New Year, New Life!

Clare Locker - 5 Jan 16

New Years Resolutions. You either love them or hate them!

Whilst many of us make them, often we don’t stick to them. For me though, the start of a new year is a great time to think about plans and goals for the coming months, a time to focus on what we want to achieve and changes we need to make.

So whilst many of us will be dragging ourselves out of bed this morning and getting ourselves back into the usual routine, be that the office commute or the school run, my Monday morning will look very different to what I’m used to.

You see, I quit the day job to be a stay at home mum.

I have been a Primary School Teacher for almost ten years, and whilst I love teaching, those stories about teacher workload and the demands of the job we hear about so often in the press nowadays, do indeed ring true for many of us. I was a teacher with a huge workload before I became a mother, and then with two young children, I often found myself sacrificing family time and my own well-being to keep on top of the demands of teaching a class of six and seven year olds.

So in October I handed in my notice and prepared to walk away from my well paid career. With no other job to go to and not much idea of how we would manage financially this was no easy decision, but it was the right decision for me and my family. I worked out my notice and finished at Christmas.

So whilst I’m excited about more time with my gorgeous children, I did the school run for the first time ever this morning and it felt GREAT, I am also nervous about what the next few months will bring!

Unfortunately, whilst I can’t afford not to work at all, I’m hoping that a few days supply teaching here and there will suffice whilst I work out what the long term plan is.

This new year I’m not making resolutions, I’m making plans instead.

Plans for how I will spend extra time with my family, instead of marking school books.

Plans for meals I will cook for my husband and children, instead of planning for what I will teach my class.

Plans for the future.

As modern mums we are told we can have it all. The family, the career, the house, the car, the holidays. I certainly didn’t feel that my career allowed me to have it all. So this year is about balance. Trying to find the right balance between spending time caring for and enjoying my children, whilst still earning some money so that I can provide for them financially, and hopefully working out what the next step career-wise might be for me.

So is it crazy to walk away from a full-time job? I don’t think so if it’s making you crazy!

What does 2016 hold for you?

And can we really have it all?

Clare x

Clare Locker

Mama to two boys, wife, teacher. Juggling the chaos, fuelled by coffee. Twitter: @chaos_coffee Insta: chaoscoffee

View profile for posts, events and more info