Stop the presses!  Watch out for flying pigs.  Folks in hell might be wearing sweaters right now.

Friends, I got a job.

A bonafide, pay-me-to-be-there, actually in charge of some stuff, even have a cool badge with my picture on it, job.

Last week, in a whirlwind of life-changing activity, I was offered, accepted and began my new job with the middle school.  A need for an Educational Assistant to finish out the school year arose and I happily accepted the opportunity.  My three-hour-long duties consist of managing a study hall and supervising a couple of lunch periods.  (I’ll wait a moment while you all collectively shudder.)

I have been a stay-at-home mom (aside from a temporary phone gig where I schlepped overpriced pears and candy towers) for over 9 years.  That’s almost a decade of staying at home.  Sure I’ve volunteered in the classrooms and traipsed all over the state on one various field trip after another but that wasn’t work and most definitely didn’t consist of middle school aged kiddos staring at me from their desks.

To say that I was (am) intimidated is a fairly large understatement.  There’s something a little  unnerving about that 12-14 year old age bracket and knowing that part of my job is to maintain a semblance of order and create an atmosphere of motivation and success in a classroom admittedly causes me pause for a moment.  I’ve sent my kiddos to public school for over 8 years now with a faith and trust in their educator that every reasonable effort would be made to ensure a beneficial school experience.  And now, to a degree, I’m the person being bestowed upon with that trust.

Can. You. Even.  Exciting, no?  A little nausea-inducing?  Well, maybe just for me.

Nevertheless, I embark on this new journey with a little bit of trepidation and a whole lot of anticipation.  I’m eager to see what this experience brings and look forward to hopefully making a positive impact on someone.  At the very least I’d love to teach one of the little creeps how to pick up his fruit snack wrapper and properly dispose of it in the trash receptacle.

Mindy