A new chapter for an old (OK, middle-aged) librarian

Well, the date is fast approaching. My last day of work. I have the greatest job in the world, with the greatest boss in the world, at one of the best libraries in the country, and I'm leaving it. Some days, I think I should have my head examined. But I've weighed the factors in this decision many times and every time I do, they come out more in favor of staying home for a while with my girls, now ages 6 and 2. Working part-time has been the best of both worlds for several years now. But even with a cushy schedule like mine (I work Tue/Wed/Thu each week), trying to work in PT, OT, speech, adaptive dance class and all other misc. appts. with various specialists on Mondays and Fridays is making me crazy. The thought of being able to spread them out over the WHOLE WEEK seems positively luxurious! Now, I'm not so naive as to think that my 20 "found" hours per week will result in actual free time. I did actually sit down and contemplate how I would like for those hours to be spent, but with kids all bets are off. I know one thing for sure... I'm going to spend more time playing with them! And if that means that my house isn't any cleaner or more organized (one of my New Year's resolutions) or that I don't manage to create home-cooked meals from scratch (my husband is a better cook, anyway) then... at least I will look back on these years and say "wasn't that fun when we used to sit in the driveway all afternoon and made chalk drawings?"

Erica starts kindergarten in the Fall and I'm asking the district to place her in a regular classroom with para support, as opposed to busing her across town to the MH class at another school. After doing a lot of research (imagine that, a librarian reading!) into inclusion practices, I support the theory that a student's Least Restrictive Environment is the class in which they would enroll if they did not have a disability. I know this wouldn't work for all kids with special needs, but I truly believe it will for Erica. One thing I'm planning to do with my 20 hours is to make myself available to help out at the school, whether for PR/goodwill or actually doing things that will free up staff time to address my daughter's needs.

I am sooooo lucky to have this choice! And I'm really looking forward to the first real summer vacation that I've had since high school. But I'm also a very nostalgic person who has a hard time letting go of things that have meant a lot, so the next couple weeks of "last times" will no doubt find me choked up a lot. After 17 years as a librarian, my identity is pretty tied in to my career choice. I'm maintaining my professional membership and have joined the library committee at church, so I'm not "letting go" of that part of my identity, just re-shaping it a little (OK, a lot). But the decision feels right, so with more eagerness than anxiety I say.... here goes!