Catching up on the gap year… After the traveling: New Years Resolution

        I feel like to get the most out of this life choice I need to do a better job of chronicling the choices and decisions to continue to carry the knowledge with me that I gained over taking this time off. Even though some of these events ran concurrently I'm going to try and separate the ideas to have a clear idea of what has changed.
     
       Nannying. My New Years resolution last year was to get a job. I start the new year with a small job. I took a job nannying a few hours a day, a few days a week. It did a few things… It kept me in one place, having a consistent commitment, it gave me a bit of spending money and it gave me something to schedule my day around. It's amazing how easy it is to fill time with just one daily event to plan around.   I was nannying for a family of two boys. Mom was a doctor, Dad a dentist. Yes, they were asian. At 3pm I would pick the boys up from the bus stop. We would have a healthy snack, sometimes pick the older one from after school activities, work on homework and additional work mom had assigned. We would go to tennis, and the library to get new books. iPad time was limited. It wasn't the same thing everyday, but it was also short… 2 to 3 hours a day. Nothing compared to the 10 hour days I was used to. But 3rd and 5th grade was also new to me. I forget the little temper tantrums, or the tears when homework is too hard.

     The minimal time commitment left me with a good amount of time to take care of myself and slowly bring my life back to normal. It's during this time that I learned how to prioritize my gluten allergy. It was also great to work in house hold that kept to a strong healthy household. I read more, I went running nearly everyday, I went to visit my grandmothers and worked to build healthier habits making myself a healthy vegetable and protein filled brunch daily.
 
     I enjoyed nannying. Getting to know the boys, helping them with their homework. But there were times of boredom and little stresses. Things could be inconsistent and I would get called 2 hours before I am supposed to be at work to say they don't need me today. I realize I like the consistency of a traditional teaching position. I think I've missed a total of 8 days of school since I started teaching 8 years ago.

    So my new years resolution, was to get a job… back to a more consistent full time position.