Working Mama

I am blessed in so many ways. I have a beautiful baby boy, an amazing husband, and a job that allows me to work from home – actually 2 jobs! I currently teach theater with a brick and mortar school, as well as teaching dance online through Outschool. It has been a hard transition to move from maternity leave, where I was able to be a stay at home mom for three months, to a working mama. The days leading up to returning to work, I was so sad. I didn’t want to split my focus. I didn’t want to miss out on my son. But being able to teach virtually has made it possible to work and be home with my baby.

I have always known that when I had a family, I wanted to be home with my children. However, I also knew that I needed to work, and help to provide for my family. I never knew exactly how I was going to make this happen – be a working mama that was also a stay at home mama – but I new I would figure it out when the time came.

Like most schools across the nation, my brick and mortar school went to remote learning last March, 2020 due to the pandemic. It was a dramatic switch, but I quickly learned how to adapt to this new structure, and found a way to make theater fun while learning online. Each morning I go upstairs, turn on my computer and my soft box light, and start my day. And for about half of my classes, my son is able to sit right along side me. I am so fortunate to be able to continue working remotely this semester, and still have my baby with me. Right now, he is still young enough where he mostly sleeps during the day, and in the afternoon when he is awake, my husband and I take turns engaging him and playing with him so that he continues to grow and learn.

It was during this same spring 2020 timeframe that I found Outschool. Their platform allowed me to teach dance classes to little ones across the globe, all from my little home classroom. I had taught dance to little ones in person for years. Once again, I quickly adjusted to this new learning model, and found some great ways to make classes fun! Now due to the nature of these classes, I can’t keep my baby in the room with me. But luckily, scheduling classes is up to the teacher. I schedule when it’s convenient for me and my family. So, I try to schedule classes in the early evening, when my husband can watch our baby, and on Saturday mornings. During the summer I plan to add more classes during the day. Nap time is a great time to have a class! It has worked for me with my B&M classes, and I plan to use that time for my Outschool classes as well.

Each day I try to build my business a little more on Outschool. I hope that one day I will be able to only teach on Outschool and still make the income that I need. But building my business will need to be another post for another day. Today, I just need to express how thankful I am for these blessings.