I'm sure some of you have been there before, your sitting in your room at night thinking, "How in the hell did I get here?" Is it a good here? A bad here? Well for me, it's a GREAT here! But it was quite the journey getting to "here". So you can choose to or not to see how "I got here."
I knew from an early age, that all I really wanted to be was a mommy. I had (and still have) a great mommy and I wanted to be just like her. My mom stayed home with my sister and I while my dad worked and that's what I wanted to do. My mom was always there for my sister and I, was at every practice, choir concert and right there with a shoulder to cry on and there to sit and laugh with. That's what I wanted to do. But as you all know, being a parent and child in the 80's in a hell of a lot different than being a parent and child in the year 2014.
I went to college, graduated, had great jobs in the finance world and married a wonderful man. When the time came, we were ready to start a family. It was a rough few years of heartbreak after heartbreak, but in September of 2010, Connor Andrew made us parents. Then two years later, Emma Marie made our family complete. We were happy, living the American Dream, or so we thought.
Life is hard. I was working, my husband was working, my son in preschool and daughter at daycare and us, working to pay all the bills. We were miserable. I felt like I never saw my kids or husband for that matter, and after long days at work, it became a nightmare on who would make dinner, feed the kids, bath them and put them to bed. It all came to a head in the summer of 2013, something had to give.
We crunched numbers and it came down to one simple fact, my job was paying for preschool. What?? Yeah, everything I did at my job was just going straight to preschool. I was working so someone could watch my kids. Why was I doing that when I could do that? I loved that our son was in preschool, his school was AMAZING and he was learning so much, but I would rather be home with him and his sister rather than paying someone else doing it. So the praying began, and we waited. I had been at my job for 7 years. I really did enjoy it. The people were great, but as all jobs go, new people come in, and it's time for the old to, well "move on". I was pushed into a corner and we made the decision. And to their shocking surprise, I chose to be a stay at home mommy.
Now I didn't quit cold turkey, I did do a part time stay at home job for 6 months. And honestly like any job, it had its ups and downs, but as a mommy to a 3 and 1 year old, it wasn't for me. It did give me the freedom that most jobs can't, but still I was trapped. So in April 2014 I officially became a full time stay at home mom.
Luckily I became a stay at home mom or "sahm" at summer time, and all my other mommy friends (who had kids in school or were teachers themselves) were free to play. And what a great summer we had! Swimming lessons, movies, playing with cousins and friends, BBQ's all that great stuff. It was AWESOME. Until the summer ended. Everyone went back to school, and there I was, alone and honestly, friendless.
First few weeks were okay. But then it set in, I was lonely and I slipped into a thankfully short lived depression, otherwise known as "mommy isolation." The kids were getting bored, I didn't want to go anywhere so we'd sit around in our PJ's all day long watching TV. This was not what I envisioned or even wanted. I started taking them to the library, but you can only do so many story times in a week before the kids start bouncing off the walls (especially the 2 year old) but I needed to find things for my son to do especially since he would start kindergarten in the fall of 2015. So I started to find different things for us to do so he'd be ready. So I thought.
My son was born on September 9th, 2010. In the great state of Arizona, you must be 5 years old by September 1st, 2015 to attend kindergarten. I thought to myself, no big deal he's only 8 days shy, they wouldn't keep him out because of that. You bet your ass they will! That is a hard line in some school districts, and this mommy suddenly became an angry momma bear about to pounce on anyone who wouldn't let her little boy into kindergarten because he was 8 days shy of the cut off. Our school district, no exceptions. I'll admit, I panicked. What did a kid born on September 1st know that my son didn't being born 8 days later?
Thankfully, the next district over, will let a child test should they miss the cut off birth date, to see if they are ready for kinder. Awesome! My son can totally do this! Until I read what they test on. Are you sure he isn't testing for college? Like I said, we aren't in the 80's anymore. Kids have to know their stuff if they are to test into kindergarten (if you meet the age date you don't have to know jack, but to test that is a whole other ball game.)
So this former financial advisor, is now walking the path unknown, that of the home school teacher. I am now taking control of my son's future to make sure he is ready to kindergarten when he is supposed to be, in 2015. Now before you get in a uproar and shout "let him be a child!" I get it, I understand. I understand the date line but we have a smart little guy and keeping him back would be a disservice in our opinion. I won't be teaching him college math ( I don't even think I know college math) but I will be teaching him things that he would be learning in any normal preschool program. If he tests and passes GREAT! If not, then we'll know he's not ready and will wait till 2016. But we don't want a silly 8 days to effect an entire year of our son's life and education. Most of my family was born in September, and all had this problem. They all went early, and they're all fine :)
So follow me on this journey through home schooling for the year. It's going to be a learning experience for us all as I have never been a teacher, no did I ever had a desire to be one, but when it comes to my children, I will do everything in my power to make sure they are ready for what this world has to offer.
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