I went back to work this week.
It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, but what I found the most unsettling at work was how quiet it was.
Transitioning back into my position when the school year started nine weeks ago means I have a lot of catching up to do. There’s observing and listening and reading work I need to do to understand what’s been happening in my absence. I also have a new office space that needed to be organized and set up. This work was all very quiet compared to the work I’m usually doing, and it was a bit unsettling.
I found myself on a few occasions, sitting in my new office, looking around and feeling a bit overwhelmed by how quiet it was, so I’d pop into a classroom to be with students or walk down the hallway to “eavesdrop” on the work teachers and students were doing. I know that the quiet will be soon be replaced by a schedule crammed with teacher meetings and classroom work (I can’t wait!), but I’ve also realized that quiet is a good thing–I’m getting to hear and observe what I might otherwise have missed if I was jumping in quickly to add my ideas. Hopefully, I can remember to hold onto a little quiet in the coming weeks…
the teaching mama 
Good luck heading back to work. It so often bitter sweet. I find I appreciated the time to be ‘myself’ as I was before I was mom. But as with all things ‘mom’ it’s an adjustment. Happy to have joined in behind you, new friend.