So…I’ve resigned!

I’ve been back at work for half a term now and have the scary news that before I broke up for half term I handed my notice in. It was a combination of things that made me do this.
The travelling is SO stressful! I feel like I’m racing to and from work everyday and as the roads are always so busy to get to and from Birmingham I’m filled with panic about getting there on time everyday and then getting back at a decent time to collect Sophia.
Secondly, because I work so far I am leaving Sophia at 7am and collecting her some days at 5:30pm – that’s 10.5 hours of her being out of the house, it’s such a long day for her and she is still a baby at the end of the day. My baby.
Another thing that has pushed me to resign is the fact that I am really unhappy at work now. Since I’ve been back I’ve had a new role of teaching six different classes over three days. Some days I’ll have around 150 books to mark, meaning it’s a choice between having lunch and even going to the loo or being late for Sophia. It is meant to be an easier role as I don’t have many of the usual ‘teacher responsibilities’ like planning, assessments and reports but I find it much harder than being responsible for my own class.
So…I handed my notice in! I’ve started training to become a childminder and should be up and running early next year. I’m still at work until the end of December which means we will have a month or two without my salary which is quite scary but we’ve looked at our finances and will be able to get by in the short term. We will have to give little luxuries and treats a miss for a while (not that we have many of those!) but as long as we can pay the mortgage and the bills we will be just fine. Not to mention the amount we’ll be saving on childcare and petrol.
Being a childminder means I’ll be at home with Sophia, I’ll be my own boss and also I can still do the thing I love which is working with Early Years children.
Though it was a brave, and some might say silly, decision my philosophy is that we only have one life and it shouldn’t be spent doing things that make us unhappy. I want to look back on my life and know that I’ve squeezed every bit of happiness I can from it. The most important thing in my life is and always will be my family. I’m never going to have the chance to be with my baby again so I need to take this opportunity to do so.
I think it’ll be hard and tiring work but lots of fun along the way and what a blessing to see my sweet girl everyday!