Work Work Work

Sometimes I feel like I'm just a confused nut-job.  It seems hard to believe that less than a year ago I had this "revelation" that I needed to become a teacher. I think I'm kind of over that idea.

In July I started my new job working part time as a receptionist at a preschool.  About a month into the new school year, my director approached me about working in the mornings as an aide in a VPK class, and I decided to go ahead and do that.  So basically my schedule is I help with toddlers from 8:15 to 8:45 each morning, go to my VPK class until 12:15, take a break from 12:15-2:00 (thankfully my work is close to D's house, and I can spend my lunch break there instead of driving around town spending money or sitting in a break room), come back and work in the office from 2:00 to 6:00.  For the most part, I enjoy all of it, but honestly I find that I greatly prefer the office work to being in the classroom.  There are certainly days where I love being with the children.  They can be hilarious and loving and adorable.  (The past few days I have been having a blast drawing pictures of superheroes for a few of the boys.  My pictures are pretty terrible, but they think I'm amazing!) On the other hand, they can be loud, rude, gross, and just generally out of control pretty often too.  When everything is running smoothly and the children are fairly calm and playing nicely in centers or listening to a story or chatting with me about some sort of hilarious nonsense I think, "I could do this forever."  Unfortunately those moments seem to happen far less often than the chaotic noise that usually is surrounding me.  It gets to a point where I go into sensory overload, and I just don't feel like I can handle it anymore.  I lose my patience and I start to snap at the children or just kind of withdraw.  I'm not sure that my temperament is suited that environment. 

The office work though, I find I really like.  I used to be terrified of making phone calls and talking to people, but I've gotten used to it, and I think pretty good at it.  When I first started I thought I would never get the hang of it, but I think I have.  I actually kind of like sorting and filing and creating signs and answering people's questions and helping out with all the little things that get thrown at me each day.  For the most part I think it's fun.

I'm not sure that I'm going to be staying at this job long term...I have another possibility on the horizon that I may talk about at another time...but for now I am pretty happy where I am.