This afternoon, I received a phone call from a principal requesting a subsitute teacher for Monday. For an instant, I was happy to get back to work on a part-time basis. I figured a half a day each week would be easily manageable and would also provide a nice supplement to my EI benefits. But this request was for a long-term occasional position and I was not quite prepared for that. Sadly, I felt I must decline the invitation. There was absolutely no way I could tear myself away from my little girl for more than a few hours, let alone five consecutive work days. Part of the reason I wanted to supply teach until the end of my parental leave was to slowly ease back into teaching and gradually wean myself from my baby. It turns out that the principal was in a bit of a predicament and asked if I could at least supply teach on Monday so that she could have more time finding a subsitute willing to fill the long-term position. After speaking with my mother-in-law, who has kindly offered to babysit, I decided I would try a whole day's work.

I know I'm going to have nightmares this weekend. I usually do prior to returning to work such as in September or after the holidays in January. These nightmares usually consist of arriving at work late, not knowing where my class is located, being unprepared to teach a lesson or constantly going off topic. They usually take place in slow motion and I often end up getting lost in a maze of endless hallways. Which reminds of that movie "Labyrinth." I remember that I really enjoyed it as a kid. I think David Bowie played the antagonist... yes, he did. He was such a great singer, wasn't he? I mean, he is a great singer. Or is he retired? Because that sentence would then require the past tense. Or is that the imperfect tense? And why would they call it the imperfect tense? I should probably check out the etymological roots of the word imperfect. You never know when it might come in handy. Now, what was I talking about?