I did something today that I haven’t done in roughly 15 years. And no, it wasn’t exercise and it wasn’t diet (how rude of you to even think that!), and it wasn’t even clean the basement. We haven’t even lived in this house for more than 10 years, so it can’t have been THAT long since it was cleaned. Although I do admit that there are boxes that haven’t really been gone through at all since we moved into the house. But that’s a project for another day (or month).
With school starting next week, and my youngest going into 2nd grade (GASP! Can that be true? Where did the time go? How did my baby get to be that old? I may just start to cry right here! And don’t even get me started about his BAPTISM coming up next month!), I figured it might be time to start thinking about earning some kind of income. Not like a “what do I want to be when I grow up?” kind of thing, but what can I do for a few hours a week just to earn a little extra money and maybe contribute to the family finances for once. It’s not like people are clamoring for my specific set of skills. “Let’s see….I think we should hire an overweight 40 something stay at home mom who really likes to start projects but isn’t so great on finishing them. Oh yeah, she should also be someone who has WAY too many hobbies and interests and activities going on.” I haven’t been receiving phone calls from any headhunters.
But I thought, where do I spend a lot of my time? At the kids’ schools, specifically the elementary school. Why not combine the two, and do some substitute teaching? I do have a degree in Elementary ed, after all. So I decided to sign up to sub. Turns out it isn’t so easy to ‘just sign up’ to sub anymore. Kelly temp services is now in charge of all the substitute teachers in my area, and it’s a WHOLE lot of hoops to jump through. Forms declaring I’m a citizen, online applications, letters of recommendations (from my past employers, I don’t think so. I had to go with PTA people, since I haven’t had a job since Megan was born), then I had to go to PROVO (and you’ll remember how much I LOVE driving to Provo, right?) for an interview, where there was more paperwork and very few questions. Then we watched a little video on being an effective substitute teacher and gave them two forms of id and signed a form that allowed them to do a background check. Then I have to go get fingerprinted (and have the opportunity to pay $40 to do so) and come back to Provo next week for an orientation.
The more I get into this the more I’m thinking that I want less and less to actually enter the work force. I have PLENTY to do to keep me busy around here. I’m already heavily involved in PTA, and I don’t ever really get my housework done. Why would I want to go and substitute teach and cause myself MORE stress?
I think it is awesome that you are going to substitute teach. If you find you hate it, then you’ve learned something about yourself and it only cost $40 and a lot of time to find it out. If you love it, fantastic! I am really excited for you.
I love working at my kids school. It totally makes my kids’ day when they see me at school. It doesn’t pay well, but it is nice to have a little extra and it is fun to do! Besides it is great peace of mind knowing you are there at the school if something should go wrong or if they just need an extra hug that day!
Congratulations! I’ve considered doing that. Then I’ve remembered all the extra kids and work I have at home, and dismissed the idea. But you’d be great at it! That is, as long as you have time to add that one more thing to your schedule. Kids will love you!