|
SubscriptionsSites I Read
|
|
|
|
| I can't believe it has been 2 months since I posted here last. After Alayna's first steps in April, it took her another month before walking again. In May, she started walking all the time! Now she is a little pro! Last weekend, we celebrated Alayna's first birthday! It was a good time! She is not a crowd person, but she did very well considering! She did not want anything to do with her cake, but had fun opening her presents! We had about 30 people at our house! I promise that next year there won't be as many people! Although it was only family plus the Ruggerio's and Liz and Victor. So really only 7 people total were not technically related! We did invite a few other friends, but some were not able to come and others never even RSVP'd, so I have no idea why they were not there! Well, last night ended this term of school! This morning I am meeting with my cooperating teacher for student teaching. Next Thursday I present my portfolio to the dean, and then I should be done for the Summer! I can't wait! I still have some work to do on the Portfolio so I can't say that I am on break yet! I should have it done by Tuesday or Wednesday next week though! I think I have covered everything here! Not that anyone even reads this though! PS I have new pictures up too! | | |
| Last night Alayna took her first steps on her own. She was holding on to the couch, let go...took two steps and then fell on her tooshy. Rich stood her up in the middle of the floor and she did it again! WOO HOO!!!! She has been getting close to this point since she starting pulling herself up at 8 months! What a good girl! She's such a smarty...like her mommy!  | | |
| Happy Good Friday and Happy Easter too! All is well here in my little world. We are getting ready to spend the weekend with my parents in Lansing. Packing a 10 month old seems much easier than when I had to pack her a few months ago! My guess is either I'm becoming a pro, or it really does get easier. I'm back to school...AGAIN! This term, I have class Monday and Thursday nights. It is VERY hard to leave Alayna, but I know that she is in good hands both nights. Monday's I drop her off with my wonderful friend Mandy, where she gets to play with Wesley until Daddy picks her up on his way home from work. Thursday's daddy gets out of work at a decent (early) time to get home before I need to leave! Week one down and all is good! My Monday class is going to be a little intense. This is it before Student teaching in the fall. We are required to put in 30 hours (total over 10 weeks) of fieldwork as well as 5 hours in class each week. During that 30 hours, we are expected to teach as much as possible as well as teach a one week cross-curricular unit that we create. I have been assigned a 3rd/4th split class in Anchor Bay. I have only talked to my cooperating teacher so far, but it seems like things should be alright! Thursday class is a 3 credit class on Behavior Management. It is being co-taught by a husband/wife team. He is going to be focusing on the middle/high school teachers and she will be focusing on the Elementary students. I have had him as an instructor before and know that he can be quite demanding, but this class seems like it should be decent...quizzes, a group project, reading, etc, etc. Alayna is now 10 months old. She is trying to learn how to walk. She does well holding someone's hands, but once you decide that you are done, she throws a minor tantrum. It's cute, but she gets really mad! We think she may finally be getting some teeth...I'm not holding my breath on this, but we think it may finally be true! We shall see! I've been joking that I am going to get her baby dentures soon! Not much else to report! Have a great Easter! | | |
| My last post was all about me whining about wanting to be a stay at home mom. Well, I am praying about it and thinkinng about it a lot lately! I talked to Rich about it a little bit. He thinks that I should definitely try to find a job when I am done with school because I have worked so hard for this certificate/degree that I should use it. As I think about it myself, I am back and forth on the issue. - I know that the little bit that I would be contributing financially will definitely be used. We recently discovered we are almost over our heads financially, but we are working hard to fix the issue before it gets out of hand.
- I know that my work will be beneficial to me emotionally. I will be doing what I have wanted to do for so long. I will be teaching! Although the money will not be a great reward, the fact that I will be helping children become successful adults makes me feel all gushy inside!
- I know that I will miss Alayna while I am working, but her being around other children her age will help her to get the social skills that she will need to be successful too!
- If I work, I will have the opportunity to have adult interaction on a daily basis! I will be able to talk to people that have similar "nerdy" interests that I have.
- I will have summers off to spend with Alayna doing whatever it is that we want to do. We will have money to do things and go places too. I will be getting paid year round, so the money I get in the summer that is not going to childcare expenses can be used to catch up on bills, save, or just spend because we can!
- While I am working, I will get a break from being mommy. The last few days I have been seriously thinking whether or not I want the rest of my life to be like it is everyday now! I do get very bored of playing with baby toys...I get tired of talking to a baby that understands me (sort of), but I can't understand her...I lover her, but sometimes a break and some adult interaction would be really nice.
These are just some of the thoughts I have had lately! I'm still up in the air on what I want to do. Rich is pretty clear that he thinks I should work, but who knows...once I am student teaching this fall and am not at home all day, he may change his thinking. We shall see! Obviously this is still an issue I am working on, but I am starting to feel a little better about it! | | |
| Two weeks from today, I start the most difficult term of school (so I'm told) before student teaching. I have class 2 nights a week and have 30 hours of fieldwork this term too. During that 30 hours, I have to teach a one week integrated subjects unit. Basically what that means is that I have to create lessons to last about 1 hour a day for 5 days that cover the same topic and use multiple subjects too (math, science, social studies, etc). I have been told that it is hard to do because the instructor makes you work backwards (sort of) to do it. That shouldn't be that big of a deal. Also, this term, I have to put together my portfolio and present it to the dean. The portfolio should be more time consuming and annoying that anything else. I am having great emotional difficulty right now too. This fall, I will be student teaching and that means that soon I will be done with school and it will be time to get a job. I don't want to work! I love being a mom! I love being at home with my little girl! She is my life and I don't want to miss any of her fun firsts! I know that as a teacher, I will have summers off, but what about the school year? What if I want her to go to preschool? No daycare is good enough to actually call themselves a preschool legitimately. And no daycare is going to want to drive my daughter to preschool three days a week to turn around 2 hours later to pick her up. What if she misses her mommy? What if I miss her? We plan to have another baby next year. Will me working even make sense? (It doesn't to me.) Will my teacher's salary be enough to pay student loans and daycare for two babies? I'm thinking daycare will be about $800 a month (a cheap daycare at that) and my student loans will be about $300 a month. Teachers around here make about $33,000 a year to start. That's only about $1900 a month after tax. So after daycare and student loans, I will be making only $800 a month. Then factor in gas because I will be driving way more....Let's say I need to fill up twice a week...that will be at least $60 a week times 4 weeks...that's $240 for gas. That leaves me with just over $500 a month. Ok...so that is really a good amount of money...and it will be helpful, but what if I can't get a job and end up subbing? If I sub 3 days a week at $90 a day, that's .... UGH!!!!! I could go on and on...OK, so if I can get a job, it will be helpful financially. YIKES!!!! What do other people do about this issue??? Sorry, I needed to write this....I'm really torn....I love my family and want to help them financially, but I really want to be with my child too! | | |
|
