Monday, March 12, 2012

S.A.H.D.A.B.D.

We've been waiting for a few months for Tidy's school board to make a decision on his application for a year sabbatical... and tonight we finally have an answer.

They said yes!!!!!

This means that Tidy will be granted a year away from his school for the 2012-2013 school year to be a Stay At Home Dog And Baby Dad... We are so grateful for him to have this opportunity. Can we get another YAY!!!

This sabbatical will allow him to take this year off of teaching (with no pay of course) and then return for the 2013-2014 with his same position, tenure and place in the pay scale (assuming he wants to... but those will be decisions we make later down the road).

When we looked at the cost of infant day care for TWO babies versus Tidy's take home teacher salary, it clearly made monitory sense for him to not work. Additionally, depending on the day care we chose, we could actually have been paying more money for him to work...

But quitting his job and staying at home wasn't a 100% slam dunk for Tidy and his career. As many of you teachers out there know, leaving a school district after gaining tenure is a hard thing to do, especially in this market. The thought of quitting his job, even if it was to stay home with our babies that we have been trying for for almost 5 years, still left him a bit conflicted. And I get that, I really do. He loves teaching and he loves his students. He's a fantastic mentor to those middle-schoolers (even though I've never actually seen him in action.. ha!) and they are going to be sad to not have him there for a year.

Additionally, in being a SAHD, he will be giving up his financial independence, not to mention the loss of independence in simply becoming parents.

Now, please oh please don't get us wrong. We are SOO grateful to even be in a position to consider having one of us stay at home. And we are SOO grateful to be parents-to-be. But as with any major life change, there is always some anxiety as to how this change will feel, and will I be able to adapt well, and will I be able to handle the change in the best way and not go completely crazy!!!

Thus, the sabbatical really became more about Tidy having a fall back plan and retain that ability to go back to work in an 'easy' way in case SAHDABD-ing was just not the right decision for him, me, our babies and our sanity.

So I say with great gratitude, THANK YOU school board, for making this decision and for giving Tidy the peace of mind to go into almost a year and a half of being a stay at home dad with a little more confidence and peace of mind.

8 comments:

LisaB/lisabttc said...

Yayy, that's so exciting and makes perfect sense! That's great! I'm sure it will be an adjustment and kind of strange at first. I hope all goes well and smoothly!

Sybil said...

That is wonderful news!! I am so happy for you all! We will probably be moving when hubby finishes his fellowship program in March 2013...so I will be staying home after that. I plan on taking 3 months off and then just bouncing her between us for the remaining 6months til we move (working pt at work and pt at home). No matter what we decide - it will definitely be an adjustment!

Anonymous said...

Oh how friggin' awesome is THAT?! Congrats to you guys!

Maggie said...

Let me add a YAY!

RunningMama said...

That's great news! What a special year and a half for you both! His ability to stay at home will make it more palatable for you to go back to work....I'm sure it won't be easy (for either of you) but this way you will feel confident in knowing that your precious babies are getting the best care!

Whipped Cream & Kittens said...

What great news for your family! Glad he has a fallback plan in case being a SAHDABD isn't his cup of tea. Giving up a career to take car of babies full-time is a scary prospect.

Whipped Cream & Kittens said...

"care" not "car." Silly smartphone, not so smart after all.

Cherm said...

Wooohoooo!!! So happy to hear that. Been thinking about what happened and have been forgetting to ask! Just getting caught up on blogs...Tell Tiddy congrats!