Mrs. Frasier, an 11th grade English teacher at South Windsor High School went on maternity leave this past winter, spring, and summer for her new born baby Peter James Frasier. After taking seven months off to be with her son, she found it very difficult to get back to work as she missed being with Peter full-time. 

 With Frasier going from being with her son 24/7 to working from seven to two, says she still misses her son a lot and always cannot wait to pick him up from daycare. When she first was trying to get back into the swing of things, she confessed that it was tough for her to be away from him for the first couple of weeks of school. However, it helped when her past students welcomed her back with hugs and conversations on the first day of school.  Frasier explained that “The students that came in really helped me realize why I love this job and why I wanted to come back to it.” It is clear that although Frasier had loved every minute she had off, she loves her students and teaching in general. Her previous and current students made the adjustment of coming back to school easier. 

 While going back to work was easier for Frasier than expected, she still enjoyed her time off. During her maternity leave, she was able to do many new things like buying and moving into her new house with Peter and her husband. She also had plenty of time to paint all of the rooms in the house and put in a patio. Other than doing things that had to do with her new home, she also had the opportunity to do outdoor activities in the springtime. Frasier was able to enjoy going on walks and hikes, which she enjoyed very much because in her opinion Spring is the nicest time of the year. She simply loved seeing all the trees coming back to life and just being outdoors, as she never had the time to see it in action before her seven months off from teaching. 

As Frasier went on an extra-long maternity leave to spend time with and take care of her son, she encourages Peter to learn new skills at nearly ten months old. She does this by reading to him a lot while trying to build the vocabulary in Peter’s brain so he can start piecing together words. However, all Peter really knows how to say at the moment is “dada.” Frasier hopes that he will be able to pick up other words soon, but knows that it will take time. 

Overall, Frasier had a great time away from school with Peter, but is still glad to be back. With her amazing students and her son, she is excited to see what is waiting for her personal life and work life in the future.