Career Change

With the new move to Alabama, my immediate thought was that I would just go get a job here like I had in Orlando.  Well, that was much easier said than done.  With Maddie, my need to keep a clean house, meals on the table, and clean laundry in the closet, I really wanted to work close to home.  My original thought was that I would find a job and then we would look for a house, but with such a narrow field being a music teacher, that was a difficult task.  Alabama also requires that you be certified in their state (no temporary certification available like Florida) and they don't have reciprocity with Florida.  Even with a valid Florida certificate and 8 years of successful teaching experience, I was required to take all of the teacher certification exams for Alabama.  The subject test was not available until July 29th and school started on August 12th, which made finding a school to interview me very difficult.  I sent my resume to many principals and applied for every music job that opened up (which was only about 5 and only 1 of them was band).  After we decided to just go ahead and buy a house in an area we liked, I got a call from a principal wanting to interview me for an elementary music position.  The interview went very well and the principal called me a few days later to ask me to come in again.  The only problem was that I had already made a plan in my head for staying home.  I had drawn up a budget, thought of activities I could do with Maddie, etc.  Suddenly having a job opportunity here really made things tough.  I never saw myself as a stay at home mom and not because I didn't want to, but because I have always thought I could do everything and I have never been very good at saying "no".  Well, I did.  I have turned in my baton for the diaper bag!  Teachers started back to work yesterday, so I am officially employed as a stay at home mom (SAHM as it referred to in the biz).  I joined my first mom's group today and I am getting out there trying to make new friends for myself and for Maddie.  It's been a very different experience for me and I am trying to stay in the loop of the working world, so I can still have something for myself.  So far I am less stressed and I have more time for my family, so I guess that's good.


Christina