Saturday 18 July 2015

Saturday: the start of a new life

Good morning, gentle readers.  It is a lovely sunny morning and I have the windows open, freshening up the house as a warm baking aroma is starting to pervade the air.  A mix of fresh air and fresh soda bread.  What could be better?

There's an awful lot to say today and I doubt very much I will say it all in one go - in fact, I won't even try!

OK, so the last few days have been very strange.  Very lovely and very difficult all at the same time.  I feel rather numb at the moment and almost 'out of body' so it will take a while to sink in but although there's a great sadness aching inside, there's also excitement and exhilaration!

I wondered about this blog.  Not about keeping it up, I'm not going to stop now, but about its title.  Somehow, 'Diary of a Retired Teacher' doesn't sound right.  Anyway, I may be retired but I am still a teacher.  Yes, I can't cut the knot entirely.  I shall be back at school for one day each week for the first half of next school year doing PPA cover.  At present the plan is to do two hours in Y1 and the rest of the day in FS and I can say that now because the news is out.  It could change; nothing is written in tablets of stone as far as this sort of thing is concerned.

I think it will feel weird.  For so long I have thought in terms of 'my' bay, 'my' class, 'my' laptop, 'my' parking slot and so on.  That's not as possessive as it sounds but there is a certain element of 'belonging' involved.  All those things will go now.  I won't have a base, I will park in the visitors slots (well, actually, once I have no heavy bags/piles of books/etc, I shall walk to school anyway!

There's another way of looking at it though.  No classroom means no space to have to keep organised, tidy and dust free, no display boards to keep updating, no class to plan for and assess and manage, a saving on petrol and a way to get fitter . . .  It will be a whole lot less heavy, won't it?  A lot the fun without as much of the hassle and spare time to boot!

I have already told my team - no, not my team any more, my ex-team, oh dear, that will be hard to remember at first! - to choke me off is they see me overstepping my boundaries.  I wouldn't do it by design but I might do it by accident!

Diane commented that I will be able to 'go with the flow' a lot more.  We all have days when all we want to do is huddle in a chair and read or watch rubbish telly.  Days when the garden calls and we have a chilled bottle of something and a good book once the weeds have been banished.  Days when the food magazine arrives and there are interesting recipes to try.  Days when creativity bites hard and our fingers ache to experiment.  Now I can (mostly) follow my nose and see where it takes me!  Not just for the next six or seven week but for the rest of my life.

Oh, wow!!!


14 comments:

  1. Welcome to the world of "old farts" and at last freedom to do as you please. Goodbye dead lines now you can set your own goals; time is your friend not your enemy. It is a huge wrench but you have lots of interests to keep you amused. I look forward to reading your blog and see what mischief you will get up to!!!!

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  2. Yes, wow is right - absolutely wonderful! You are going to get the best of both worlds, too, which is great. You are so much a part of the school and the life there and it's lovely that the school and children are not losing you. :o) I expect you will end up spending quite a lof of your time doing school-related things that it really won't feel that you have retired at all.:o)
    Have an absolutely lovely weekend and enjoy the freedom the summer break brings. :o) S.xxxx

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  3. Congratulations on your retirement Joy, as you say the end of an era and the start of a new one. I bet in a few months time you will be like several of my friends saying you don't know how you found the time to go to work full time! Enjoy your freedom to do what you want when you want to do it xx

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  4. Big, happy smiles to you all, and many thanks. Freedom is something I will need to get used to!
    J x

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  5. Joy, you know that blissful feeling of the start of the summer holiday? Then that nagging 'oh I must get on with...' and the thought of the planning, the prep, etc? Man Wonderful describes being a retired teacher as the blissful feeling without that nagging at the back of your mind. He says it took him a while to get used to it, but it's great!

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  6. You are dead right, Tracey. I have to go back in to pick up a few bits and bobs that wouldn't fit in the car once all the flowers and other gifts had been loaded but apart from that I am free. The bay is totally sorted and ready for the next teacher! Woo hoo!

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  7. I can do no better than echo the above cooments| And to wish you every happiness in your new way of life:)

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  8. Congratulations, and enjoy your newfound freedom. It may take a bit of getting used to, but I bet you soon adapt to no paperwork, marking and deadlines!

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  9. That perpetual beginning of the holidays feeling, there's nothing quite like it. Get ready to reverse your weeks, doing anything and everything any day, but leave the weekends to those trapped in the daily grind. Have fun! Jx

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  10. It will sink in slowly, I know. In the meanwhile I will enjoy the summer holiday feeling anyway!!!
    J x

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  11. Yes, it will take a while - it is a big change, but it is great that you have the summer break for all this. No mountains of planning or things to do either so you will, for the first time in many, many years, actually have a summer break - I mean, how cool is that?! :o)

    I was thinking how wonderful it must be to retire (or in your case, semi-retire ). To not have that intense pressure of work, to not be so utterly tied timewise, to not have one's life consumed and regulated by the restraints of work, to not have to be so utterly exhausted in the evenings - my goodness, that is truly a marvellous thing. :o)

    Have a lovely Sunday and, above all, ENJOY! :o)) S.xxx

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  12. I hadn't thought about the tiredness bit. I have to go and add a no 11 to my list now! :-)
    J x

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  13. you will get into the swing of things very soon! Everything will fall into shape soon.

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  14. I'm sure it will, Gill, thank you. :-)
    J x

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