Changes are Coming

My maternity leave is up as of next weekend, which meant I had to make some decisions as to what I was going to be doing with life. By law the job I was at only had to hold a similar position to the one I was doing, they didn't have to give me my exact job back. There was a change in my boss about halfway through my leave so I figured that with the change in leadership there would also be a change in my position.

And I was right. A little over a month ago I met with them to talk about what my options were.

For those of you who don't know, I was working at a church in the children's ministry department. Over the years I have worked doing various things from security, to grade school large group (the story time and music stuff) and my last position was overseeing the nurseries (which I LOVED, especially the parent side of things).

They presented me with 3 possible positions. 2 of which literally made me gag when I read them. Mostly just because they were things that required certain kinds of giftings and passions that I don't possess.

The last position was going to be a mixture of stuff I really did love. Faith at Home elements (which is giving parents resources for how they can teach faith at home) as well as some first impression visual stuff (and some other stuff that I had done in previous roles). I was really excited about that profile. However, the hours with which I would be working would lend itself to one of two scenarios: More time in the office (higher child-care costs) or more time on the weekends (meaning never seeing my husband). Neither sat well (or really worked) with our life.

So what did I do? I whined to my sister.

She said I should teach (I have a music degree after all).  I talked with my friend who has a music studio and what do you know, she was looking for a teacher for exactly what I'm qualified to teach for about as many students as I want to take on. The hours are such that my girls will never need to be in a day home or daycare and they can be worked in such a way that we don't lose any family time from our current schedule. And in the end I'll make the same amount (take home pay) working 5-6 hours a week as I would working 20 and I never have to work weekends and I'll have every summer off. Hmmm, this wasn't really a hard decision.

Except that I really liked that third position option. I talked to the church again since the biggest holdback was the childcare side of things. But there was no way we could make it work. So I said goodbye and decided to go with the music studio.

As of September I will be teaching piano (I can do voice too if/when that's eventually needed).  I get to work fabulous hours and work with great people that I love (I went to school with half of them), I'll still be working with kids and I can volunteer in the children's ministry doing all those parts that I loved (and none of the parts I hated. Score!). Basically it's the perfect scenario and I'm so excited for it! If you or anyone you know is looking for a piano teacher in the Calgary area, send them my way! I love beginners. *wink*

So, that's the update. Consider yourself up to speed on my life and in two weeks when I'm not talking about screaming toddlers (except my own) you'll know why.

I haven't had summers off since, um, high school. What does one do all summer???

ps- Happy 4th of July to my American friends!