How getting ready to teach is like being pregnant

As most of you know I am getting ready for my next big adventure. The day after tomorrow I go from “stay at home mom” to working mom and start teaching! This is something which I find both very exciting and completely terrifying. Which reminds me of being pregnant. In fact getting ready to teach reminds me of getting ready for Joseph’s arrival in many ways:

1) I am completely freaking out. I can’t really think about it too much or I start to feel sick.
2) But, despite all the stress, I actually also feel confident that I will do a good job and it will be a great experience.
3) An experience which I am sure will be life changing.
4) I have tried to take care of everything I possibly could before the big day. A count down has been ticking in my head since I took the job and I have made appointments, gone shopping, planned, had my oil changed, ordered contacts, froze some food and stocked up on easy meals, tried to get out of some other responsibilities . . .
5) And I had to buy some new clothes AGAIN. Only this time they are super-dorky-old-lady clothes.
6) I am trying to prepare, prepare, prepare. Study, read, talk to people, ask questions, make lists, organize, but again this is something for which I know you cannot really prepare. Despite all this “preparation,” I still really have no idea what to expect.
7) So I have come to the realization that I just have to jump in and give it my best. Despite my attempts at preparation I really have to wing it. In fact, I actually wrote this list in my journal a week or so ago and since then I have pretty much given up on obsessive preparation and haven’t been letting myself freak out so much. I have even given myself a break and had some fun (pictures coming!). I am trying to just accept that it’s going to be hard, I won’t be perfect, but it will be what it will be. Hopefully I can both be of service to the students and build a good life for myself and therefore my family. I survived Joseph's arrival, so I figure I can probably handle this too.