Wednesday, July 27, 2011

What to Do?

I just returned home from a fantastic day spent with friends - the morning with Sam and Grant in Falls Church, VA, and later with Ben and his sister, Jenna, at their pool just down the road. Great, quandary-free day. However, when I checked my e-mail a message read that the full-time prison art teacher was not returning for the year and they'd like to hire me on to replace her rather than being the summer substitute. Listen, I have come in to fill the shoes of an art teacher who opted to not come back to her classroom, and I can honestly say that that was not the most pleasant experience, unless you count meeting Rob and bearing Olive as a result of that job. Now that I have secured those treasures in my life, I need not look to an art teaching job to obtain such things. This job would also fall on two of the four days per week that I watch my beloved Khorey kids. I'm not willing to give up that job in favor of this one, but I don't see how I can do both. I feel inclined to give this one a shot. I was dubious about my job in Maine when I was offered the position (in part because I was severely under-qualified; now I feel far more well-equipped to work with the criminal element), but great things were in store for me, I'd soon learn. It's selfish of me, though, to approach this decision with a "what's in it for me?" attitude. I know what I can bring to these inmates, for whom it is a great privilege to take these classes. I also know that it will be a humbling experience for me, and that I may, in fact, have a little to learn from some of these men and women. It's certainly more in my field, professionally, but I adore my nanny job and grow fonder of those three kids each week. I love that I get to bring Olive with me and the interaction that all four children have. I love that it's .7 miles away from our home. I also love that I'm able to provide consistency and structure in a busy household, and I'm honored to have been chosen to care for a family's kids. It's not a small thing.
Is it any wonder I'm sitting on the fence over this?

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