Not a Teacher Anymore

*Written in May of 2012 posted February 2013. I wasn't sure if I should post this. It's not positive, exactly. Well, it is positive, but not about my job at the time. And I hate being down on the job I had because of the wonderful people I know who are still doing it. So I sat on this post for months. But here it is. 

I write this post with very mixed feelings.
This time last year, I had been laid off for budget reasons and was saying an early goodbye to the profession that I chose for myself in 1998. I wasn't ready to go, and was desperately hoping for one more year at PHE. I got my wish, and was brought back in to teach 4th grade.
At this point, after 6 years working daily in public schools (and a total of 14 years of teaching, counting everything), I'm not going to be a teacher anymore.
Back when I was supposed to be getting a transplant by now, Lawyer Man and I created an alternate plan. We would start a business together, with him as the lawyer and me as the office manager, and we would work around my doctor's appointments and ability level to run the practice together. This seemed more doable than teaching, where you can't be immunocompromised and you can't take off a lot and you can't sit down much or pee when you want to. It was clear that after my transplant, my teaching career would be over and a quiet office job would be the new plan.
As this plan took form, we added two more partners to the firm. I gladly resigned my position as equal partner with my husband in favor of getting to be the Mama Bear for all three lawyers. I love the people I'm going to work with and I love the idea of our business, and I am absolutely THRILLED to be moving back to the Houston area (also part of the post-transplant plan... gotta be close to my momma if I'm going to be sick all the time.)
Now that a transplant doesn't seem to be in my near future (may not even be in the 5-year plan), I could continue to teach. The big reason I was leaving teaching doesn't really apply anymore, so I am in a position where I really could keep going. Just put in applications and start working in my home district! Or I could continue with the family business plan, now that it is in motion. Being that I am an organized person, I have been mentally listing reasons to teach versus reasons to quit (regardless of new job). Related to quitting, I also have reasons to specifically be our office manager. Here's what I have.

Stay in Teaching
This is my "calling" and my degree and has been my plan since middle school.
Relatively secure job.
It's all I'm qualified for, from a resume point of view.
Never work on holidays
Summer break (after summer school is out)
I really do love teaching
My coworkers have rocked at every school I've taught at
There are still places like China Spring, where kids want to learn and parents care
Sometimes I get paid to go hiking, listen to mariachis, or visit the symphony
Sometimes I get paid to paint, read fun books, or play Apples to Apples
Fiber Arts Club rocked
Inner-City School Teacher has a way bigger "oh, Damn!" factor than Office Manager
People are surprised when I say I'm quitting teaching, and seem let down
I love kids
I doubt the partners will draw pictures for me
I can have a bulletin board on star paper with a glittery shooting star border in my classroom, but not in my office

Leave the Profession
I might not be an expert at classroom management (or at least, my last group of kiddos was better at foiling my plans than I was at creating them)
There is no correlation between hard work and pay out, despite what we try to tell the kids
Coming home drained with no energy for my family or home
Paperwork (to be completed in my spare time, not on the clock)
In 6 years, I have had three semesters TOTAL where I felt like I was good at my job and I enjoyed it (in three separate school years), I have had 4 semesters where I felt like I was doing a good job but I didn't love it, I have had 5 semesters where I felt like I sucked at my job and I didn't love it.
Teacher ass (or, why do I immediately lose 5-10 pounds every summer and regain it by Christmas?)
The system is broken and I feel so inadequate being unable to serve all my kids the way they need to be
No more lesson plans or grades
No more breaking up fights
If someone says "F YOU! I don't have to do this," then I don't have to work with him
If someone makes a paper airplane out of his test, I don't have to answer for why his grades are so low
If someone stabs someone with a pencil, it's not my fault
If someone cusses at me on the phone, I don't have to thank her for her input
If someone tells me he plans to keep me from doing my job, a specialist won't tell me to buy him stuff to make him like being here.
If someone threatens me, I can file charges, not ask him nicely to keep working.
Feeling totally spoiled to be at a school that allows 35 minutes for lunch

Office Manager at PMF
Flexible hours
Work starts at 9:00, not 7:45, and if I work until 5:00 I get paid until 5:00.
Work with my husband, rather than calling him to say I'm staying late again
Firm dinners with the partners and their families
I'm really good at customer service
I'm really good at organization
Kid/dog friendly office
(At least at first) Working from home
(Later) Decorating an office with things that are beautiful and won't be broken, stolen, or graffitied
Allowed to say Damn or Hell at work
Get to dress way sexier because I won't be standing all day, sitting on the floor, or dealing with paint or pre-adolescent boys
"Working Lunch" means lunch out with a client or bringing take-out back to the office, not eating a granola bar over the copier
On that, having a Lunch HOUR
I can go to the bathroom any time I want and I don't have to ask someone to watch two classrooms at once