As many of you know by now, I stopped teaching back in June to be a stay at home mother. Here is the story of how it came to be and the new adventure that I am now on............
Late February Reed, Troy, and myself started getting sick with strep throat. We ended up having strep 4 times a piece (not Reed) from late February until May I believe. All this sickness lead to a lot of days at home and me caring for Reed. The desire to stay home started to grow and grow throughout this time. By the end of March I think, I was seriously trying to think of ways to stay home with Reed and still bring in income. I began to pray for wisdom on what I should do and prayed for the Lord to make a way. I knew deep down that home is where I was supposed to be. The seed begin to grow and I found myself determined to make it happen. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED my job. I loved the children so much and felt like I was making a positive difference in their lives. I had learned so much from my time at the Yahweh Center and the children taught ME so much that I was torn about leaving it all.....BUT the Lord kept saying to me, your season at the Yahweh Center is coming to an end, you need to be home with your son. One day I woke up and said, "That's it! I will keep other babies in my home!" I could not believe that I had not thought about it before! Well, I told my sister what I wanted to do and she put things into action.....sending an email out to her friends about someone wanting to stay home with her child and keep children. Well, soon after, we had found a family. I was so excited that this was going to be happening. I had the couple tcome to our house and meet us. The baby had not even been born at this time so I was really excited about the possibility of keeping a new born. After meeting this awesome couple, we got a "yes" from them a few days later. Well, they did not need childcare until August and I was so ready to be home. Dana had offered to pull her son out of daycare and let me keep him until he was to attend WCA in October. He would come late June. I decided to find one more family before I put my official notice in at work. I had tossed around the idea of advertising on craigslist but was a little hesitant. I did not want to encounter any "crazies" out there. I finally decided to do it though. I created my little ad and posted it. I was AMAZED at the responses I got! God was truly blessing this plan to stay home. The first family that responded really caught my eye. It was uncanny the number of similarities our families shared. I began to email the mom and we set a date to meet. Well, we fell in love with this couple too. I anxiously awaited their response......and they said yes too! I emailed all the other people and said I was "full". I can't believe I had to turn people away. Before the second family had committed, Troy had text me at work one day and said to go ahead and put my notice in. He had been so supportive of what I was trying to do and wanted me at home with Reed as well. So~ I did as he had asked and turned in my notice. It was scary not knowing if the second family would say yes but we decided to take a leap of faith and felt like God would reward that act and boy did He ever! It was sad when I handed in my notice but a peace came over me like I haven't felt in a while. I was going to be home with my son! It was hard getting my stuff together and having to tell the children that I was leaving. I was quite emotional about it when no one was looking but I knew the right decision had been made. I began keeping one of the children the week after I left the Yahweh Center. He was coming part time so Reed and I had a good amount of "mommy and Reed" time before all the rest of the children started coming. Switching gears, one night I was thinking and I decided I needed to name my little "daycare" and almost immediately "Dee Dee's Doodlebugs" was born. I love all my little doodlebugs. The Lord sent me the BEST babies to keep and wonderful parents to go along with these beautiful babies. I am so blessed and love that I am able to do what I love! I still have some contact with the Yahweh Center and I plan on going back to volunteer mid October. I am also in the process of getting my home licensed as a family in home daycare so I can keep 3 babies that are not related to me.....that is the law...you can only keep 2 children in your home that are not related to you. If you keep more, it is a Class I felony! Crazy! So hopefully by November I will be a licensed daycare. I am looking forward to getting licensed because it is going to make me stay up to date on my CPR, first aid, etc. among other things. I am not sure when I will return to teaching.....It is all God's timing and I am sure He is preparing my little kindergarten classroom for when I do return to teach. Until that time comes, I am going to enjoy all these babies and enjoy being at home.
So neat to read your story of how you became a SAHM. :)
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