Working Woman

For the first time in over a year, and the first time since I found out I was pregnant with Teagan, I've got a job outside our home. After three years of grad school (I still count the last year even though I didn't take any classes because I was working on my thesis), I have my MA and am finally going to be doing what I set out to do when I started graduate school: teach at the college level.

Both David and I were a little worried as the summer rolled along and it didn't seem like anything was going to pan out in terms of a teaching job for me. Because, let's be honest...being a grad student doesn't pay too well, and certainly not well enough to support a family of four by itself. Fortunately we had a little something to fall back on this past year, but between me not having any "income" (unfortunately the federal government doesn't see the work I do here in the home as "work") and the stock market being so crappy, it is definitely time for me to contribute to bringing home the tofu.

Now this was a big source of contention between David and me. He wanted me to apply for full-time jobs on the administrative side of the university (I worked in administration when I was at VT for a couple of years and actually really loved it) as well as applying for part-time teaching positions. I was adamant about not doing anything full-time. I mean, the whole reason I went to graduate school was so that I could have a nice, flexible schedule when we decided to have kids so I could be home most of the time with them. (Yeah, the kids came just a *wee* bit sooner than we had anticipated...) And, my husband lives in the Land of de Nile. Seriously, he had no idea how much full-time daycare costs when you have two kids. To put them in a facility where I would feel comfortable, it would cost in the neighborhood of $22,000!!!! Yes, that's THOUSAND, not hundred. And the starting salary for someone in an entry-level administrative position at the university isn't too terribly much more than that.

Um, yeah, if I ended up teaching part-time for two semesters, I wouldn't quite make enough to cover full-time daycare, but the beauty of being a part-time, adjunct instructor is that you only need to find part-time daycare. So, really, daycare for two kids will not cost nearly as much. And I wouldn't have to be apart from my kids nearly as much, either. But I digress...

So, last week I was offered a position teaching an introductory Women's Studies class at the university where I went to graduate school. This, my friends, if my dream job. Of course I said yes immediately. No questions asked. And I am psyched. I can't wait. I'm really excited about teaching something I'm so passionate about. So much so that I'm not even dreading the one-hour-each-way commute, which I will once again be making twice a week come August 25th. I was so excited about getting this position. The only thing that could have made it better was if they had offered me more than one section.

Then, just yesterday I got a phone call from the local community college offering me three composition courses for the fall semester, which starts MONDAY. I said yes, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I would probably really want to only teach two this semester. I mean, it is my first time out of the gate, so to speak. And I also realized that if I taught all three community college classes, I would essentially be gone from the time my kids woke up until the time they went down for nap almost every day of the week. Then I would get to see them for an hour or so before David got home and whisked them away to play while I did grading and lesson preps. Oh, and I would also need to figure out a way to pump since Teagan is still exclusively breastfeeding, which I seriously just don't want to mess with this time around. So, needless to say, I asked them to drop one of my classes, which they did (albeit reluctantly--we'll see if they give me any sections next semester!).

But, I'm feeling really good about the decision to teach only two composition classes along with my women's studies class. I'm going to have some adult, intellectual stimulation, which I have been missing so much, but I'll still be around quite a bit with my kids. I'm just feeling so lucky to have this opportunity. Oh, and the financial benefits won't hurt, either--we can finally buy Teagan that carseat she needs! The only challenge is that I just have to create three different syllabi in the next few days...Here's hoping I'm up for it!