Second Thoughts on Not Working

This is the first semester that I am not working. I retired a while ago as a middle school English teacher. Since retiring I have been teaching writing classes every fall at a local community college. I also taught an online graduate class to pre-service English and Social Studies teachers for the past six semesters. I’ve supervised student teachers, tutored, and even worked at a pre-school down the block for a time. I also was very involved with the National Writing Project and was a co-director of our local site (Our site actually shut down last year due to issues at the college).

I’ve always needed and desperately wanted a structure, a plan for my week, and to continue to be involved in teaching and writing. This has been true every year since I retired.

Now I am not working. My daughter just had a baby two months ago (I’ve been writing about that), and I wish to support her and go into the city a few times a week to help her out. My other daughter is planning her June wedding, and that has kept me a little busy as well. I sometimes think of doing some tutoring for this agency I’ve worked for before, and kind of stop myself and remember that I decided not to work - just this semester - and do other things in life. I know I can go back to teaching the community college English 101 class in the fall, and I believe I will. 

I’ve been catching up on projects around my house, and I know that very soon, I will be in the garden with lots of time to plant. I joined a gym and have personal training sessions which are amazing. I have been busy, but something does feel missing. I think I need to be teaching in some form and involved in the field I love. I haven’t really admitted it to myself until now, but there you have it. I’m not ready to just be a grandma.