, and her son Noah, came to visit while Trey was away.
Bath time was easy to handle - throw 'em all in and let the dog supervise!

So, back to the point: how do you teach children with different needs at the same time? You do what you can keeping the kids together in a whole group, and then you work with them in smaller groups. You give the kids who have "got it" something that will challenge them while they work on their own, so that way you can focus on the students who "don't got it" and work one on one or in small groups to strengthen their abilities.

I took this strategy that got me through my three years of teaching fifth grade, and applied it to our bedtime routine. Now, depending on levels of exhaustion, hunger, and wellness (Victoria had a fever two of the nights), different children got to work independently. If Samuel needed to go to bed NOW (he lets you know), then I nursed him while Victoria danced around us and read books. If Victoria needed to go to bed NOW (she lets you know), then Samuel would lay in her floor and roll around, working on his core strength, while I read a book with Victoria, said prayers, and sang to her (and yes, if she wasn't too tired, Samuel joined in on reading, praying, and singing too). Sounds obvious, I'm sure. But I'm so used to doing things a certain way when Trey is here, that change is hard. Usually, I'm in charge of putting one of the kids to bed and he's in charge of the other; so when he's gone, I feel like the substitute, who's been left with no lesson plans, trying to figure out how to best teach the material that needs to be learned.  

Now that I'm staying at home with my children, I often think back to my days at Hollins University where I studied to be a teacher. Or maybe it's my monthly student loan bill that reminds me. But do I see my studies and time spent teaching as a waste? Absolutely not. How else would I have learned how to get my kids to bed when Trey is gone? Thank you, Masters in the Art of Education! Totally worth it. 

See you mommies later, 

Lizzie

A Mom of Many Kinds

You may recall that before I had my daughter, Victoria, I was a mother first to Imogen, the cat, and then to Dean, the dog. On Saturday I got to revisit my motherly duties to both of them, as they were both overdue for visits to the vet. Unfortunately for me, the vet’s office couldn’t schedule their appointments back-to-back, so I had to take Imogen first at 8:45 a.m., and Dean, a short while later, at 11:00 a.m.

The vet is a good 20 minutes away, so add in the time it took to drive there and back, and that made for about an hour and a half on the road. Did I mention I was fighting off some sort of stomach bug? You can picture it now: Imogen riding shotgun in the Pet Taxi, with me hunched over, slurping on my Diet Ginger Ale, and scarfing down some Saltines. However, it was my fault for putting their needs off for months on end,  and I’m so very grateful our vet is open on Saturdays. Weekdays are way too busy to try fitting in trips to our dear Dr. Jones. 

Imogen riding shotgun

 So off we went, down I-95 to I-64, headed to the West End of Henrico to the Quioccasin Veterinary Hospital. Imogen was going in for a disgusting bit of matted hair that had made a nice home for itself in the middle of her back. We had tried cutting it out ourselves, but were afraid of what might be underneath (eeek!). Turns out poor Imogen is a little overweight, and as Dr. Jones informed me, cannot reach that part of her back to clean. She could not say what caused such a mess, but pulled out her trimmers and buzzed it right off. Only dry, flaky skin revealed itself. Shew! Dr. Jones recommended switching Imogen to a salmon-based diet to help with the dandruff, as well as brushing her every so often to help out with the parts she couldn’t reach. I felt guilty about Immy’s weight and lack of brushing; blaming it on the fact that Dean and Victoria got most of our attention. I reminded myself of some of the parents I deal with as a teacher who have endless excuses for their child’s poor behavior or missing work. Uh oh…

At 9:15 a.m., we were back on the road to home. Fortunately, Imogen made it out with only a bald spot from where her matted hair had been. I ran by Wal-Mart, then dropped off the groceries, picked up Dean, and headed back down I-95 to I-64. Thank goodness I could leave the baby home with her daddy! This story would probably be way more eventful had the 8-month-old been tagging along.

You can picture it this time: Dean pacing in the back of the Explorer, whimpering, as he often does when he gets excited, and me hunched over, still sipping on my Diet Ginger Ale, and munching on Saltines. Dean is a lot harder to handle than Immy, considering he is much heavier, stronger, and determined to say hello to every living thing he encounters. Dean was overdue for two of his shots, and also needed a nail trimming.

When we first arrived, they weighed him. In November, at Dean’s last appointment, he weighed 68 lbs. On Saturday he weighed in at 78 lbs. Dr. Jones walked into the room, mouth wide-open and gaping, and exclaimed, “TEN POUNDS! WHAT HAPPENED?!”. Again, I felt like I was on the other side of the parent-teacher conference table in my classroom. Dr. Jones (the concerned and frustrated teacher) and me (the clueless parent), feeling embarrassed and guilty for the current state my child (Dean) was in. I honestly didn’t know how he had gained ten pounds, but I had my speculations. Could it be my latest, accidental purchase of his food in the puppy version, which has a much larger fat content? Perhaps it's the fact that he hasn’t been on a walk in a month, since the weather has been up and down and we’ve been busy trying to get our house on the market. Or maybe, it’s because we delight in spending our time and energy with Victoria, after working all day, and once she’s in bed, we all collapse on the couch. Dean included. Excuses, excuses. Oh! And we give Dean a Kong with a spoonful of peanut butter every morning (mostly due to our guilt of leaving him all day). That probably doesn’t help his weight, either.

However, I told Dr. Jones I hadn’t even noticed he had gained 10 lbs. (again, sounds like the parents I work with who haven’t even noticed their child hasn’t done homework all week…), but that we would make sure to do whatever she recommended to get him in shape. So far, so good (it’s been two days). Sunday we made a trip to PetSmart to get him on the appropriate food for his size. We’ve also taken him for walks the past two days. We have high hopes for change, and for Dean and Immy’s sake, I hope we stick to it.

Being a mommy is tough! And I want to have how many more kids? Three? Four? Five? Yikes….

To my loyals and newcomers as well, thanks for visiting!

Love,

Future Mommy?

Hi friends! Well, here it is, my first entry. Actually, this is the 2nd time I'm writing this but the first time I was out on the deck and my iPad got too hot..figures.

So I know after reading my blog name you must be wondering...am I a mom? Maybe I'm pregnant? What's the deal?

No, I'm not pregnant. I'm a fifth grade teacher who graduated with my Master's degree a month ago, and who has been on summer break a little less than a week now, and who loves sunbathing, reading, exercising, and margaritas. In fact, I'm spending this afternoon tanning on the deck and just made a "marg" refill while working on this entry. Perhaps I can thank the tequila for the inspiration.

Anyways, why am I talking about being a mom, you ask? I have reached that stage in life where all I can think about is babies. It happened after the season finale of Grey's Anatomy (if you saw it then you know my point). Thanks, Meredith. Since then, all my conversations with my husband consist of having a baby and YES! he is as excited as I am. Weird, right? I'm gonna go with it while it's hot. My husband and I got married a year and a half ago before I officially became a teacher and while he was in his first year of dental school (mind you, we dated 6.5 years prior) and now we own a home and I planted some flowers in the front yard yesterday. Next step? Obviously, a baby!

But seriously, we are planning for the future and right now it looks like Baby Woolwine, IV (hubby is the 3rd) is in the mix. No worries, once we start trying I'll put my margaritas on hold.

With love,
Lizzie