Friday, April 6, 2012

And Back to Work Too

Not only did I make my long-awaited return to roller derby, Wednesday I made my way back to work. I had planned on taking a little bit more time off, but a teacher I subbed for a few months ago requested me. I'd had a good time with her class, so we decided to go ahead and accept. I know we're very lucky that Jonah's Nana lives nearby. It would be hard to find other reliable care with a substitute teacher's schedule.

As the day approached, I was definitely nervous. I was completely confident that Jonah would be okay with his Nana. I was more concerned about myself. It's really hard to wake up one or two times in the middle of the night to breastfeed and not get to go back to sleep after the second one. Then to go deal with a bunch of first graders? Needless to say, I had a long couple of days ahead of me.

The first day wasn't too bad. A couple of kids asked me if the baby "came out." :) I realized after that first day, though, that I went into it still in mommy-mode rather than teacher mode. I was a little too soft, and I lost some control as a result. At the end of the day, my class was reprimanded by another teacher for being crazy in the halls at dismissal which kind of made me feel like a failure. A few students were upset that I wasn't happy with their behavior and marked their planners as such, but I think giving them very honest feedback set us up for a better day to follow.

Thursday I went over my expectations again. I had them tell me what the consequences were for getting out of their seats without permission (negative tally mark), not finishing their work (no recess), talking in the halls (going back and walking again), and so forth. They also knew that if they did well, at the end of the day they would get a treat. And most of them did. A few of the same students went home without, but many were greatly improved. It gave me hope that I can get back into doing my job well.

I haven't napped much since Jonah was born, but we were both exhausted Wednesday. As soon as he was in my arms when I got home, his little eyes rolled back in his head. I nursed him, and he took a long nap. Even when I woke him up after three hours, he fell right back to sleep AND slept his normal amount. It must have been pretty exciting for him to have such a different routine. His Nana said he did much better with napping Thursday, and when I woke him up he was a very happy little boy.

I was pretty impressed with my pumping that day, about 9.5 oz, but half of that is already gone from derby practice. It's a little intimidating knowing how much I have to pump to be able to do what I need to do, but I just have to add it to the routine.

I had another request to sub Monday. It's a good class, and I'm sure we'll all be fine.

On a different note, I'm trying to cash in on my baby's cuteness, so if you agree that he's adorable, please like this photo on Facebook!

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