Oil Life, Happy Wife

Every day I read news articles about teachers leaving the profession in droves. I read stories about the failure of the system during the pandemic. I hear about growing expectations for drastically low pay. I get it, and I'll be the first one to tell you that you need to make your happiness a priority. I'm a teaching assistant in a kindergarten class. I know all too well the ding my phone makes when I get another Covid notification email. It happens multiple times a day. I know the urgency to cover a class that has been left without a teacher at the last minute. I know that teachers should have gotten a substantial pay raise decades ago.  I witness their magic every day and I don't see how they do it. They play mom or dad to all those kids while planning all of the exciting events. They go in early and stay late while maintaining a smile and a cheery disposition all day. And then when they finally go home they have their own families to tend to. And while they are technical...

I just finished a big clean out of my "Liked Pages" on Facebook. It felt good. Not quite as good as sending a truck full of stuff to the thrift store, but pretty close. I don't have a lot of time for social media anymore, and I want the content I'm seeing to be fulfilling. I want memes that make me laugh and articles that help me help my students. I want funny, relatable videos and blog posts. What I don't want is to be consumed with things that belong in the past. The old chapters of my life have been well defined. I'm a passionate, dedicated person. Once I become a part of something, I'm all in. For a couple of years I wrote for an adoption website. At first it was a few articles each month, but by the time I left that had increased to about 40 a month. I was writing news articles daily and several other larger pieces. When you are churning out that amount of content you kind of get burned out. When I stopped writing for them it wasn't because I was ...

So many people get completely overwhelmed this time of year. Most of the stress is piled on by us based on other people's expectations. Let those expectations go. I want you to close your eyes, clear your thoughts and picture only what brings you joy during the holidays. For me it's lights on the house, a decorated Christmas tree, watching Christmas movies as a family, and sending out Christmas cards with a picture of the boys. And that's exactly what we do every year. If we can squeeze in a trip to go see lights or go see Santa, then that's great. If we can't I'm not gonna stress it. We had a heck of a time finding Christmas pajamas for the boys to have their photo taken in this year. Since Jordan was born we have been taking pics at Christmas in pajamas. It's always been adorable. As the boys have gotten older we have moved from print pj's to character ones. They get to pick out the ones they like and be a part of the process. When we started looking a...

I met Jason when I was 22. He had three kids ages 6, 8, and 10. I remember being so nervous to meet them. What if they didn't like me? As we rode back to Florida from Louisiana listening to the kids belt out all the lyrics to Quiet Riot Metal Health, I fell in love with them instantly.  I tried my best to be friendly and loving without overstepping. I reflected a lot on all the things my stepmom had done wrong and how I could do better. I wanted to be a support for their relationship with their dad, not an interference. I cherished the time we got to spend with them and thought about them all the time while they were away.  Sharing kids is stressful though. Divorce is messy. If I'm being completely honest, there was a time when the adults couldn't stand to look at each other. Those days weren't enjoyable for anyone. They weren't healthy for us or for the kids. Letting go of all our bullshit not only made us better parents, it made us better people.  We aren't ju...

  I really struggle this time of year with traditions. For all of my parents' faults, they did manage to make this time of year magical. Thanksgiving was one of my favorite holidays. I looked forward to a table full of yummy food we only had in November. I enjoyed listening to my mom, aunt, and Granny in the kitchen preparing food and telling stories. I never learned how to make the dishes because they were supposed to be around forever.  As I got older the holidays got really hectic. We were going to five different places for Thanksgiving and Christmas just to see everyone. I started dreading the festive months because they were so busy and stressful. The kids didn't have any time to spend with their gifts before we had to rush off. It just wasn't fun anymore.  Later, our family broke apart and there were a lot less of us meeting for holidays. I was fine with that. I made my own choices. But, that warm holiday feeling I grew up with was gone. There were no more family st...

When Jordan was little he had the most magical elementary school experience. One that I took for granted at first. I thought he lucked up with a string of great teachers, but it was so much more than that.  As the years go by and I interact more with other schools I realize that what we have at Suter is not common. Don't get me wrong, there are amazing teachers everywhere. Leland had some of kindest, most patient women I've ever met for pre-k. That school as a whole was just not the same.  We've been through a lot during our time at Suter. Jordan started kindergarten in the old building and then moved to the new one. I enjoyed being a parent volunteer in his classroom until I had Leland. We were always at school for different events and extra-curriculars. We have watched amazing teachers and staff come and go. Then when Jordan moved on to middle school Leland started there. We went through all the covid chaos and survived. And now I work at the very place I have loved all t...

About six months after Daddy and I started dating he made an announcement. He said we were getting a chihuahua. He explained that his family's dogs had a litter of them and he had always wanted a white one. I told him that I really wanted it to be a girl. He said, "You're in luck, there is a girl that's white." The excitement began, and we impatiently awaited the call to come pick up our new addition. When your litter was six weeks old we were told you were weaned and we got the green light.  We drove all the way out to Jay and found a kiddie pool full of the smallest puppies I had ever seen. They pointed out which one was ours, and she was beautiful. She was also a little reserved. She stayed put in the pool and looked at us curiously. You pounced right to us, and beckoned us to play with you. It was that exact moment that you stole our hearts. Dad looked at me and asked what I thought. I told him that I was a little nervous that the first one would be stand offi...