Being Mrs Tingle

Right now I am sitting here and there are two overwhelming emotions running through me right now:

One, I am sad that Miss Emily will not see me during the day and that I will not get to kiss those toes and feed her and rock her to sleep.

Two, I am so excited for this week. Since I was a little girl I played teacher and told everyone that is what I wanted to do and guess what? I AM a teacher! I went to college and I am still in college and it is so rewarding to see that hard work pay off and it is an amazing feeling to actually be able to go stand in front of a real live class on Tuesday.

So, I am having to look at the second feeling and realize how amazing it is after everything Mike and I have been through that I am to this point and realize what a blessing life is. I have been able to stay at home with my children off and on their entire lives. I have gotten to exclusively nurse two of my children for extended periods of time. I was able to finish high school despite the pregnancy and go on and finish college, with the abundant help from my amazing man! My children are thriving and happy and cute and spunky and they have two parents who adore them and they know it. My husband is blessed with a one-of-a-kind company to work for who treat and compensate him well bringing peace and security into our home. So, how can I not see all the wonderful things and realize that God has placed his hand over our family and provided so abundantly for us through opening up job opportunities, through leading friends and family to help us out when we need it, and for giving us everything we could possibly ever want or need in life.

So, when I think of it that way, I realize that God just put all these pieces into place and my new job was all him. I found this school by searching for private schools for the fifteenth time. I put my resume and cover letter out there. I got an interview. I found out the next day that the guy I had been sitting next to in class the entire summer, was the person who had the position I was applying for the year before. He gave me all the info I needed to make a great impression. The school offered more money than I expected and I love all of my coworkers. They are laid back and understanding and like a little family. This job fit mine and my family's needs like a glove and will enable us to pay off debt and be more financially secure, creating more peace in our home. God is amazing!


With all of this being said, on Tuesday my childhood dream of being teacher will be realized. On Tuesday my first set of kids will call me Mrs. Tingle. I will officially be a wife, mom,and a teacher, all of things I have always wanted in life. I may not have a perfect life, but I definitely have a blessed life!

I am going to try to do better and update this blog more about my adventures at home and in the classroom! Stay Tuned! :)

Homeschooling Blues

So it is safe to say that the first "semester" of homeschooling failed miserably for us. Reading was like pulling teeth and getting Jeremiah to stay focused and take care of Caleb was a nightmare. In fact, before Christmas, thoughts of giving up have already started to creep in. However I had a heart to heart with myself and before I say this is not for us, I am going to try to change the rules a little bit.

I love school and have loved the traditional method of school since I can remember. However, I think I have been placing too much stress on myself and on Jeremiah. He is 5 for goodness sake!! So we are going to focus on how to teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons, math and handwriting! Everything else will be fun and involve freedom. No more than 20 minutes per sit down lesson and then after that just let me him have fun.

I am going to try my hardest to stick to a schedule and finish up the curriculum in those three areas before I decide it is just not going to work.

I really wanted to be able to spend more time with him, and yet all the pressure I placed on the idea of what "school" is supposed to be has caused me to be stressed out just thinking about school and doing anything educational related with him, which is not what it was supposed to do. I don't want to burn him out, I wanted to do this because I wanted him to love to learn and I wanted to be there to see it happening, so I am going to try hard to let go a little bit instead of trying so hard for it to be perfect.

Some of you may be saying DUH, but I am such a perfectionist, homeschooling Kindergarten has been rougher than it should be, because 5 years old learning mixed with whiny three year old and a hormonal pregnant mom is not going to ever produce a perfect day or perfect schedule and I am finally okay with that.