Don’t flay the sheep.

How it’s going

It’s official: I’m no longer working. Or, in church lingo, I no longer have a call. As of September 1, I am a stay at home parent.

Given that in this same week, Zora also started kindergarten, and, without the commute, I finally feel like I am living in the new neighborhood, it feels like a whole new life.

Here are a few thoughts on how it’s going:

1. The other kindergarten moms (because, yes, they are mostly moms) all seem to know each other already. This is the thing that I always find hardest about moving…I feel like I’m disturbing the balance of things when I try to break into a chatting group. And, then I start going toward the introvert-side of things, and hang out on my own in a corner.
2. Thank goodness, then, for Abram’s winning smile. This kid literally stops people in their tracks on the sidewalk with his goofy, enthusiastic grin. He is my little conversation starter.
3. And, as for making friends, yesterday was a great reminder that I already have some: Kim, who I taught with several years ago at Providence St Mel lives 5 blocks north of me. And she, too, has just left the workforce. We went for a walk yesterday morning. Then, in the evening, another friend who precedes our move to St. Charles and this subsequent move, Alison, dropped by to “borrow” our piano, and stayed for dinner.
4. The kindergarten schedule is kicking my butt. Zora’s fine. But as I get into the rhythm of dropping her off and picking, and taking care of Abram in between, I find myself thinking: how would we do this if I was working? The truth is, we managed a pretty crazy pick up and drop off schedule last year (preschool in the morning; daycare in the afternoon) and if we had stayed put, without a middle of the day transfer from one place to another, things would be easier this year. We would figure it out if I was working. But I understand how easy it is to get used to not having to figure it out!
5. Most important achievement of the week: doing enough unpacking that I can turn my little study/office space into usable office space. (Which is why I’m finally dipping my toes into the blog again…) At the beginning of the week, the study was just scary boxes everywhere. You could barely walk through the room. Now I am sitting at a desk, and I have a comfy chair, and a wall full of books. Pictures and plaques and crosses are going up on the walls. There’s a desk lamp. Oh, it’s so nice.
6. And unpacking and organizing are exactly the kind of thing I now have time to do. I feel like my “call” for now at least, is to dig through several years of organizational neglect of our household. (Not because I’m the woman: if for some reason Erik were the at home person right now, I’d expect him to do it.) But I think this will be a good cleansing.
7. I’ve jokingly called this time my “baby-batical.” November will mark the 8th anniversary of my ordination. And, while I’ve not stayed in one position that whole time and had some respite between calls, I think I do need some time to regroup. So, joking aside, it seems like the right time to pull some things, and myself, together.
8. At the same time that I am enjoying this, I am reminding myself of what a privilege it is that I can do this. By some measures, we probably can’t afford me not working as a family (for instance, I’m sure it will delay any possibility of home ownership for a us a god bit longer…although, in this economy, I sometimes think our renter status is a bit of a privilege as well). But in the grand scheme of things, we will survive just fine, and quite well in fact. And I’m grateful that we have the affluence to slow down like this.

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