Early Retirement

Today at 3:30 my early retirement officially started. Over the weekend my guilty conscience started eating at me and I was wondering if I could just tough it out, asking my doctor to rescind her recommendation for early leave. Rob talked me back off the ledge, reminding me of how much better it will be for me and Easton to take it easy. I prayed a lot about it as well, not feeling 100% one way or the other. When this morning started out of whack and my problem child threw 5 temper tantrums and 3 staff members mentioned how exhausted I looked (That could be from my eldest son waking me up a few times each night!) I finally felt at peace about starting my maternity leave early. Even my good kids were "off" today. It could very well be that it's Halloween week or that the poor kiddos have dealt with so many subs the past few weeks. But it did make it easier to say goodbye at the end of the day. By the time 3:30 came around my back hurt, I had a headache and I was exhausted. That's not to say that I didn't appreciate the kind words that different staff members said or the hugs I received or the beautiful flowers that the staff gave me. I just felt that, when I left, I was doing the right thing. Now I can focus on me, E and P. So, I've "retired" from teaching-at least for a couple years- and am officially a stay-at-home-mom, a job I cherish already!