Well wouldn't ya know it....

I was on my way out the door this afternoon to pick up kids after school when the WISD personnel director called....to offer me a job.  One of the ones I applied for back in the early summer has another opening now & since I was the next one in line, they wanted to offer it to me.  Two weeks ago I heard about this opening from one of the aides in the class (a friend of mine), but didn't give it much thought at all because I wasn't being offered the job.  The special ed director wasn't sure about hiring the position they hired earlier this summer--she thought they might have too many people in the room already, so I sort of figured she just wouldn't replace the one who is leaving now.  I even saw the special ed director a few days ago at one of the kids' meet the teacher nights & she didn't stop me or say anything to me, so again, I figured she wasn't going to fill the spot. 

But now, with an offer on the table, ugh.... bad timing.  Had they offered me this job in May or June, I would've jumped on it.  But now, wow...this is NOT a good time.  Not only do I have a job (& one that I am really enjoying thus far) but I've made a commitment to Oak Tree Academy that I don't want to break.  The hours are AWESOME.  The work is something I love.  I'm having a great time getting to know my coworkers and getting to write lesson plans & such again.  AND...tomorrow is the first day of Meet the Teacher (there are 2 days of it).  It would not be good for my students to show up to meet me & then have me quit before their first day next week.

On top of all that, there are 4 ladies in that room (teacher + 3 aides) & 1 of them has moved, thus the opening.  A good friend of mine is the teacher in the classroom and when I applied for this job originally, the higher up folks questioned whether or not it was a good idea for she & I to work together because of our relationship outside the classroom.  But now, 2 of the aides are also good friends of mine, so that makes me worry about how it might be if we were to not get along professionally.  I had some reservations about working w/ the 1 good friend, but now I'd be working with 3 good friends, so my reservations are even greater.  Of course, it might be fun to work with 3 friends, but on the other hand if there was ever an issue between me & one of the ladies I'm not sure about how that might effect our relationships outside of work.  The pay would be more & I would get a year-round paycheck (vs. just during the school year), but this is not all about the money.

Also, this is a job working with severely disabled children.  While I don't think I'd have a problem doing it....and I know it would be highly rewarding....I'm just not sure if I'm cut out to do it every day all year long.  I know I could do it short term.  I don't have a problem working with or being around disabled people as a general rule.  Back when I was interviewing for the job, I knew I *could* do it, but I wasn't ever 110% sold that I'd LOVE to do it all year long.  I just figured that if I got the job, I'd just have to stretch that interest & "ok" feeling into a year long love.

:::sigh:::  Anyway, I turned the job down.  Too many "if's" & questions in my mind.  I don't really have a peace about it.

My friend, the personnel lady understood & said she thought that might be the answer I gave, but she wanted to check before moving on down the list.

Weird how life works out sometimes, isn't it??