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SUV Is Her Second Home

Tribune photo by SUSAN M. GREEN

Lealan McConnell juggles the demanding schedules of her seventh-grader and fifth-grader, Shelby, 13, foreground, and Kylee, 10.

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By SUSAN M. GREEN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 10, 2008

RUSKIN - Lealan McConnell stopped drawing a paycheck when her first child was born 13 years ago, but she's hardly what you would call a stay-at-home mom.

"The other day, I hit 111,111 on the odometer in my car, and it was an exciting moment," McConnell recalls, noting that she bought her SUV new in 2004.

"I said, 'What does that say about my life?'"

With two daughters ages 10 and 13 involved in youth and school activities, McConnell spends a lot of time on the road. Besides transporting her children, she often drives and chaperones trips arranged by her children's schools, Cypress Creek Elementary and Progress Village Middle School of the Arts.

A former schoolteacher, McConnell volunteers one day a week in a classroom at Cypress Creek. She also teaches in a youth ministry program at her church, South Shore United Methodist.

Scarcely a day goes by when her services aren't needed. Sometimes there's more demand than there is supply.

"I had a day a month ago when I had to be two places at the same time," McConnell says, noting that one child had to go to a youth convention in Seffner, while the other was due for a fine arts festival at the former East Lake Square Mall.

"I said, 'They're close. If all the lights are green, I think I can make it.' I dropped one off a little early and the other a little late."

McConnell's younger daughter, Kylee, spent two years in Cypress Creek's show choir. She takes violin lessons and is active in Girl Scouts and Junior Achievement.

At Progress Village, McConnell's older daughter, Shelby, is in the orchestra and show choir. She also takes a culinary arts class and is active in the youth organization Family, Career and Community Leaders of America.

Shelby studied ballet for years at a studio in Ellenton before suddenly announcing she didn't want to take dance lessons anymore. She joined a swim team at the Brandon Sports and Aquatic Center, which, to McConnell's relief, recently began offering practice sessions for south county residents at the Apollo Beach Racquet and Fitness Club.

McConnell says she loves the Ruskin area, where she grew up, but wishes the community offered more sports and cultural opportunities for children closer to home.

She went to college at Alabama's Auburn University, where she met her husband, David. After receiving a master's degree from the University of Florida, she lived for a time in Washington state with her husband, then in the Navy. McConnell taught kindergarten and second grade.

When she was expecting her first baby, she started hankering to return to Ruskin. Shelby was 4 months old when David McConnell transferred to Tampa's MacDill Air Force Base. The family moved to a home a few doors down from Lealan's parents.

McConnell says she patterns her parenting style after her mother, Jean Council, who was always available to shepherd her children in school events.

But she believes today's mom faces challenges that were unheard-of in previous generations, including keeping tabs on children's cell phone and Internet use.

"Life moves a lot quicker," McConnell says. "That's one reason I try to be involved in the kids' lives and know who their friends are."

Her husband is self-employed in a construction-related business. Because of the economic downturn, McConnell says she expects to return to work as a teacher this fall.

"I was nervous about it at first, but I'm really excited about it," she says, noting that her children are more independent now, and her husband will help juggle their transportation needs.

"I've been lucky to stay home with them as long as I have."

Reporter Susan M. Green can be reached at (813) 865-1566 or sgreen@tampatrib.com.

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