Perspective

I'm in the middle of my second week of several days in a row of solo parenting.  There will be a third trip taken by my husband this month at the end of the week, making it 3 solo parenting expeditions in as many weeks.  This time of year is rough for me anyway, with the end of the grading period, massive assessments for report cards, completing report cards, preparing and then conducting conferences on two longgggg days.  It hasn't been easy on a lot of levels, also because Sam's cutting 2 teeth right now, and hasn't been his usual happy self (meaning multiple night wakings, starting his day before 6 am, lots of fussing, lots of crabbiness which manifests in kicking and hitting and extra clingy-ness).  Do I also need to mention that things that are tough on my own two children make my job tougher at the same time- like time changes, weather changes, etc by bringing out the crazies in my students and their parents?

I'm longing for the days when my husband is home again for more than a few days in between trips.  Longing for a break to go somewhere sans two toddlers under two.  Ready for a return to normal with no unexpected power outages, or crazy parents of students making my job harder than it already is.  Ready for a little help at home.  Excited to go to the bathroom without an audience.

This post is about more than that though.  As I was thinking about typing up something here, I read a comment on another blog that stuck with me.  Veteran's Day was on Friday, and there are so many families that are in similar situations to mine... except their parenting partner doesn't have the luxury of a few days home every week.  Many families have a parent deployed and are solo parenting for much, much longer than I have been.  When I keep that in my mind, solo parenting my twin toddlers for the second week in a row right before a 12 hour day of parent teacher conferences doesn't seem all that bad, after all.

I Can Cross That Off My Bucket List

If I had a bucket list, I am sure *Stand up for what I believe in by protesting would be on there. This week I have a good reason for being so absent in blogger-world: I was crossing that off the list.


I live in Wisconsin. I would imagine that if you kept abreast of national news, you would have some idea of the huge governmental upheaval in the state right now. In the most brief, short version possible, our new governor presented a Budget "Fix" bill last Thursday that was supposed to be voted on this week that attacks public workers' rights by eliminating collective bargaining by most unions (except police, state troopers, and firefighters), among other far-reaching changes included in the plan.

This would have disastrous effects for my job. Personally, I would lose about $5,000 annually from my salary. We live paycheck to paycheck as it is. But beyond that, the teacher's union would lose all say in bargaining for things in contracts that affect the quality of student's education... like keeping class sizes low. School boards would have the power to put 30 students in a elementary classroom... or 150 if they wanted to. There are so many different aspects of why this bill is so horrible for the state of Wisconsin (and really, for everyone in the nation- because it has the potential to be precedent setting) that I can't even get into it all. Nor do I really want to, because frankly, it's been an exhausting week thinking and actively voicing my opposition to it.

So this week I joined thousands of educators and other public employees like firefighters, police officers, and other unionized workers on the steps and inside my state capital to actively protest the signing of this bill. I've always thought that if you do nothing when you have an opinion, then you have no right to complain if what you want doesn't happen. Over 40,000 people were there on Thursday and again on Friday. It was an amazing thing to experience.

If this bill passes, I will probably actively search for another position. My husband is already looking and would apply for jobs elsewhere. Not only do I not want to work in education in this state under these conditions, but I absolutely do not want the kind of education that will exist if it passes for Sam and Anna. Wisconsin is 8th in the nation for educational quality right now- where will it be after this?

Living in Canada is looking better and better...

(Side note- I won't publish any negative comments, so don't even bother typing one. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and this is mine. If you have a different one, there are other places you can voice yours.)