For the first time since I made the decision to become a full-time stay at home dad, over two years ago, I walked back into the school where I used to teach.
I hadn’t really been avoiding it, I just didn’t have a reason to go there anymore, until today. I was there to get tickets to their school play that my second grader so desperately wanted to go see. Once I was buzzed in (no keys anymore) and signed in as a visitor (with my visitor’s badge attached to my shirt), it felt strange being back. Sure there, were lots of people I once had daily conversations with that I hadn’t talked to in a while, I enjoyed seeing and talking to them very much. Also, it was great to disrupt their classrooms by walking in having a quick chat, then moving on to the next room. It was a morning with lots of hugs and handshakes.
But the best part of being there was, I didn’t miss it, at all. I didn’t feel like I wanted to be there teaching instead of holding my two-year old’s hand as we walked from room to room. I was perfectly happy to walk out of those school doors, not at 4:00pm, but at 11:30am, to go spend more time with my own kids, instead of someone else’s.
-Pete
