My Long-Term Career

One of our teacher coaches (that is, a former teacher who now coaches and mentors teachers) was in the building earlier this week, and she asked me what my "long-term career goals" were? I suppose I should have been tactful and professional, but it just popped out. . ."to quit," says I as if it were the normal thing to say. She laughs, then asks if I'm going to have children.
"Well, yes, eventually."
"Okay, then after your children are out of the house, I want you to get your National Board Certifica--" (I interrupt.)
"I don't think I'll come back."
"Really? What will you do?"
What will I do? Really? Is that a serious question? But I don't say those things. I just say something about building a home and being a wife. Then she asks if I won't be lonely. Ha. I manage to refrain from laughing, then assure her that I will stay busy. And, to help ease her mind, I mention that I'd like to continue involvement with students on a volunteer tutoring/mentoring basis. I also mention that making a home is a lot of work, and I have every intention of making one. She agrees--sort of.

How sad that I should need to justify wanting to stay home and take care of my husband, with or without kids in the picture. Adults need TLC, too.

At any rate, in thinking back over the incident, I was thinking how the poverty cycle works. Kids grow up without a real home, so they don't know what one looks like, let alone how to make one. So they have kids who grow up without a real home, etc., etc. I wonder if I can "tutor" girls in homemaking. It's not widely taught now. And I do want to remain involved with urban schools in some capacity. I wonder if I could somehow collect 4 or 5 at-risk girls and teach them--in my home--how to make a home.

This has been a week of girl-fights at school. Girls trying to kill each other because somebody said that somebody said that somebody said something not nice. One girl's mom happened to be with her at the time; she got knocked in the face with a combination lock in the process of trying to hold her daughter back. At least she was trying to stop the fight. A couple of weeks ago, a mother went to eat lunch with her daughter at one of the middle schools that feeds into our school. She ended up holding down another female student so that her daughter could beat her up more easily. These are the girls about to get pregnant and raise more children like themselves. The cycle must be broken. Christian culture starts at home; shouldn't our efforts to spread it focus there? If 4 girls could spend a year visiting and participating in a real home, that's at least 8 children that are one step closer to the life Christ died to give us. Thoughts to muse on. . .plans to dream about. . . .

For now, I'm off to Parent-Teacher Conferences, where I shall undoubtedly see why my students are the way they are. . .if any parents show up. And if not. . .therein lies another reason why my students are who they are.