teaching again

I've kind of fallen off the blogging wagon lately, haven't I? There hasn't been too much to report lately, I guess. I love that we are back in a routine and that life has a normal rhythm again (after our summer of craziness). One of the best things about this fall has been the addition of several things to our (that is, Dane's and my) schedule: me teaching and watching his little friend Indie one and a half days a week. Having a few more things adds a little life to my schedule and makes things move so much faster.

I'm teaching one English class at Durham Tech, the community college just about three miles from our house. It's a Saturday morning class, so Tommy can be home with Dane while I'm teaching. I was kind of nervous about it before starting, but it has been SO AWESOME for me. Let me repeat that: SO AWESOME. I am LOVING the chance to think about something different, something else, even just something as small as one class, for a change. It is so fun to go through the challenges of planning a course and writing assignments and every individual class meeting.

Other than the Saturday work, I have one day a week where Dane goes over to Indie's house and gets to be watched by Becca while I plan and grade without him whining nearby all. day. long. (And that's why I watch Indie later in the week--as a babysitting swap.) And that one day a week of time off, time to think about classwork and not about baby stuff, has just done wonders for my state of mind. Not that my state of mind was extremely depressed before doing this, but I have just been so happy with the variety that this arrangement gives to us.

I think it's good for me to take on something that's not overtaking my entire life. My life so far has been pretty fragmented: first I was a student, and then I graduated and became a mom. But now I'm a mom AND a teacher, and it's kind of fun going somewhere where the fact that I'm a mom isn't the most defining characteristic I have. And while I love being teaching, I have no desire to let it overrun the rest of my life--it's just a small portion of everything else going on in my life, which is so different than it was when I was in school (when Tommy and I were both working all day long).

I've taught three classes so far, and I think it's going pretty well. I have yet to get any of their papers (in two weeks I'll get their first ones) and then I'll have to revisit my least favorite part of teaching: grading. But I think it'll still be worth it, and I'm hoping it continues to work out in the next semester as well.