Babies are shaking things up at GSIS. You heard that right: babies. They are so tiny and innocent, and yet they make the biggest impacts on the lives of the mothers here at this school.
It is no secret that there are many new mothers at GSIS this school year. In the month of October Mrs. Evans, the Dorm Mother and Mrs. Tam, middle school Mandarin teacher delivered babies. Mrs. Rains, the elementary librarian and Mrs. Thomas, the elementary physical education teacher are pregnant and expecting to bring their bundles of joy into the world second semester. No matter what stage of motherhood these mothers might be in, they contend that a baby certainly changes everything.
Mrs. Rains, dutifully expects exhaustion. Even though she is pregnant with her first baby, she knows that time is something she will never take for granted once the baby arrives. With an after-school group to manage, SATs to supervise on the weekends, and on top of all that, graduate courses to deal with, she has more than enough on her plate. Thankfully, her work schedule is somewhat flexible, which will help her balance everything out, including her time at home with her husband and soon-to-be newborn.
Speaking of husbands and newborns, Mrs. Evans, already knows that she will have to start getting creative to squeeze in precious family time. Now that baby Ethan Matthew Evans is born, she expects that their free time will be strained by constant concerns of wondering whether or not a stroller is necessary and at what time do they plan to feed the baby. She claims that she will have to plan ahead in the future, and that there are “Certain things we will have to adapt to.”
In addition to time management these new mothers and soon to be mothers also have balance on their mind. “It’s a goal of mine to learn how to balance my job, my family, and God. My relationship with God is most important. Learning how to handle everything [with God by my side] will be a learning experience,” states Mrs. Evans.
Mrs. Meyer, a high school social studies teacher, of her three-month old Everett has also been challenged with the balancing act of a new baby, her husband, her students, and teaching. “I think that in a lot of ways, Everett has really caused me to grow closer to Jesus. Now I need to pray more because a lot of the time as a mom, you just need more wisdom of what to do – and also because I get to see how much God, as a father loves, his son.”
Learning a new family dynamic poses a challenge for these mothers as well. “We went from there being just two of us, and now there’s three,” Mrs. Meyer states with a smile. A new baby may be tiring, but it also guarantees more fun and adventure. Taking Everett out to play, or just taking him for stroll in the park has served the Meyers a great sense of addition to their family life.
