Going back to school!

I've been trying to find a balance to my life since I had J. I've always wanted to be a SAHM, but did not anticipate the mental drag of being home all day with a baby. I've worked on and off at JCP since the summer after I got married, but I think I want to work one or two days a week from now on, even when we move to job sites. It's nice to get out of the house and engage in adult conversation for a change. And of course the paycheck is small, but still nice. It feels nice to be a SAHM but still contribute to our finances, even if it is just a few hundred dollars a month.

Another thing I wanted to start was a new degree. All of my friends who are getting degrees are going on to get their master's, but I wasn't too sure about my commitment level. Not to mention how expensive it is. So I looked at the programs at the community college near my house and was pleasantly surprised to find they had a distance learning program for an Associate of Science in Early Childhood Education. That sounded perfect to me because I want to be a better mother and I know next to nothing about kids. Plus moving around wouldn't cramp my style because I can take classes online if we leave town.

I got everything in order in the fall for me to start classes this semester. I didn't really tell anyone except my husband about this because I wasn't sure I was going to actually go through with this until I went to the first week of classes.  I started this week, and I'm only taking two classes: Early Childhood Curriculum I and Foundations of ECE. I go to one on Monday night from 6-9 and one Wednesday night from 6-9. I have the same teacher for both classes, and she is so nice and seems like a wonderful teacher. I'm so glad I'm doing this because I'll be honest, I know nothing about kids. I don't know anything about their mental or physical development. I don't know what activities are good to do with kids at what ages. I don't know what I'm supposed to be teaching J. All I've been doing is Googling random bits of information to try to figure this whole motherhood thing out. So hopefully this will really boost my know-how and my confidence and help be a great mom instead of a mediocre mom. I'm also interested in being a pre-K or Kindergarten teacher when all my kids go to school. Eventually I would like to get a Master of Education and teach high school, but not until my kids are a lot older.