Missing School

I've almost been out of school for a full year. That's quite strange for me.

Some children, especially lately, seem to abhor school. They long for summer vacation and when it ends they groan in reluctance as they're forced to trudge back to the dreariness of the prison called school.

(That was a good sentence. Congratulatory pat on my own back.)

I've never understood that. I was always excited for school. When I was younger, they used to post the class listings on the front door of the school as summer was coming to a close. I eagerly anticipated when my teacher would be chosen, and I remember riding my bike to the school every day during summer so that I could to read my name and my class over and over.

We only lived a block from the school, but still! I was excited for school. I loved learning and I loved my teachers. The social aspect wasn't always fun for me, but it didn't really matter either. I excelled at my classes because I enjoyed it so much.

When I graduated, I immediately entered into a study-abroad semester that took me to the east coast of the United States. I immediately loved college. The other students were a ton of fun and I became part of a group of very close friends.

We actually met during a painting class. We were drawing some historic buildings and we struck up a conversation. Soon we were laughing and talking so loudly that we were bothering some of the other students. We tried to quiet down, but we were having a great time.

I spent the majority of the semester in their company and the time flew by. I began college the spring of 2006 and continued with only a small year and a half break for an LDS mission until the spring of 2013.  I could have had a Master's by then, but my mission caused some serious reflection and I decided to change from an Animal Science Major to a Teacher's Eduction Major. I love animals and kids, but the killing (or putting them 'to sleep') aspect of being a veterinarian didn't appeal to me.

Continuing school did. I wouldn't mind spending the rest of my life in a classroom. I love seeing kids' eyes light up when they figure out something new, and I love learning new things myself. However, after we were married and I found myself pregnant, I had a decision to make, and it was a very easy decision for us.

When I was a baby, my mother was working and trying to rear three children while my father was going to school. It was hard, especially with a baby like me. I was an absolute fountain after I nursed, and I wouldn't nap unless I was being held.

My mother and Father weren't sure what to do, until President Benson spoke up in conference and said the following words:

Brethren of the priesthood, I continue to emphasize the importance of mothers staying home to nurture, care for, and train their children in the principles of righteousness.

As I travel throughout the Church, I feel that the great majority of Latter-day Saint mothers earnestly want to follow this counsel. But we know that sometimes the mother works outside of the home at the encouragement, or even insistence, of her husband. It is he who wants the items of convenience that the extra income can buy. Not only will the family suffer in such instances, brethren, but your own spiritual growth and progression will be hampered. I say to all of you, the Lord has charged men with the responsibility to provide for their families in such a way that the wife is allowed to fulfill her role as mother in the home.

 

At these words my mother and father decided that my mom needed to stay home to be with their three children. It was hard, and they were very poor, but they were able to get by as they followed the counsel of the prophet.

Though my school was hiring new teachers and I was on the top of the list because I had been student teaching there, I wanted more than anything to be a stay-at-home mother. My own mother had told me this story many times and so Grig and I prayed about it and asked the Lord what we should do.

We felt very strongly that I should stay home. I was grateful, because I couldn't imagine allowing anyone else, including my family, to raise my son. I wanted to be there when he took his first steps, said his first words, and learned to be excited about nature and animals. I wanted to be there when he climbed on his first chair and fell off for the first time. I wanted to be the one to comfort him when he was sad or sick, and the one that he laughed and told his first joke to.

So, I finished my degree and then I left the world of jobs behind me. Being a stay-at-home mother has been everything that I dreamed. Sure it's hard sometimes and sometimes I miss school and helping my husband monetarily, but Kevin is worth it to us, and the Lord has provided as we followed his commands.

However, after having worked so hard to earn my teacher's certificate, I am not planning on letting it expire. I am excited because I have to take some college credit before I renew it, and that means that I get to continue learning and going to school. I'll probably end up doing online classes.

Once the kids are out of the house, I plan on becoming a teacher again, but for now, I'm being a different sort of teacher. I do miss school sometmes, but I'm learning an awful lot in the school of how to be a good mom. Kevin is a great teacher, and the classroom never ends.

Early to Bed, Early to Rise...Actually Isn't So Bad

Me, as a night-owl.

 Anyone who has ever lived with me can tell you, I'm not really a morning person.

When I was a kid, my siblings never wanted to be the one to come wake me up.  If someone disturbed my sleep (unless it was Dad or Mom) I was wrath unleashed!  I come up swinging, something I'm not very proud of.  Really, no one should have had to wake me up.  I should have been able to do it on my own.  The problem is that when I do sleep, I'm a very deep sleeper.

I've never really needed that much sleep.  When I was a baby, my parents would tell me stories about how I would only take one nap a day, and a very short, trying nap at that.  My mom likes to tell me about how she would walk around for over an hour trying to get me to fall asleep.  Finally, I would drift off.  She would try to lay me down, and I would wake up re-energized!  My short nap was sufficient.  At least I slept well at night.

As I grew older, it was literally impossible for me to over-sleep.  I remember coming upstairs crying on numerous occasions because I had been laying in bed for hours and I just couldn't fall alseep.  That, along with several other factors, convinced me that it was better to just stay up reading.  I began to get less sleep, and then falling asleep became much easier.  I also became more of a night-owl.  It only got worse in college.

In my first two years of college, I averaged four hours of sleep a night.  Crazy, huh?  That means sometimes I got around two and sometimes around six.  I actually did quite well on that, except for the occasional class that I slept through.

During my mission, I got on a better schedule.  As a missionary, you are required to go to bed at 10:30 p.m. and wake up at 6:30 a.m.  I would go to bed, but I couldn't always fall asleep.  Sometimes I'd lay there for a few hours before I'd drift off.  Even exhausted from working all day, sleep sometimes is a challenge.

When I finished my mission, I got right back to my old sleep schedule.  In college for a while, I was the last one to sleep and the first one awake.  My attempts to help myself go to sleep earlier included always having a 7:45 a.m. class.  That way, I would usually go to bed at least by 2:00 a.m.

With my first year of marriage, things were slightly better.  Unfortunately, Grig is also a night-owl, and often we would stay up late together.  Sometimes, on a really bad night, we would fall asleep around 4:00 a.m.  However, we tried to set goals to go bed by midnight.

After we had Kevin, we did begin to go to bed around midnight.  Kevin however, also seems to require a little less sleep than most babies (but not as little as me, thank goodness).  He's always been a good night sleeper, but he would stay up until midnight with us,and then wake up around 8:30.  It worked for a while.

Then, Grig got a new job.  His job begins at either 4 or 5:00 in the morning.  That means I have to wake up at 3 or 4 a.m. in order to make him breakfast.  (This is an entirely voluntary thing.  Grig has told me on numerous occasions that I don't actually have to do that, but I like being able to see him in the morning, and it helps him get to work on time if I help make breakfast and lunch.) 

We are now going to bed anytime from 8-9:30.  That's the earliest I've ever gone to bed in my life.  We consistently go to bed early and wake up early.  Strangely, I'm beginning to realize that I like it.

All my life, I thought people were crazy for getting up this early.  Right now, it's 4:27 a.m. and I'm blogging.  Kevin is asleep and I'm all alone.  It's quiet outside and even the crickets are sleeping.  I have time to think and relax before the day begins.

Occasionally, I go back to bed after Grig leaves, but usually I try to stay up and I'm finding that I enjoy waking up early more each morning.  Sometimes on weekends, when Grig doesn't have work, he and I revert to our old habits.

However, we are both finding that Early to Bed and Early to Rise really isn't such a bad thing after all.

Go figure.