Workin' Mama

This morning, as I sit at the computer nursing my little boy, I'm thinking about yesterday and about all the other yesterdays I have had. The particular yesterday that is in the forefront of my memory is the one that happened before I fell asleep last night. Oct 15th was my first half-day of teaching, here in SD73. I am very thankful that it was only a half-day to start me off and break our family in. Luckily, as well, Justin had the day off work (no call) so he was at home with Hunter. I wasn't nervous at all about leaving Hunter, I was excited to have some time to myself to be a professional; to do what I love doing and what I've paid so much in tuition to be able to do. So, actually, I was pretty excited!
I woke up really early and woke Hunter up so that I could feed him. He fell asleep eating and so I lay him down beside J and went on with my morning to get ready. I fed him again right before leaving, just to be sure... When I got to the school, I was really early. I checked out the day plan, which was very clearly laid out, and started prepping. I couldn't find one of the things that I was supposed to do and I finished the other one, so I went to meet with the teachers that were scheduled to have library time that day (I was subbing for the librarian) and checked to see what they were going to be doing and what I could do for them, as there were no instructions fo that. It turns out that neither class were going to use their library time. So, I was faced with a free morning until after recess. I asked the principal what she wanted me to do and I did a couple odd jobs of book protecting and stuff. Then, I got to go into a classroom and help a gr 4 teacher with a math lesson. AWESOME! It was really cool to help out and it was neat to see what the teacher had planned with them. She was doing patterns with Nelson Mathematics, for all you teachers out there... really cool text and great program. They even have a website! http://www.nelson.com/nelson/school/elementary/mathK8/default.html
Then, because I was in for the librarian, I got to read the kids a story about Terry Fox (today is their Terry Fox run). I looooove reading aloud. It's so much fun to, all of a sudden, throw in a crazy voice and hear their laughter as they are surprised! Anyhow, I had a great time. Then, during recess I found the stuff that I hadn't been able to find and got it all done much faster than I thought it would take. After recess, I went off to teacha gr 6/7 French class. I had a lot of fun with that group. We listened to a french monster song, finished up some title pages, then went through their vocab with translations. After we finished that, I filled in the pricnicpal's time with them in the gym. We, well they, played handball, which is a really fun game that I hadn't ever seen before. Sweet, another game to add to my repertoire.
Now, the problem with the day was that Hunter hasn't been himself these last couple days - really cranky, crying lots... bleah! Anyhow, when I called J at recess to see how he was doing, Hunter was screaming in the background and J wasn't too pleased. So, what was I thinking about during the gym class when all I was doing was watching the class play? You got it... Hunter. I was worrying that my husband was pulling his hair out because our son wouldn't eat from the bottle I had left for him. But!.. as it turns out, the boys went for a long walk and Hunter fell asleep. And, not only that, but that nap (a long one that lasted until lon after I had come home) knocked him back into his normal self. sigh, I'm so glad to have my bubbly little boy back!
So, after the super long story... it was a great first day back and I am so thankful for the money and the experience.