Returning to work??

I'm nearly 6 months through my maternity leave and the questions have already begun to surface about my plans to return to work. Actually, people began asking me what we planned to do before the babies were even here. While I appreciate the fact that my employer needs to plan to fill my position, it seems so silly for me to be planning for something when it is still so far away.

When we had our first born I wasn't sure I'd ever feel up to returning to work. When I did return to work part-time when he was 19 months old it felt fantastic to be back in the work force again. I appreciated the time I was able to spend with him more and loved feeling like I was making a difference in the lives of the children I taught. It helped that I had a wonderful class, great colleagues and a school admin team that was comfortable letting teachers be effective and successful in their own ways. Best of all I had a fantastic job share partner. If any one of those parts of the formula were missing it could have been a miserable year.

I know for sure that I will not be returning to teaching this fall when the babies turn 1. Being a union employee does have it's benefits and I was able to take an additional school year off (completely unpaid, of course) and still have a job to return to in the fall of 2012. Returning to work this fall just didn't make financial sense to us. I'd have to return full-time just to afford the child care costs associated with having 3 children. Nearly all of my take home pay would have gone straight to child care! Add to that the fact that I'd be putting in long hours, and frequent work on weekends and it just didn't feel right. I wouldn't be able to spend anywhere near the amount of time with my children that I want to.

The only problem is that I love teaching. I LOVE teaching. It is incredibly fulfilling work and I am never bored. No day is ever exactly like the day before and it is difficult to express the feeling you get when you see a child improving and learning over time. I constantly feel like I am learning too which is an added bonus. Plus, kids are really, really funny.

So, now I'm figuring out what to do for work until I need to make the return to work decision in the spring of 2012. I am exploring my options and trying to figure out a way I can do what I love to do (teach) and marry that with what interests me (birthing and babies!). Hmmmmm, Childbirth Educator sounds like the perfect solution to me!!