Missing it?!

I have a confession to make. I think I am starting to miss teaching.... but just a little! Up until this point, I have been so enjoying my freedom to do what I want when I want that I haven't felt even the least bit sad about not teaching this year. I keep reminding myself about the report cards, lesson plans, meetings, early mornings, late nights, papers to grade, patterns to cut out, etc... and that has kept me from feeling any sadness about it. Teaching is SUCH a hard job!! There are so many people to please at once.. you want your kids to be happy and learning, you want your principal to be happy with what you are doing, and you want your parents to be happy with how you are teaching their children. It's exhausting.
Last night I was looking through some pictures and I stumbled across pics from Polar Express Day with my kiddos last year. We all wore our PJ's to school and drank hot chocolate and rode on our imaginary polar express while reading the book. How fun was that?! I started to think about teaching and realized how much I miss having my own classroom full of eager little bodies, ready to soak up all you have to offer. I miss the hugs and the smiles and the pictures they drew me and watching the amazing transformation a child goes through in just nine months. When I was in second grade I decided I wanted to be a teacher and I never once changed my mind. It was my dream to have my very own classroom full of children. Despite my many complaints, I so enjoyed my four years of teaching and right now I'm really missing it.
One of my super-fantastic parents from my last year of teaching had my kids fill out these little cards at the end of the year saying their favorite thing about first grade and their favorite thing about Mrs. Schumacher. I found that last night, too, and was cracking up at some of their adorable comments. My favorite was, "My favorite thing about Mrs. Schumacher is that she always knows what to do." Oh, the sweet innocence of a first grader.
Wow, I didn't realize I would miss it this much, but as I sit here, I'm reminiscing about all the kids I was blessed to teach over the last four years and I'm getting teary-eyed... pregnancy hormones? Maybe. Enjoying the memories and feeling sad that for now that part of my life is on hold or maybe over?? Definitely.