I survived this week. Barely. Let me reiterate that teaching while being pregnant....well, it's pure hell. There is no other way to put it! Okay, maybe I'm being a bit dramatic, but it was a fairly stressful and painful week. Let me try to describe it for you:
Standing for roughly six hours a day, while the little one punches/kicks at my bladder, my ribs, my diaphragm...
Listening to other people's children whine about 'so and so PUSHED me!' 'so and so is LOOKING at me' 'I don't WANT to do my work'. The whole time I'm thinking, 'OH. MY. GOD. What have I done? Will this be MY child one day?'
Having my supervising teacher say to me: "Oh, you work on the weekends too? That doesn't give you much time to plan lessons. But, you said you're not sleeping, so that gives you A LOT of extra time to plan lessons...." Right, because I'm so alert and able to think clearly while I stare at the ceiling at 4:00am.
I was also delusional enough to believe that I'd have free time once my university classes ended. HA! My, was I naive! I have been more busy this past week, than most weeks during my time at the university. Every night I've spent a few hours planning lessons, in addition to the time I've spent at the elementary school. Still no time to stop and think about what life will really be like in about seven weeks. No time to actually ENJOY being pregnant. (although really, does anyone actually enjoy looking like Shamu, and belching every time they sit up? What on earth is beautiful about that? Whoever said that pregnancy is a beautiful time in a woman's life, well, they had obviously NEVER been pregnant.)
Goodness. I sound really, um, bitchy? Oh well. It'll all be better in seven weeks, right? Sigh. I can hear everyone laughing as they read that last line.
Cranky/psycho woman aside, there were some highlights to this week:
Highlight #1: My little one has been dancing up a storm in my belly. (okay, I know she isn't actually IN my belly, but it sounds better than saying 'in my uterus'. That just sounds too clinical. It's like my husband's aversion to certain clinical words that describe parts of the human anatomy...hehehe...) I wonder if the commotion and noisiness of my students is what has kept her on the move. My students can get pretty noisy - it's kind of hard for a wee little munchkin to sleep through that. It's actually kind of hard to teach through it too... It's a bizarre circle really. Student noise = baby kicks = distracted mom = distracted teacher = increase in student noise... That said, keep on moving little one! It let's me know you're okay.
Highlight #2: My hubby and I met with an angel in disguise this week. She is our doula and I am SOOO happy that she offered to help us through such a new, exciting, and unknown time. Both the hubby and I can be a bit, uh, hot-tempered (don't laugh when I write 'a bit'!), and it is so comforting to know that in the midst of potential confusion, there will be a calm voice of reason guiding and helping us. EVERYONE should consider having a doula. Brownie points also go out to her for bringing me pastries this week....
Highlight #3: The following comments came from two of my students:
1) Said while hugging my belly and looking up at me "You're the bestest teacher ever!"
2) Said from a really hyper fast-talking seven year old "Can you write down today's experiment!? I want to teach my brother! I like teaching! I want to be a teacher like you!"
We had been experimenting with how liquids and powders mix once combined. If you want to see a classroom of students get super excited about what they are doing, then combine syrup and baking powder in a cup. Making a mess = fun.
Seven more weeks of being pregnant and five more weeks in my teaching practicum....
I may need to reconsider the whole 'praying to a higher power' deal....
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I knew you weren't going to have any more time once your classes ended and the practicum started. But I figured I'd let you find it out for yourself.
Post a Comment