New SAHM

This is another installment of The Visiting Classroom, where I have a guest blogger who is a SAHM (or dad). These guest posts hopefully bring some understanding to the important work we do, provide examples for teaching in the every day, and show that we are not alone in our struggles. 

Today's guest blogger is Jessica, who has two daughters.

1. You are a new SAHM, but not a new mom. How's it going?                                               Surprisingly well! I had fantasized about being a SAHM during my time at the law firm, but my idea of life as a stay at home mom was truly fantasy.  I believed the house would be clean, dinners would be made, that I’d be able to organize, get reconnected with friends, have play dates and teach my children how to read and write and still have time to exercise – all in one day!  

 I had no idea that staying at home would take more balancing and time management skills than my career as a litigator.  An infant and 3 ½ year old are quite demanding clients. But once I began to get over the idea that being a successful SAHM meant completing all those activities in a day’s time, I started to really enjoy the opportunity to be at home during this season of life.

2. What is your biggest struggle?

My biggest struggle is sleep.  My youngest Kaitlyn suffered from reflux at a very early age and has required a lot of extra care and doctor visits. She continuously struggles with gaining and maintaining weight, and receives treatment for problems associated with Sensory Processing Disorder. Consequently, she has slept through the night maybe only a handful of times her entire life; meaning I’ve been sleep deprived for about 13 months. I’ve discovered that when I am tired I have a short fuse, so I make it a priority to nap when I can.  Unfortunately, catching up on sleep cuts into my other duties such as cleaning, working and managing the house.  It has definitely been a struggle.

3. What goals do you have with the kids?   

My top three goals (not in any specific order) are first, make time to move.  When weather cooperates we head to one of the local parks, but through much of the winter we headed downstairs for some exercise in our unfinished basement. The kids play, swing and Emaline can ride her bike.  With a child as energetic as Emaline, it’s essential to make time for her to play and expend some energy. 

Second, give the girls a healthy and calorie-rich meal.  My girls have not yet learned to love food as I do, so getting them to eat enough and make good food choices is difficult. When I was working full time, I hardly prepared meals except on the weekends – week meals consisted primarily of prepared frozen meals or take out.  But now I am cooking and baking regularly. The girls (and my husband) are really enjoying it! 

Third, encourage learning wherever, whenever. Whether it’s reading lots of stories at bedtime, creative pretend play while I clean/cook, or dinner time “Guess what princess/movie/book character I am,” I am constantly thinking of how I can enrich the girls’ playtime with learning.  I have been cognizant of using a wide array of vocabulary with Emaline during pretend play and regular conversations, and I am starting to see the fruits of it during our conversations.  I have discovered that just adding some vocabulary, rhyming, singing or counting games during the day really is beneficial, even if you don’t see the benefits immediately.

4. You balance working at home while having the kids. Any tricks to share? 

Although Kaitlyn’s medical needs these last two months have kept me from working, I had been working at least two days a week from home or a law library. I took some good advice from another SAHM/attorney friend who recommended I do not have the kids in the house while I work and boy was she ever right!  On scheduled workdays Emaline goes to preschool (which we love) and Kaitlyn spends her day with a nearby friend.   

When I was working full time I often needed to complete work at home, even after a full work day, so I am used to working after the kids go to bed or having my husband help out on weekends for completing assignments. I also am the type of person that when working from home, I am able focus on work and ignore the housework.  So those matters never got in the way of my assignments.

5. What is the best part of being with your kids extra time?

Watching them grow every day, and being able to give Kaitlyn the special care she needs.  My husband worked part-time during Emaline’s first year, and my mother was able to come and stay with us the other part of the week while I worked full time.  While it was a blessing for my mother and husband, I missed her terribly and always felt that our relationship wasn’t as close as I would have liked it to be.  Being at home has definitely been a blessing to my relationship with Emaline and has really allowed me to develop my relationship with Kaitlyn early on in a way I wasn’t able to with Emaline.

Although it was unplanned and a financial shock, it turned out to be a blessing that the law firm shut down when it did. Kaitlyn was diagnosed with severe reflux shortly after I was told the news. Since that time, she has required lots of extra care, and has been plagued with colds, stomach bugs, and ear infections; much more than her sister was at this age. Kaitlyn, like her older sister, has also been treated for problems associated with Sensory Processing Disorder. While Emaline had feeding issues and struggled to gain weight, for a variety of reasons Kaitlyn’s turned out to be more severe. 

Kaitlyn has also had issues with gross motor skill development, because of this she currently has two days where she goes for Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy appointments in addition to a weekly weight check at her pediatrician. With all these appointments, maintaining a full time litigation job would have been impossible. My husband and I feel very blessed for this opportunity for me to be at home with the girls at this time and give Kaitlyn the extra attention she needs.

About our mom-->

Jessica is mother to 3 ½ year old Emaline and 13 month old Kaitlyn.  In 2012, Jessica’s commercial litigation career was sidetracked when her law firm shut down during Kaitlyn’s maternity leave.  She is currently combining being a SAHM with working part time as a Legal Research and Writing Specialist for solo practitioners and small law firms on an independent contractor basis. 

Interested in being spotlighted for the next Visiting Classroom? We are looking for ordinary parents who love teaching their children every day. Contact me lauraleemoss@gmail.com for more information. 

Teaching in the Every Day

This is a second installment of "The Visiting Classroom" - a new column for Switching Classrooms. We'll spotlight what every day parents are teaching in their classrooms.

 

January's Visiting Classroom is Meghan, who teaches two-year-old Carley every day.

1. Tell us about your daughter - how old? What are her favorite ways to learn? Favorite projects?
Carley turned 2 this past October. And she is EVERY bit of a two-year-old now! I have found that she learns REALLY quickly through song. If you can sing it in a song, she can learn it and repeat it quickly. For example, we taught her how to spell her name by singing it to the tune of the Mickey Mouse theme song. There is a lot of repetition that goes on daily….we are constantly singing the alphabet song/nursery rhymes/etc. or counting. Sometimes we’re counting objects she sees, other times we are just counting out loud. She shocked me by being able to count to 16 the other day….I had no idea she could do that!

 Her favorite project is coloring and stickers. She loves drawing and coloring and peeling stickers. She’s very crafty!

2. What life lessons are you trying to instill in her?
I really want her to be kind to everyone she meets. I worry about kids being mean when she is in school…..I want her to be nice to all the kids, especially the kids who don’t have friends.
I want her to love books and reading. I want her to see the value of being educated. I want her to feel free to explore and be creative. Mostly I just want her to follow her path in life and be happy.

3. In your previous life, you were an elementary teacher. What information would help readers with their children? What do teachers wish parents knew?

I wish that parents would be able to see teachers as partners in education and vice versa. I felt like a lot of the time parents would blame teachers for problems or come to conferences feeling defensive/combative and teachers often dreaded conferences for fear of being “attacked” when a child was struggling. I think that teachers and parents need to realize that everyone has the same goals: for children to be successful in the school setting. I understand that as a parent it’s hard to hear that your child is struggling and I would break my own heart to learn that Carley was having a hard time in a class. However, when a struggle comes to light, it’s better to have all the adults on the same side of the table, working to find a solution than to have teachers/parents feeling worthless because nobody is able to help.

I wish that parents knew how hard it is for teachers to see a child struggle. As a teacher I wasn’t just there to “babysit”….I really and truly wanted each child in my room to thrive….I wanted to make school a fun place to be and a great experience for each little person in my care. When I would see a child “not getting it” it wasn’t something I took lightly or brushed off as “no big deal”….I cared. I cared a great deal….I took that burden home with me many nights. If parents and teachers could focus less on “who’s to blame” for the gap in learning and focus more on “how can we all pitch in and help” I think our education system would be a lot better off.

Interested in being our spotlight "Visiting Classroom"? Email me at lauraleemoss@gmail.com. 

Meghan was born and raised in the Bloomington/Normal area. She attended Illinois State University and majored in Elementary Education. She then worked in corporate America for 18 months after graduation waiting to find a teaching job….and hated every minute of it. She was lucky enough to get hired for my first teaching job 3 days after the school year started. Despite the hectic start she settled in and found that her dream job was teaching first grade, and did so for 5 years. While her love for teaching grew during that 5 years, she also ended up falling in love with a boy and getting married in 2009. And, as so often happens when people get married, they had their first daughter in October of 2010. Suddenly, all priorities changed. She taught for another 18 months, before deciding to become a full time SAHM. A happy home-bound mama since May 2012, she teaches Carley every day and sells her creations at Crafting Crew.

The Giving Jar

This is a first installment of "The Visiting Classroom" - a new column for Switching Classrooms. We'll spotlight what every day parents are teaching in their classrooms. 

Please welcome my friend Val, who teaches her three children every day.

1. What learning opportunity are you doing with your kids? Where did you get the idea?
Ever since the Christmas season has begun, my 3 year old and 4 year old have been focused on things they would like to receive for Christmas. They have been looking through multiple catalogs and circling items they would like added to their list. Walking through the stores they would point to anything and everything wanting this and that. I really wanted to find something to focus on giving during this holy-day season. As I was searching for ideas I came across this fantastic idea on Facebook called “The Giving Jar”. I had heard of it the year before and made a quick decision that this is what we would do this year - 24 days of giving. So I began a list and incorporated ideas I already had planned, used some ideas from the link I found, and came up with some of our own.

2. What are you teaching them?
I am linking Christmas to Jesus and the celebration of His birthday. We set out our Nativity set and reviewed the story of Jesus’ birth. The focus has been that Jesus gave us the biggest gift we ever could have asked for, the forgiveness of our sins and what that means. That we give gifts to each other this season to celebrate the birth of Jesus and to remind us of that forgiveness and that He died on the cross for us. As we count down the days to 25, the focus is that special day is Jesus’ birthday, not necessarily the day we receive gifts. That is just an added bonus. Christmas day we will wake up and sing Happy Birthday to Jesus and celebrate His special day through giving and learning to appreciate receiving.

Giving Day 6 was to deliver poinsettias to all 3 great grandmothers to show them we are thankful they are in our lives.

3. Reflecting back, would you add or change anything next time?
I am excited to continue this each year and make it a family tradition. I am hoping we can be reminded to be giving all year round, not just during this special Christmas season and will be looking for new ways to give to add to our list!

Thanks Val for empowering parents to know that they can teach their children, and giving us stellar examples. 

About our mom: -->
My name is Valorie Mills and I have the best job ever as mom to three beautiful children ages 1, 3, 4 and also a wonderful step-son who is 10. I am a “retired” music educator but still teach woodwind lessons on the side. My life is full in the best way imaginable. I feel blessed and try hard to remember that each day. Like Valorie's Facebook page.

Interested in being spotlighted for the next Visiting Classroom? We are looking for ordinary parents who love teaching their children every day. Contact me lauraleemoss@gmail.com for more information.