That same month however, I did attend my graduation earning my Diploma in Education. I only invited Toby (family stuff going on at the time too!) and I drank in the wonderful feeling of achievement.
I had started the DipEd in 2001 then became pregnant with my daughter. The 'morning' sickness was so bad that I lost 5kg in the first Trimester. I had to put my studies on hold. The sickness didn't end but I did start to gain weight and finally gave birth to a healthy 3kg girl. A couple of years later my son was born. All that I needed to do was a 6 week teaching Prac. but I didn't want to use daycare so I waited until circumstances allowed me to leave my children in school or with family and took on the 6 week Prac. It was great. I loved the students, my mentor, the other teachers at the school, the challenges, the change of pace... and finally 7 years after starting it I was done!
So the graduation was pretty sweet for me, it was a long time in coming.
If I could have a do-over I would delay parenthood until after embarking on a career and set myself up to be in a position to take maternity leave. However, how do you know when enough is enough? When have you set yourself up enough that you can take an extended break from the workforce to parent and then return to some kind of secure position? Really I don't think this is the way the world works anymore anyway, career changes are pretty common and regular. I guess everyone rolls with the punches as much as setting goals. There's my ramblings for the day. In essence, when I stumbled across these pictures today they reminded me of just how far I really have come. It's been a busy life! and these days - a very happy one.
