Returning to the workforce...

My, my, it’s been awhile since I’ve written and I have so much to say! I know people don’t like to read book length stories in a blog, so I’ll keep it short and sweet… at least I’ll try to. The good thing is that unlike tennis, I won’t hurt myself trying to get back into the swing of things if I haven’t touched a pen in a few weeks.


The last time I wrote, we were heading to the casino… I did take a picture of a slot machine rubber which you’ll find to the left of my blog. We didn’t win a thing. In fact we lost a LOT. Not a good night, which means we won’t be going back for a few months.

The wife and I set a budget. The budget setting activity inspired me to update and circulate my resume. We don’t need the extra income, but this was something I felt I needed to do for a variety of reasons.

• I’ve only been a housewife for 5 months. I feel guilty for spending money I haven’t personally earned. I often wonder if the guilt would be there if I were married to a man. I do know that I don't need to have guilt on top of the jealousy I seem hang on to.
• Again, it’s only been five months since I’ve not been working. It’s hard for me to feel totally comfortable telling other people I’m a housewife because I worry about being judged. This could circle back to the fact that I’m housewife to a wife and not a husband. Most don’t find our relationship acceptable under any circumstance. These thoughts will be in tomorrow’s blog.

• Worries over the future… though this worry doesn’t keep me up at night, it is something that will at times pop in my head. If I’m not working and something were to happen to my wife, the kids and I would have quite a struggle on our hands emotionally and monetarily. I would have to find a job, a place to live, and pull it all together for them while also dealing with major grief and loss of all things important to me. Where money and personal possessions are concerned, people want what they feel entitled to. This leaves us out, three close friends, and of course, the family in. I can’t even wear a particular ring around my wife’s mom and dad because it’s a family heirloom and I’m not an official family member. Again, this will be visited in tomorrow's blog.

Now I’ll talk about the reasons why I love being home…

• I love taking care of my wife while she works from home. I make sure she has her coffee, that she eats at least a small lunch, and that the dogs aren’t under foot during her conference calls. I like to think this makes me special. I mean, who else would do this with such love?! :)

• I love spending the extra time with the kids. We’ve been playing tennis in the mornings. I’ve had time to make them breakfast. They go to a private school which only runs half days. I love this concept. As a teacher I completely agree that a child does not need to be in school all day to learn. A full school day is time spent on lunch, restroom breaks, assemblies, and other misc. items. Actual teach-time equals about 2 ½ to 3 hours.

• I love having the energy to cook great meals, keep up with the laundry, practice tennis, run, and have family time from about 7 to 10. It may be spent watching Idol or something like that, but we all seem to look forward to it.

With all that being said… I am now working. It was quite a surprise, but the kids’ school called me and asked me to come observe a class today. I did this and now I am officially hired. I am teaching afternoon classes, grades 3 and 4. I have a total of 6 totally self motivated kids. Wow… it’s so different and even though it’s only 3 hours, it will be an adjustment. I missed not being home… am I becoming recluse? Is it bad that I want to take care of my family full-time? I don’t know… I feel like I should be more career driven, but I’m just not. If it were my school, my business, it would be different… it would be a family affair.

Hmmmm…