The wonderful period of my maternity leave is over. Time just can't be stopped. And when you go back to work, back to the department after your parental leave, you may wonder and ask yourself many questions... 🙂 You may feel lost and exhausted for a while, but don't worry, it will pass, you will manage. I just went through this in the last few weeks.

Entering unknown or familiar school waters? Is this a step in a new direction? Or is school three years down the road, or has it stalled or slipped away from you? Do you feel like a beginner again, or are you just dusting off the toolboxes and activity trays and going about as before? Are you looking forward to, dreading, or stressed about not being able to do it all - being a mom and a teacher, having happy students and parents, having a functional and prepared classroom, and having a happy and content family, a functioning and tidy household? Are you looking forward to a familiar or renewed team or a brand new school? What about your child in kindergarten, how will he or she handle this change and the new stage of life you are entering - together, but also without each other?

I thought that I would adjust to the new regime and workplace in about two months. I hope the learning is not forgotten, I have the practice, the materials too, the kids are kids, albeit from different backgrounds, and the school team looks good too, and I'm looking forward to the new job. So finish morning kindergarten and don't bring work home. So I went back into the process thinking "it's probably going to be more time consuming, but it can be done, I'm neither the first nor the last!" 🙂 Ufff, it sat, I think, after a month and a half.

There were a few surprises:

Shock one - fatigue - I missed my "maternal post-lunch sleep" ... so I had a total lull in the afternoon and then yawned at the wheel, which is why I sang loudly in the car or had calls - hands free. :-)... there were enough impressions after returning to the process and it was necessary to vent them. And some stories I'd rather tell my friend than my husband. Anyway, it's great when you have someone to reflect on the day with.

Another shock - or rather a mother's fear - I had to leave the responsibility for the upbringing and influence on my child to other teachers and go to "strange" children myself... ufff, I managed it without tears and without regrets. But only because of the tremendous help of my husband, who selflessly sat in the nursery with my daughter for three weeks in the morning to get her used to it and then took her home to put her to sleep. She didn't sleep in the nursery until three weeks later. Otherwise, she went "poo". So I was spared those early morning situations and the crying mothers and children were "scared" by grandmothers and friends. And everything was also managed thanks to the fact that we didn't underestimate the selection of the kindergarten and preparation for it at home, and we rely on the local staff team.

Time coordination - who else should handle time management than an "action mom" who coordinates several events at once and has to keep her eyes everywhere and keep track of everything at home and around the child? 🙂 I'm sure you all know the drill. I'm the type for whom a "full diary" of events is a given, I don't like an "empty day" but....

• the first two weeks I thought I wouldn't be shy and take my time, because I didn't know how much I would be "the mistress of my time." And that was a good thing, because I was in a state , which I remembered experiencing in my first year of teaching 15 years ago, where I would come home around 4pm for the first few months and be glad I sat down, but now? NEW - my home is no longer empty when I return from work, I return with my own child from preschool who "wants a program and action" and I actually want it too, even though I don't quite have the energy for it right now.
• so for the first week I initially "saved" and was without plans and limited to a walk in the woods together, shopping at the drugstore, stationery store with big lines, or home painting, lego and baking. No pre-arranged get-togethers with friends and kids, no pool, because I didn't know how I was going to keep up.
• The second week, I took the more natural route of planning for myself so I knew which day we would do what in the afternoon after picking my daughter up from preschool. And the change from the previous week was that I could "look forward" - to the playground, to Grandma, to the petting zoo with my friends, and I knew what to expect in terms of time and energy.

And just as I'm writing this article, a question popped up from a high school class mom who now has a high schooler. And she asks me: when you lose motivation...what helps you get it back? And I said: for me, the drive is - the kids' looks and smiles, and the feeling of responsibility to give them my best and to live, not just survive the day with them...and knowing that what I'm doing is meaningful...And here I now add that I'm newly combining two worlds - the morning school one with the school kids, and then the home family one with my own child...and I don't want to and can't cheat either one.

My 3 initial FEARS of returning to work

• will I like my school children as much as I used to when I like mine best now?
• Will I be able to separate the world of school from the world of home?
• Will I have to cut back, reduce, change anything?

Finding Harmony in the Chaos

Balancing School, Home, and Parenting Post-Maternity

Fears have been blown away by the autumn wind, we are managing everything together - at school, kindergarten and at home and I am extremely happy for it and I am knocking - buch, buch, buch. I'm still just as haptic and calmly and happily hug and cuddle the class children. I can't spell "those strange kids" because they haven't been strange since September and then they never will be.

I thought I would be subconsciously thinking about how the morning went at home, what's going on in kindergarten, how my daughter is doing at the moment, what she's doing... But no, there's no time for these thoughts in the school day. I know she's going with daddy, I know they'll manage everything in the morning, and even if there's a problem, I won't know until the afternoon because I wouldn't be able to help it now anyway. And I know that during the day, she's in an environment where she's taken care of. I have to trust her and the adults. And I do.

And what did I cut back on? I haven't yet managed to catch the fact that I sometimes miss drying laundry outside for two days, although the autumn drizzle will probably teach me... But I don't completely neglect the housework - I vacuum my ufon, fill the washing machine, iron up a pile in one two-hour load, and prefer to listen to my daughter when she calls: "Mummy, come and cuddle" rather than go and polish the table.

I've cut back a bit on that... In the language of my friend who used to title my mom the hygienist, I guess I'm now just the regional one and no longer the regional one as she used to rate me. I admit, for the first time, I have glasses and plates in my kitchen not arranged by pattern, but I still keep spoons by type, those who know me know And I haven't had time to post much here now either... But I have a classroom written out, reports, plans... you know. 

I even have a two hour hospitalization already. And since I write mandatory daily reports with photos on the school website, I can't manage to write and take photos of my daughter every day anymore. After three years of daily journaling, she only has to "write" once a month. That's when I "had to trade" journaling for writing.

Embracing Life's Journey

The Fulfillment of Being a Mother, Teacher, and Lifelong Learner

I am still demanding of myself and then of others and I don't want them to do anything I wouldn't do myself, I still like order, system and order, but for some time now I have been saying that if it's not about life, it's not about anything. And I want to fully enjoy this new stage of my life that my daughter and I have entered - the stage of being a mom and a teacher. And I want to continue to be content and happy. I know it's possible. I know a few who have and are making it, and to those, thanks for the inspiration, in knowing how I want it and how I don't want it.

As a mother, I didn't let myself be overwhelmed by the common opinion that "you can't keep up on maternity leave, it's stereotype, it's boring, you'll go crazy, you won't cook, you won't clean and you won't have time for yourself and nothing, you'll talk in simple sentences." I didn't believe it and went the way of intuition, and even my profession has been a help to me sometimes. I went through those three years without reading magazines and books on motherhood and I think we enjoyed the three years together with my daughter to the maximum and I wouldn't change a day. I can't write - we enjoyed three years at home - because we weren't just at home. We went to the countryside, to the playground, to grandmothers, to friends, I organised three weekly maternity trips to the cottage with five mothers and six children, we went to the mountains, to weddings, I managed spa appointments, dinners, cake shops, job interviews, skiing and swimming pool... And looking back, I have had a wonderful stage of my life and I am a proud, content and happy woman - a mother, a wife and a teacher. And I know that a child is the best mirror and I am grateful for what I see and have in my daughter... I guess like every mom!

And now that I'm back at work, other phrases from my earlier practice ring in my ears, "Oh yeah, when you work and have a baby, you'll see, you'll start a second shift at home, you won't be able to keep up with anything, you won't have to think up such events and you'll be glad you're glad..." I consciously and gladly deny this too, perhaps because I think everything can be done if you want to... For example, we will celebrate Halloween at school the day after, i.e. on 1.11. , after a morning when we will meet in the classroom in masks and over ghostly tasks, then we will make a lantern with our daughter in kindergarten and go together to put the kindergarten garden to sleep. Then I'll be back for the night to see the kindergarteners - I'll be in the car for 160 minutes because I'll not only be driving 40 minutes there and back, but I'll have to, and want to, turn around because of my daughter and the kindergarten event.

Navigating the Transition from Maternity Leave to Work-Life Integration

The first week back at work, I thought: I hadn't read any articles while I was on maternity leave, but I might read something about whether and how to manage work, kindergarten and home... My friend said, "hmmm, I don't think there's an article for that, you'll have to write one." I just googled briefly "return to work after maternity leave, work after parental leave." I dropped out the legislative references on what we're entitled to after we return, etc. And even though this site of ours is about inspiration to and from teaching, I felt the need to mention and write out my mindset, even though this is the longest personal article I've written. Hopefully I can get away with it, with you readers.

I know I don't want to be a pissed-off, stereotyped, uninventive, uninterested girl. I'm the one who teaches enthusiastic kindergarteners and looks forward to every lesson, but then looks forward all the more to my little girl and her kindergarten experiences, which she wants to add back to the other family ones we have together. I've learned that children - school and your own, can lift you up and put you down and read everything in you.

In order not to fall, I had to get used to the new regime and coordinate home and work. But it didn't take much effort, because I had "wobbled" in previous years. I didn't quit my job and even during my maternity leave I was among people in the field - among my colleagues from schools, I went to several trainings, led a semester at college, took students to state for several theses, in the last six months of my parenthood I joined professional groups on Facebook, I completed and edited my CV and social media profile, and last but not least I gave my husband the right to start this website. We have separated the school and the duties associated with this regime at home and that's why it's going smoothly in the end.

But if in the first days/weeks after returning or starting work you say: when will I stop the merry-go-round, when will I rest, when will I go to the hairdresser and get a massage...?! I guess the answer is: when you want to, when you've timetabled everything and know what and when to prioritise what's important. But I guess you can't expect miracles and a bloated day if you don't know how to work with time.

I wish you a wonderful autumn not only in your roles as teachers and mothers. Both roles are beautiful and I believe you can combine them both, even though it can be a bit challenging and tiring sometimes. But the smiles of the children are worth it. I try to do that and the children's feedback recharges me. Have a great day... And next time, don't worry about something in class.