Why Subbing is Great for the Family Building Phase -

A mom and substitute teacher going for a walk with her daughter!

Last updated on January 27th, 2024 at 05:24 pm

My focus in the past few years has shifted.

For so long I was a people-pleasing career builder, grasping to be the perfect teacher. (Can you tell I was a straight A- student?)

Then I met a wonderful guy on a dating app. We got married, rented an attic-turned apartment above friends, and made a move across the bay with our geriatric goldendoodle in tow.

He switched jobs, I quit mine. We wanted to have a baby.

My perspective had performed some acrobatic flips. I was no longer interested in carefully constructing a life to match my job– I’d make the job fit in with my life.

Enter: Substitute teaching.

Why substitute teaching is a decent choice for young families

There are intense seasons of life that I prefer to keep my primary fixation instead of a job: Pregnancy, caring for my child in the newborn phase, raising her in babyhood and toddlerhood.

I’ve written down my opinions about the teaching career’s family friendliness factor. My beef is that I believe modern full-time teaching is more like two jobs wrapped into one salary and woefully outfitted for a healthy family life.

When I made the difficult decision to leave teaching, it was mainly for this reason.

I concluded my focus couldn’t pour into my new little baby while also flowing into the all-encompassing demands of the classroom. I was fortunate enough to have a life arrangement where we decided my resignation was possible.

Leaving the classroom for motherhood, though it’s raised a few eyebrows, continues to be one of the choices as a parent that I feel confident about.

It’s wild how I can be snuggling with my baby girl, and all feels right where it needs to be in the world, when little unwelcome money worries start to push their way in.

Subbing gives me a chance to earn some quick extra cash. Here’s why I consistently choose to take up the mantle of teacher nomad instead of other side gigs (and I’ve tried a lot!):

Subbing offers a flexible schedule

I finally plunged back into work– just a little bit– taking a few sub assignments when my daughter was six months old.

I’ve learned that scheduling flexibility is key for juggling both caring for a baby and trying to earn a paycheck.

There are numerous factors of early motherhood that can send wrinkles through the best-laid plans: a sick baby, a baby pulling all-nighters, nursing and feeding issues, mom’s own health. Not to mention the tenuous coordination with childcare, if one relies on a babysitter.

I can take and cancel sub assignments with a push of a button, all within the computerized system. As long as I’m not canceling last minute, there’s a good chance the relinquished job gets picked up by someone else in my large school district.

I don’t have to explain or apologize for the needs of my family.

I don’t have to squeeze and twist to fit our lifestyle in with the job. Gone are the days when I’d have to suck it in just to pull up the ill-fitting pants of this job.

We can go pantsless.

New to motherhood, I have to adjust my expectations. Here I am with my daughter looking at jasmine flowers.

Subbing leaves me as a free agent

Investigate the difference between two photos with me: They show the same classroom, down to the slightly askew stack of used workbooks withering in the corner. The pocket chart calendar, though it’s already February, is still displaying January. The time stamp on the two pictures is the same: 5:03 p.m. on a Tuesday. In one, a teacher slumps behind her laptop within the curve of a macaroni shaped desk.

In the other photo, the teacher is missing. The desk and computer sit empty.

Spot the difference yet?

The photo of the teacher wiling away all of her free time at school was me for five years. (Eh… maybe four– by year five, I got wise. But still.) There were far too many times I left the building chasing sunsets or under the celestial glow of the moon and stars.

Now my life is the other photo. I get to teach and be with the kids for a day, but after that bell rings, I’m a free agent.

I’m not bound, contractually or otherwise, to any particular classroom.

I can work a day and simply leave after without my remaining time, thought and energy consumed by the needs of the classroom.

I can sub in a class and decide to return because I loved it so much, or I can blacklist it. (I even have a fancy online system for organizing my notes on classrooms!) Such is a benefit of this consistently temporary job.

The author, blogger and teacher making a peace sign in the classroom. — As a sub, I can say “Peace out!” at the end of a school day.

Substitute teaching gives us extra income

I don’t even sub that much. But it’s still enough to bring in dollar-shaped breathing room.

In my recap of subbing for the 2022-2023 school year, I calculated that my income was $1,450.

A chunk that size helps our family, for sure.

And I could choose to work more or less, according to what we need.

While it’s not the highest paying side job out there, I think it’s worth it. There are no extra steps to take or off-the-clock work to be done. There are minimal startup costs, and the same amount is guaranteed, unlike jobs with fluctuating payments.

My paychecks have covered all kinds of unexpected family needs. The money also goes toward plenty of fun things, too. So the semi-stable money factor is a definite plus.