FT teaching and motherhood

[ashesandfire]

This is my first post on MN.... be gentle ;)
I'm going back to work ft in a couple of weeks, my little girl will be 8 months old. I don't have a choice about going back ft as I'm the main breadwinner. Luckily it will only be for 2 weeks before the summer holidays. LO will be 10 months when the new academic year starts.
I teach an academic essay subject in a sixth form college. I enjoy my job on the whole but it's very demanding and the marking load in particular is horrendous.
I'm very nervous about managing the job and being a semi decent mummy to my little girl without it impacting our relationship. I already have mummy guilt over this even though I haven't had a choice and need to do it to keep a roof over her head. I know I am lucky in that I have the holidays, which other full time working mummies don't necessarily have, but there are times in the year where prior to being pregnant I was working 7 days a week and evenings too.
Do any teachers out there have any tips for managing full time teaching alongside motherhood?
Thanks in advance!

I'm a FT (primary) teacher with 2 DC (4 and 1). I teach Year 6, which is a lot of marking, planning, assessment and is particularly bad at this time of year (SATs, moderation, transition to Y7 and reports).

It's not easy to feel like a 'good' parent during term-time, as so much of my time is taken up with school stuff. I do the following things to try and find that elusive 'work/life' balance.

1. Get in early (7.30 at the latest) and work through breaks and some lunchtimes. Sit down and work as soon as the children leave rather than getting a cuppa etc.
2. Cut down on unnecessary 'wandering' in the morning/after school
3. Work when my children are in bed
4. I have one night where I accept I won't see the kids and I stay at work until I'm kicked out (7pm)
5. Do tasks straight away, rather than wait until a deadline and panic!
6. Have a 'skeleton' plan done for as far ahead as possible so that it can be modified after AFL, rather than planning a day or week at a time.
7. Keep everything I make rather than redoing every year.

It's not easy during the term, but the hols make up for it and, if I'm honest, I make more of an effort when I see the DC than I did when it was more often. I'm much more likely to take them out than stick them in the garden!

I'm a primary HT with 2 under 10s who has always worked full time (went back when they were each 5 months).
My 1 piece of advice is this;
Find your 'good enough' switch and use it each evening
All too often, teachers 'tinker' with things including planning etc & procrastinate over marking. Make use of every moment in school/college & then walk away at the end of the day (no later than 5pm) and don't think about it again.
I do check emails etc in the evening but I do that once the children are in bed & in front of the TV.
Good luck!

Thanks guys. Really helpful. I think I am going to need to be a lot more efficient with my work, basically. I like the 'good enough' point!

I teach secondary English & have 3dc aged 9, 8 & 6. I've always taught FT; from what I see of PT it's 80% of the work for 60% of the pay...

I do one 'througher' every three weeks or so when I put the kids to bed on Saturday evening & work through until morning on planning & resources - not for everyone, I know.

Also, because dh works away, I have a PT nanny (we have dc at the same school) who dovetails neatly & flexibly round my hours, which is absolutely invaluable - if you can find someone who'll do this, life becomes so much easier.

Batch cook, have a big freezer, & get organised with meal planning. I spend a couple of days every holiday filling the freezer so if I know I'll be arriving home just as kids are starving, I can take a tub of chilli/bolog out of the freezer in the morning & just do rice/pasta when I get in. Also, there's nothing wrong with beans/eggs on toast for tea when you've forgotten to do the above.

I know some people work through lunch, but I can't - if I don't have one break during the day, coming home & immediately starting the Mum Shift totally outfaces me.

Oh, & establish a mindless, bedtime-ish TV programme (mine is Emmerdale) as your absolute unmissable favourite. Insist that you are sat on your bum in peace watching this whilst your partner does whichever part of the routine you'd be up to by then. Don't let yourself do any marking, planning, or open your work email until after this watershed!