Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Okay...Here is Some Big News!!!


Now some of you may already know this, some of you may have suspected this, some of you may be shocked by this, and some of you just won't care but:

I GAVE NOTICE TODAY THAT I WANT TO TAKE A LEAVE OF ABSENCE FROM TEACHING FOR A YEAR!!!

What this means is that I will be mainly a stay-at-home momma next year. YAY!

Now, I am going to teach three weeks of K, 1, or 2 summer school to earn some extra cash, and I will also be subbing a couple of days a week next year (but no lesson plans or grading for this lady), and possibly doing a few "intercession" sessions at our two year-round schools, but still, 90% of my year will be used to raise, teach, and love my kids in a way that only I can...This doesn't mean other "caregivers" can't do an awesome job...it just means I want to do it myself!!! (Haters, simmer down now...)

I feel so fortunate that we can do this. I wish everyone who wished to stay at home with their kids could. My sweet sister-in-law has to go back to work next year when her darling baby will only be a mere 5 or 6 weeks old. My heart breaks for her.

So if you have been wondering why I have been less "vocal" in the blog world lately, that is what I have been doing...quitting (kind of). Wahoo!

26 comments:

Cloggsy said...

Which totally means PLAYDATES! (even if we are 2 hours apart - we could manage a playdate or two!)

Kat said...

Wow Dina, good for you! I can't imagine that it was an easy decision, but I am sure that you will not regret it. What lucky little kids to have their mom at home with them for an entire year! I wish you the very best of luck :)

Kathy said...

Congratulations! What a wonderful year you have ahead of you! I have been extremely lucky to have been a SAHM for the last 20 years (with only a part-time job within the family business) and I have not regretted it for one day.

Melissa@AllThingsSimplified said...

Congratulations Dina! This is such FABULOUS news! I am so very happy for you! :)

Julia said...

Wow, congratulations! I am so happy for you, and your kids too! It will be wonderful for them to have you stay home and raise them. I hope that I am able to stay home with my (eventual) kids one day :) It is definitely a crime for mothers to have to leave their babies with someone else at only 6 weeks to go back to work.

sparrowsandsparkles said...

Good for you! You are going to have a wonderful year!!!

kater said...

congrats dina! can I ask a quick question - is that colonial williamsburg in the background of your pic? I'm a big dork and that is one of my most favoritest places on earth!

KatyO. said...

How wonderful for you and your children! I don't really have any experience in the parenting area, but I did live with someone who taught a child-parenting sociology course, and all of the literature seems to point to at least one caregiver at home for the majority of the time. :)

Suzy said...

Congrats Dina, that's a fabulous thing to be able to do! I was home the years my children were young, and I wouldn't have missed it for the world - those years flew by. I'm so happy for you AND your family!
Take care!

Tippy said...

wow that's wonderful news! congratulations and enjoy!

Unknown said...

How special! I'm so happy for you. The kids are so lucky. You are, too. Yay!

HeidiG said...

So excited for you!!!! And excited for me, too, since that means I'll see more of you. Such fabulous news, you must be bouncing off the walls!!

It really is nice that the school systems offer more flexibility in terms of leave, etc, than many employers.

Unknown said...

Congratulations, I'm so happy for you! I did the same thing when my son was little and I'm SO glad I did. :)

Summerilla said...

Congrats! Super exciting that you'll get to stay home and spend more time with your beautiful babies. They are both so cute who wouldn't want to be with them more!

Tiffany said...

Congratulations! I am super jealous.... I wish I could take a year off of teaching :) How wonderful for you to be able to spend more time with your kids! It will be a collection of wonderful memories for all of y'all!

Anonymous said...

So great for you! I'm very happy for you and your children! It's a very good decision!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! I hope you have a wonderful time and get to enjoy every second!

AnneG said...

Dina -- exciting news. I'm sure you won't regret the time home with the kiddies. BTW, did you see BODEN is running 25% off sale and FREE SHIPPING!!! I know you are a Boden fan. Just got my newest catalog over the weekend announcing the sale.

Tweetle Beetle said...

Congratulations! I'm also a SAHM and feel so incredibly lucky to see my baby (well, toddler) grow up into an active little boy. Being a SAHM is truly the most difficult job I have ever had but the rewards are infinite!

AppGal said...

yay! That's so awesome...I hope I am fortunate enough to have that option when I have kids. What a blessing to be able to do this...your kids will be so thrilled I'm sure! Congrats :)

Marietta said...

Dina, this is such wonderful, happy news! Yay for you, and your kids! :-)

Anonymous said...

I wish I could be a SAHM. I don't have a husband or kids, but I still wish I could be a SAHM. Ha! It gets so tiring being away at work all the time. Congrats on your decision!

dinagideon said...

Hi all:

You are so sweet to send my family such well wishes. You know what is funny? When I got pregnant with Rex I thought I would work with all my babies and never stay home. Heck, I even thought I would be able to go on "professional leave" trips for a few days and leave the kids with Mr. Dina. Umm...not true. It is amazing how strong my urge is to stay with them ALL the time. It is sort of frightening how my instincts work. I had heard about this momma bear thing before but I NEVER thought I would be like that. Now I am proud to say that I am one of the biggest Momma Bears around! :)

Cloggsy and Suzy and Beth: Richmond Playdates WOULD BE AWESOME! (And so very close...just down the road from me.) Just promise we can go to the Can-Can, too, for lunch. Yum!

Julia: I wish I could be closer to my sister-in-law so that at least I could help take care of her wee little baby all day. I mean a 5 or 6 week old in daycare? I understand it has to happen, but still...very hard to hear about.

Kater: It is Colonial Williamsburg! I have been going there since I was only a few years older than Rex. I love that it is so close for us here in NOVA. Rex really loved it...all that open space to run around. We chose (wisely, we think) not to get tickets into the buildings, etc. I think we will have a few years before that happens!!!

HeidiG.: Can you imagine? The two of us at J. Crew in Tysons or Montgomery Mall in the middle of the day!!! Watch out...we're coming...

AnneG.: I did see the 25% off!!! I am trying very hard to not purchase anything (at all) in the month of June. I need to see how well I can last on as little money as possible. (But I do get paid on the 15th...so I may not make it to June 30th...we'll see!) Thanks for the reminder, though!!!

Anon @ 6:14: Your comment cracked me up!!! When I worked on Capitol Hill, I got so tired of all the junk I wanted to figure out how I could be a SAHM even though I didn't have kids. :)

tm said...

I am late to this post, but congrats on your new adventure!

dinagideon said...

Oh, Tastymoog--Thank you...Late is okay...it takes me forever to comment on some posts (I know you understand that)!

Oh, P.S.--Thank you for defending my choice of outfits yesterday...I really felt very comfy and pretty. It really wasn't very tight at all (but I didn't want to get into it in the comment I wrote back).

A said...

How wonderful for you and your family Dina! I know you'll have so much fun being a SAHM. :)