Yesterday I got my Initial California Teaching Certificate. Prior to that, I had an expired Washington State teaching certificate that was sufficient to teach all 11 years at 3 different Christian schools. I looked into getting my California credential about 10 years ago and the state at that time made it difficult and involved. Since I did not "need" it at the time, I did not pursue it. Fast forward to the present. Mattie just started first grade this year and I thought it might be fun to substitute teach at her school. Substituting is a perfect job for a mom because it is totally flexible and the hours perfectly correspond with a child's school day. You go to school together and you go home together. No planning, no grading, no extra work. So I called the county education office last week to talk to them about getting my substitute certificate. I explained my story and the woman on the other end of the phone says, "You know you can just get an initial teaching certificate, don't you?" To which I replied, "Well, NO, I didn't!... You're kidding?" Well, either California has come to its senses that other states can actually train and prepare people to be competent teachers or they have become so desperate for teachers that they have made it SUPER easy to get your credential even if your out of state one has expired. All I needed was my college transcript and my credential. Wow. I will have to take a competency test, the CBEST, within a year. No problem. I hear it's pretty easy. And then I will have 5 years to "CLEAR" my credential to keep it. That will require coursework. I'll cross that bridge later. Last week, I got fingerprinted and ordered my transcript. It arrived this week and yesterday I went to the office of education and in 10 minutes, I walked out with a credential. Amazing. I was actually feeling very excited about this. I do love teaching and the thought of getting back in the classroom does excite me. It will be good get to know students and teachers at Mattie's school. It will be good for my self-esteem to get back to doing what I am gifted to do. It is always what I thought I might do "eventually." However, I was hoping to get to raise more children first. This is always in the back of my mind and in the depths of my heart. It won't seem to go away. However, Bob and I have pretty much decided that more children probably aren't in the cards for us. The risks are high and we've been through the war. Bob is more war-scarred than I am, I think. My drive to have more children will never leave me. I am sometimes an optimist to a fault. It think if I believe everything will turn out okay, it will... and it often does. But as we've experienced, it doesn't always turn out okay. And sometimes, it can be downright crappy. Sigh. But I am really working to embrace our new future together as a family of THREE. I'm trying to be appreciative for the life we have. There is certainly a lot to be thankful for. I think part of me is even a little scared to embrace this new future because in doing so, it means I have come to accept that I won't have any more children.
So here's to new beginnings... ready or not.
