My Son Has a Garden?
I am learning so much from scaling back my career to spend more time with my family.
But let me give you some background. I have always over-scheduled myself and wanted to be involved in everything at the same time. I was Student Body President in middle school, Panhellenic President in college and have served on more committees since I was in the 5th grade than I can count. So naturally, when my son started kindergarten I over-committed myself. I signed up to be assistant room mom, field trip chaperone, classroom helper and art docent. It ended in disaster with me having to break my commitments and be rescued by my stay-at-home-mom (SAHM) friends so I could fulfill the requirements of my day job.
This year, with my son in first grade, I didn’t sign up for ANYTHING, but did tell my son’s teacher that I would volunteer in the classroom as time permits. (See, I can learn from my mistakes!) With my conscious decision to balance my life and devote more time to my family, I have been spending more time at my son’s school. The trick is I am not in charge of anything, but I show up and act as a worker-bee whenever possible. Today this worker-bee got to help teach my son’s class about bees and pollination (wanna know something interesting about bees?).
I met the other mom in the school office and we headed for the classroom, then she continued to walk past it – where the heck was she going??? I followed her and found myself in the elementary school garden. The garden? Who knew? Not me. It was big enough to have one or two classrooms full of kids inside exploring its treasures. But wait, there is more… We then walked down to the “lower garden” that was even bigger. How did I not know about this magical place? Do other parents know this is here? I bet the working ones don’t…
If I start a list (and I love lists) on the benefits of cutting back at work I will definitely include discovering that my son has a garden and the joy of visiting it with him!
What discoveries have you made that brought you joy?
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Slightly Off-Balance 
HI Paige,
You and I could be soul sisters! I am constantly juggling everything too, overcommitting myself, and with a son in kindergarten, I had to pull away from my instinct to begin volunteering. I am also making a big leap – going from full time to part time. Cutting back and using the time rather than the money. I don’t want to miss a moment and they are going by so fast! Last night, my son decided to write a book. He drew pictures and I titled them. He put his name on the purple piece of construction paper and came up with a title. We stapled it together and he brought it to school to show his teacher. He came off the bus a while ago overjoyed and glowing – he had received a special Star award for being so creative and making his first book. I started to cry like a baby because I was so happy and proud. My discovery is my children and how they remind me how cool life can be. Crazy, yes. But cool!
Jennifer – my new soul sister – I love that your son got a Star award – that means you get one too! 😉 I felt teary when I read it, that is exactly what life is about!
Just dropped by from Simply Diane. Loved your post – so awesome that there is a garden at school! Cutting back is so hard to do; especially with school. I found that I can still participate with my son’s school I just choose activities that he is involved in instead of heading up any committees. Much easier to balance!
Paula – you’re right – work on things my son is involved in, not heading up committees. I also think I will have to back off when he gets to an age when he doesn’t want me on campus ALL the time. But right now, he gets a cute little expression when he tries to hide his smile when he sees me walk in. My heart melts.