This is what works

I'm a teacher.  I'm a licensed kindergarten through eighth grade teacher.  I have taught.  I have worked as a substitute teacher, I have worked in an after school care program, I have taught toddlers, infants and preschoolers.  

I am currently teacher toddlers.  I LOVE what I do.  I go to work every morning and help mold the lives of 20 children under three years old.  I see them learn and grow and they teach me things every day.  The only reason I ever second-guess what I'm doing is in the fact that I attended four and a half years of college to get a degree that I am not technically using.  Sure, my very first childcare center experience came during those four and a half years, and I learned a lot during that time.  But I paid--actually, am still paying for--a degree that allows me to teach bigger kids.  I worry that the longer I stay out of the elementary classroom, the less chance there is that I will ever go back.  Things change very quickly in the education field.  I have only been out of the classroom since last June, and I'm sure I am already completely out of the loop of the latest strategies and testing and terminology.  

On the other hand, I'm happy.  Like I said, I really do love what I'm doing.  I'm not going to get rich doing it, but I enjoy it.  I enjoy being with the kids, I enjoy the people that I work with, and I enjoy the fact that my job is flexible.  I was able to take last Friday off to help my mom work at the flower shop before Mother's Day.  I'm off this Friday to have a garage sale.  I went with Kayden to eat lunch at "the kindergarten school" today.  I will take days off to be with my kids, I will take time off for appointments, I may even take a mental health day here and there, and it's ok.  

For now, this is what works for us.  Only time will tell what the future holds for us, but for now this is what works.