I mean, I can't be the only woman who's tried SAHM/work from home and thought, you know, this isn't working. And you can't place the child before you have a job, because until you have the job you don't have money!

Susan, I did just that. Stayed home with second kid, went nuts, had to jobhunt and daycare-hunt simultaneously. The trick is that you have to hunt for childcare just the way you are supposed to hunt for jobs -- make sure everybody you know is aware that you're looking. That means that, for instance, you tell your minister, because s/he may know some mothers you don't, or know somebody at another church, or be willing to put a note on the board.

It's exhausting, but it can be done. I wound up stair-stepping up from not-so-great daycare to better daycare. Then I got incredibly lucky, and found this wonderful woman who took in both my daughter after school and my son as an infant. She was everything I dreamed of, and I only found her because her oldest kid went to the same school mine did.

Whoo-hoo, Stephanie! Totally in awe, here. On the first try! With a newborn! You deserve a parade.

Stephanie gets my vote for Wonder Woman casting.

Seconded!

Congratulations, Stephanie!!! You are Wonder Woman -- breast-feeding a newborn with your DH in another country and you passed the bar first time! Yay!

And so soon after her birth. I mean, really, really, really soon. I was still debating if I should take two naps, or three, that soon after my children were born.

Stephanie, had you even had your six week check-up when you took the Bar Exam?

Stephanie, that is so freaking AWESOME! Go, you! Whoot!

Laura Holt, insent

I'm going to cheer Stephanie again as long as I"m here.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Stephanie, had you even had your six week check-up when you took the Bar Exam?

I think it was the week before the exam. I was very lucky that Ellie came 11 days early. That helped a lot, both with the breastfeeding and having a bit more time to study post-hospital.

I think it was the week before the exam.

Stephanie, you are my freaking hero. You were still post-partum. You were breast feeding. You were single parenting a new born, because your dh is in Iraq, and you passed the BAR EXAM ON YOUR FIRST TRY!

Word.

Damn. I just typed a long entry apologising for skipping 1,300+ posts and telling you the whacky highjinks involving my doped up cat and his Fabulous Escape from the Vet, rending holes in the wire mesh on the window, and all about Arthur The Gecko, and how he nearly caused my flatmate to fall off a ladder - but the laptop ate it ALL. So you'll just have to fill in the blanks and get the impression that it's been a bit of a billytea Steve Irwin evening.

The main point, though, is to tell you about my New School. I started the day by going in to the American School with my flatmate - you may recall that after our plans fell through, my flatmate was offered a teaching post at the American Sister School of the English School we were supposed to be teaching at, while I was offered a non-teaching post 'helping to prepare for the opening of the English School', whatever the hell that means.

I'm happy to say that they've found me a teaching position instead. I'm going to be a Full Time Substitute Teacher - they've had 2 Full Time Subs for a while, but this year they'll have 5. Basically it's like being a Teaching Assistant, available to support the whole of the Elementary Department as and when they want me. So I'll be working with all the Elementary teachers at one time or another and I'll get the chance to watch a load of different behaviour management techniques and teaching styles, and learn from them; and at the same time I'll be getting experience with the whole age range of kids, which is just terrific. Added to which I don't have to do the planning, or much in the way of marking. Plus I'm now part of the team, rather than just getting to meet the new people in my capacity as Flatmate's sidekick. When people are off sick, I'll be going in to do the teaching myself (which was happening anyway at The Other Place), but using their planning - and I'll have been in to work with the kids already, so it's not going to be like dealing with them cold.

All in all, this is definitely a Moment Of Yay!

And the American School seems lovely. Honestly, the people are so much better organised and more welcoming than Evil Former Boss - I mean, the meeting this morning had people being thanked for their hard work in such a way that it sounded like it was about them, rather than about us listening to the Head playing at being important. And Big Cheese types have twice apologised to me for what they perceived as inconsiderate behaviour that totally weren't, imho. Bless!

Oh, and we get a free bus service laid on, rather than having to travel around by taxi. Which is way cool.