Mrs. Moss Goes Back to School

Summer is over, and the time has finally come. Mrs. Moss must return to her other kids. You know, the "not blood-kin" kind. I have to say that teaching is the perfect profession for me for a number of reasons. Thankfully for you, I'm only going to talk about one of those reasons. I used to imagine myself as a stay-at-home-Mom . . . until the summer after my first year teaching when I realized that I am terrible at staying at home. I eat A LOT! I watch A LOT of television. I bother my husband at work A LOT. I go to Target A LOT. And I'm just generally lazy and obnoxious! It's not my fault. Have you met my mother? (You know I love you, MyGoo!!).

This summer, however - now that I actually had to wake up at a decent hour - I found that I can be somewhat productive when I'm not at work. However, I still feel a real calling to my career. With teaching, I get the best of both of these options: several weeks out of the year to stay at home with my son, but I still feel like I'm contributing to society in some way. This is not to say that stay-at-home-Moms don't contribute to society. My own mother and mother-in-law raised seven children, collectively, who grew up to become an engineer, a banker, a rocket scientist, a teacher, an administrator, a physical therapist, and a plumber. Well done, Ladies! What I mean to say is that Deborah-as-a stay-at-home-Mom would not contribute to society. You read the "lazy and obnoxious" part, right?

So now I must return to the Working World and abandon my all-too-perfect baby. Barry and I are so fortunate to have made the friends that we have here in Dothan. In the spirit of going back to work, I am speaking specifically of Josh and Mary, who have selflessly given up their house so that Colton and Canon can stay there each day to entertain Mrs. Sharon, Josh's Mom. She has so graciously agreed to keep both boys, and we could not be happier with the arrangement. Canon will have someone to socialize with everyday but without having to go to daycare so young. Of course, this only means that we are prolonging all of the diseases he will get, not preventing him from getting them at all! And, of course, Mrs. Sharon is our Dothan-mother, and we are so happy that Canon will get to love Nana as much as we do.

Upon returning to work, I can't help but reminisce about our fabulous summer together. As meat-headish as this sounds, the thing I will probably remember most about our first summer is our work-outs with Mandy & Luke. Not only did Mandy and I get closer to our pre-pregnancy physique, we became better friends, and Luke and Canon got to hang out as well. Mary and Colton joined us for our runs, too, and it was fun to have all the boys together. Also are the memories of all four babies together. Though this didn't happen too often, it was quite an experience when it did. Alicia is definitely the best at keeping all four of them happy at one time!

I will also remember the many "firsts" that happened this summer. Canon experienced his first trip to the lake and the beach. He also went to his first movie and spent his first night away from me and Barry. He rolled over for the first time, ate his feet for the first time, and laughed for the first time. He ate his first solid foods. (As an aside, why do they call it "solid" when it's basically formula in a spoon?) So many experiences for such a young baby. But as Barry says, when you're only weeks old, one day is a big deal!

For most people, there are still a few weeks left in this season, but for us teachers, the summer has come and gone. So now I put on Hat #3 and try to figure out how to balance three hats on my head at once. Though I returned to work in May after Canon was born, somehow the loom of summer made work seem less like "work" and more like a test to see if I could stay away from my brand new baby for eight straight hours. Now, it feels like work . . . not in a bad way, just in a real way. Mrs. Moss goes back to school. It feels different this year.