Back to School as a Volunteer

 
     School started without me this fall -- and I am loving retirement! But after talking to the teacher who replaced me, I  decided to go help out in my old room today.  And I found that volunteering is more fun than teaching!!  Here are the advantages:
 1. I can park in the visitor parking slot closer to the door, and I can come in AFTER breakfast.
2. I can wear jeans, even if it is not Friday.
3 Everyone is happy to see me -- lots of hugs and smiles from parents, teachers, kids, lunchroom friends.
4 I know some tricks to make life easier for the teacher and assistant and they appreciate everything I do.
5. I can teach whatever I want and leave when I feel like it.  I asked to teach the morning message and it was still fun for me, and their new teacher picked up a few ideas that she wanted to try (she was taking notes). She also let me teaching the reading lesson.  I love doing that!
6. I don't have to call parents when kids misbehave (I hated that!)
7. I can teach new songs and sing and dance around without looking silly.
8 I can eat lunch without getting up one single time.
9.I can take a break any time I feel like it and stay out of the room as long as I want to.
10. I can relax on the playground because I don't have to keep getting up or blowing my whistle to stop kids from doing the wrong thing.
  I love my school family and it felt like home when I walked in the door.  I know what a hard job it is and I wish I could help all of them.  It is such a rewarding career, but it's also very hard at times. As a volunteer, I don't have to do all the hard parts -- no paperwork or meetings or phone calls or workshops -- or responsibility.  Of course, there is also no paycheck --- but I find it very rewarding in other ways,
  I have no regrets about retiring -- I have other things I want to do at this stage of life.  Like cooking healthy meals instead of frozen pizza. Keeping the laundry caught up.  Spending hours reading or chasing ancestors on Ancestry.com. (sometimes until 3 in the morning, but who cares? I can sleep late the next day! Volunteering at church.  Working on my chorus music. Taking naps.  Reading my Bible.  Having lunch with my husband or other retired friends. And volunteering at my daughter's daycare as well as in my old school when I need some hugs and smiles --  I still love the teaching part and I am grateful for the opportunity.  And I love seeing my friends and former coworkers -- it is nice to be able to help in ways that a parent volunteer can't. I expect they will see me on a regular basis!!