A teacher's List for future readiness

While talking about how many people are in my family a little girl asked me why I didn't mention a baby.  I tried not to laugh because usually I don't get that from little kids.  I told her I don't have a baby.  She asks "did it die?" very seriously.  At first I found this amusing because she just figured every person has a child and there must be a good reason I don't have one.  Then it occurred to me that her short life experience may have crossed paths with a loved one who lost a little one and the smile left my face very quickly.  I'm not sure what to do with that.

On a different note...

Do any other teachers out there feel like they are not allowed to complain about their day in front of parents?  I don't mean parents of the children they teach...I mean people in your personal life who happen to be parents.  Sometimes I feel like everyone else is allowed to complain about work but because I work with kids and don't have any I get the eye roll and the judgmental statements.  I get it, I really do.  I don't have kids so I don't know that side of it...but don't we all think it's ridiculous when a 4 year old comes to school in 2 inch heels?  Or when a parent forgets to pack their child's lunch 3x in one week?  Or how about making their child look like Jonbenet Ramsey on school picture day?  Yes, I know I'm not a parent, but I would hope there would be some common sense things that people just know not to do.  

I realize I've learned a lot in my years in a classroom too so here are some obvious lessons and some that are perhaps not so obvious that I've picked up and now just consider good common sense.

In no apparent order:

1. Do NOT buy your child lace shoes if they cannot tie them (teachers do not enjoy tying 20 pairs of shoes multiple times a day because the child insists on untying them every time you turn around).  Shoes with laces should never be allowed until first grade (just my opinion)

2. Pack your child snow pants in NOVEMBER.  Just because it's not snowing does not mean it's not cold out there...insulation.

3. When you are getting ready for winter: get your child 3 or more pairs of gloves/mittens that are the same brand/color everything.  That way when the left one keeps going missing you can replenish easily.

4. You may think your child will never have a bathroom accident...and you may be right.  But if you don't put an extra set of clothes in their backpack like the teacher told you to, the next time the kid at the lunch table tips over his milk onto your child (which happens twice a week), your child will have nothing to wear.

5. It is really not helpful to hang around the classroom in the morning when your child is crying.  If you leave they will stop.  It's like some unwritten preschool rule that all the kids know but don't let the parents in on.

6. Don't try teaching your child sounds to get ahead of the class if you can't teach them correctly.  "F" is not "fuuuu" it's "fffff", "M" is not "maaaaaa" it's "mmmmm".  You really just confuse the kid and the teacher has to unteach to reteach.

7. A granola bar doesn't constitute as a lunch...not for a 3 year old, 13 year old, or 30 year old.

Okay that's all my raving for now...I know I don't have it all figured out and I am not saying I'm going to be the perfect parent-or even any good for that matter.  But at least I won't be worrying about stupid stuff like lost gloves or extra sets of clothes.

A Team Effort

We are discovering new ways in which we work together.  It's a blast.

Excuse our grossness...it was a warm day in Chicago

A New Way to Live

I'm not exactly sure where I'm standing on this...just some thoughts bundled together.

During a wonderful visit with friends, I was more properly introduced to Dave Ramsey...not in person but rather, his ideas.  If you haven't heard of him, I recommend looking him up.  I bought his book The Total Money Makeover.  Some of the stories in there are absolutely frightening.  Young couples making $40,000 combined with $150,000 in debt!  There are even stories of older couples, the age of my parents, who are in just as much debt.

Now don't get me wrong, we don't have debt like that.  We don't own our own home and we are not making car payments.  Student loans are what run us into the ground.  But after reading these stories about how these people made it out of debt....within a FEW years makes it super encouraging that we could possibly do that too.  (Those of you who are Ramsey enthusiasts are saying "DO IT! DO IT!")  but it's definitely scary.  I like his "tagline" so to speak "live today like no one else so you can live tomorrow like no one else".  When I see people our age buying houses or nice cars I definitely tend to think "oh man, that would be nice...maybe next year" in a sad melancholy voice in my head.  Again, don't get me wrong.  I love our life.  But I'm not perfect and just like the human race, will always tend to want something I don't have...even if it's just cooking skills.  I'm definitely not trying to knock those people who already have a house and the new car.  I'm just wondering if I want that too...right NOW.

If you're not familiar with Dave Ramsey, let me give you the first few steps...before step 1 he tells you to make a budget then numero uno...save a small emergency fund for those rainy day mishaps.  Two...start paying off that debt.  This step takes years but if you stick to your guns and decide you will not buy that new tv, dress, or go out to dinner every week, this is entirely possible.  There are many more steps but this is about as far as we are.  I'm just not sure how gun-ho I can actually BE about it.  I LIKE enjoying a nice dinner every once in a while, I LIKE going to H&M...and the list continues.  BUT I LOVE the idea of having no debt by the time we're 30 even more.  By deciding to jump on board I am resigned to the fact that my extra funds from doing extra jobs around work will go to paying off our loans...not dinner out.  Again, I'm not sure how well we'll do but I'm willing to give it a try.  I know in the book it says unless you have "gazelle intensity" you will not make it out of debt...I'm hoping this "gazelle intensity" comes after we can cross off that first loan (I have about 5 for school)...crossing fingers....my personal goal is December!  Then, when Wes finishes school we can start tackling his loans.  At the moment it's a little weird to start listening to Dave Ramsey because he doesn't want you to have debt or loans but that is how we are able to put Wes in school now.  No, the loans are not going to pay for loans...that's stupid.  But it's really weird to think that we want to pay off some loans and then it's like...oh yea, we're taking out loans right now.  It's comically hypocritical.  But at the same time we truly believe God is placing us on this path of Wes being in school so that eases my heart rate quite a bit.

I'm still not sure about all this and how I will do with the temptation to buy a new sweater or two when fall comes around, but it was definitely encouraging when I gave the book to my dad, whom I highly respect, and he agreed with the 90% of things that I did in the book (eventually Dave Ramsey says to live without credit cards completely and Wes and I just can't agree with that in our society) and he even encouraged us to do it!  

I have to say I am also HIGHLY encouraged by the couple (a very close friend) who told me about all of this.  They are doing it with "gazelle intensity" and I feel like there is very little fear, just the realization that they don't want to be paying off two cars, a home, etc etc.  They want to live like no one else now so they can live like no one else later.  It's even more encouraging knowing they have a child and it's possible to live this way with a kid!  That baby will not remember giving up going out to eat...but that 10 year old will remember her parents sitting over the kitchen table calculating the mortgage plus the new car and wondering how they will pay for vacation and summer camp...

A friend and I were talking about entitlement the other day.  Our generation feels entitled to the things our parents had, but worked years for.  We feel that we DESERVE a house by the time we're 25, we DESERVE a new car every 4 or 5 years.  But in reality, we DESERVE nothing and with that mind-set, perhaps it will be easier to jump on that gazelle...

I'm still not sure where I am on all of this.  But I am enjoying hearing about this new way to live.

Back to School

Today is quite possibly Wes's last first day of school.  I have been itching to take this picture since we don't have any children to take pictures of on the first day of school.  This is Wes's 21st first day of school.

...I tried to pose this picture by the bus stop outside and strategically plan it...but Wes didn't think that was a good idea.

Back to work

Work starts up again tomorrow after 3 months of sitting outside in the sun, vacations with family, and traveling to visit friends.  Recap of my summer:

Family Reunion in Tennessee.  Can't wait for the next one in two years!!

Insert pictures of me lying in bed, my own then the hospitals, here...3 weeks later I was more or less recovered from mono...

Celebrating our second anniversary!

Fantastic trip to Virginia and D.C with friends!

We spent an extended weekend at the Wisconsin Dells with my side of the family-it's crazy how fast our family is growing!

I now jump into 9 rigorous months of teaching four year olds how to walk in a line, train them to only use the bathroom during certain times of the day, raise their hands when they have something to say, and attempt to distract them from 8:20-8:45 while they scream for mom those first two weeks....(actually there is a ton of learning that goes on too)  I really do like my job, A LOT.  But those first two weeks are like boot camp...for the teachers.  Once the first two weeks are over and the rules are established-we have a ton of fun.  The kids crack me up.  Here are some highlights from the past 3 years:

"Mrs. Johnson, what's the third letter in the word 'loquacious'?"

"Please pass the trapezoid, I need two to make a hexagon."

"I speak italian, 'frappuccino'!"

"When I grow up, I'm going to rockstar school!"

As I said before, I really like my job.  I'm glad that when I "bring my work home" it looks like this:

Putting lego pieces together is my kind of "take-home work".

After a summer of unexpected changes, sickness, and lots of travels, I'm ready for something normal.  I have my school hoodie ready, name tag, and keys...BRING IT!

Our Life

In a book we read for our small group, it said it can take 10 years for the "we" mentality to fully set in.  I'll mess it up if I try to explain it.  All I know is sometimes reality sets in when I'm sitting alone with a book or right before I start to fall asleep and I realize "huh, so THIS is how our life turns out" (for the moment anyway).  Not my life, not his life, OUR life.  This isn't just the journey God has been preparing me for for 26 years or Wes for 27.  This is what He has been preparing US for...our testimonies, past experiences, and passions weave together to create a unique US.

Wes starts full time seminary next week.  He left the bank he has been working at for almost 3 years so he can continue school full-time and finish next year.  I start my fourth year at the private school where I work in the Pre-K class (4s and 5s) as well as teach a slew of after school specials.  God has been showing us these last few months (and probably longer if we had cared to listen sooner) that He is showing us one week at a time.  Lighting our path, not the room we're in.  We may think September will bring with it our new "normal" but we are quickly discovering that God is so much bigger than anything that is "normal" and whatever happens it's OUR life.  Not in a possessive way.  It's OUR life in a way that says "this is the journey God has US on...not someone else."  It's like that C.S Lewis's book The Horse and His Boy (I think that's what it's called).  The kid is walking with Aslan and he keeps asking about his friend and where his friend is now and what she's doing.  Aslan responds with something like that's her story and I'm here to tell you your story not hers.  God is showing us our story as we walk day by day with the lamp at our feet.

(thanks Yvette Rattray for the picture!)
So I started this to give random updates about our life and our story.  I have enjoyed reading friend's blogs, hearing how they are doing, so here you go world.  One more blog to add to the billions.