Earlier this month, I left my long-held position at an independent school located in the Los Angeles area. It was a hard decision to make -- I loved my school and my coveted position -- but the truth is, I love raising my child more.
I was always ambivalent about having children until Joe came along, when I was 41. He was a sweet surprise, discovered on Mother's Day in 2004, after spending nearly a decade married without children.
It wasn't that we didn't try having children. We just didn't produce one. But when that 8 lb. bundle of screaming joy was ripped out of me during an unexpected C-section, it was love at first sight...well sort of.
Since he was 10 months old, Joe has spent much of his formative years at a local daycare center. At first, I was ok with that. The center cared for him while I performed satisfying work and broadened my skill set. While I was writing, attending meetings, and handling press inquiries, the center was changing poopy diapers and teaching him how to play nice. While Joe was learning his ABCs at his school, I was at work, comfortably knowing that my job at MY school wasn't nearly as hard as the one his teachers held there.
Joe is now 4 1/2 and all that has changed. I've embraced my new life with him, and am quite ready and more importantly, comfortable to be his mother. I actually think I might be good at it.
Since Joe has been told of my news, he's a different boy. He's happier. He understands that Pre-K is important and not to be missed. But he also understands that having more time with mom is a special luxury. We are both looking forward to it!
I was always ambivalent about having children until Joe came along, when I was 41. He was a sweet surprise, discovered on Mother's Day in 2004, after spending nearly a decade married without children.
It wasn't that we didn't try having children. We just didn't produce one. But when that 8 lb. bundle of screaming joy was ripped out of me during an unexpected C-section, it was love at first sight...well sort of.
Since he was 10 months old, Joe has spent much of his formative years at a local daycare center. At first, I was ok with that. The center cared for him while I performed satisfying work and broadened my skill set. While I was writing, attending meetings, and handling press inquiries, the center was changing poopy diapers and teaching him how to play nice. While Joe was learning his ABCs at his school, I was at work, comfortably knowing that my job at MY school wasn't nearly as hard as the one his teachers held there.
Joe is now 4 1/2 and all that has changed. I've embraced my new life with him, and am quite ready and more importantly, comfortable to be his mother. I actually think I might be good at it.
Since Joe has been told of my news, he's a different boy. He's happier. He understands that Pre-K is important and not to be missed. But he also understands that having more time with mom is a special luxury. We are both looking forward to it!
That sounds great. I wish you the best of luck and hope you have fun being a parent.
ReplyDeleteYou will not regret this decision. My top 15 favorite outings with my kids: Zoo, Griffith Park kiddie train and pony rides, Travel Town trains and train ride, local fire stations, Lacy Park (great bush forts and ride on paths), Arboretum (peacocks! and waterfalls), Descanso Gardens, Huntington Library (especially the bamboo "forest" and feeding ducks) and new children's garden, Kidpace, Armory Art classes, Nine O"Clock Players Children's Theater (4 plays a year), Vincent Lugo Park in San Gabriel (sea monster slides), mini-golf in the Arroyo (So. Pas), Natural History Museum (dinosaurs!!), Gerrish Swim club, living room building projects with blocks and Legos, or giant refrigerator boxes that make great forts! Oh, I miss those days and wish I could rewind the clock. You are in for a fun ride with your boy! Lucky kid.
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