I Am The Den Mother of Homeroom Awesome
I was geeked to be spending this afternoon at the kids’ schools with my MIL, the Children’s Book Writer. However. Mother Nature was a bitch last night and brought in a hellish snowstorm that stranded MIL in 8 inches of new snow. Crappity crap. We’d made hurried plans yesterday with the teachers for an alternate date, so in two weeks we’ll try again.
But.
My brain couldn’t wrap itself around the crush. I couldn’t handle a full day of work today. It’s been hellish enough. Worse than hellish. It’s kicked my ass every damn day so hard my ass is now concave. (Or convex from inside. Shuttup.)
So I ran away.
Yesterday afternoon I met with Boy-child’s teachers to help coordinate a Major Field Trip to Exciting Museum in May. They gave me sheets of data, packs of forms, scant information on Who Worked the Fair, and said…Go…Do.
Last night I planted myself in a pot of swivel chair in front of the glowing teat of Excel and typed up spreadsheets. I hunched over the dining room table filling in forms, checking and re-checking. Putting slices of post-it notes in forms to be altered. I was in my element, all anal and databased.
This morning, after MIL cancelled, and I was threatened with an entire day of Work I’d Rather Not Do, I ran away to Boy-child’s school. After meeting with the teachers, I finished the field trip packets…slowly, methodically, picking and poking and breaking staplers. The teachers were happy I was there…one of Boy-child’s teachers said, “Boy, I wish I’d known about you last fall, I could have used you!” Boy-child’s homeroom teacher, High Commander, said, “She’s a fixture here now!” Meaning, of course, that they knew all they had to do was ask, and I’d beg and bark to do something for their classes.
As I delivered the packets to the teachers, friends of Boy-child would pop their heads up and wave like maniacal puppets…”Hi Boy-child’s Mom!” And I would smile and wave back. The school secretary knows and loves me. The teachers want me. The kids are actually happy to see me.
Someone tell me WHY I thought being a teacher was a bad idea?
(kicking myself in my concave ass for that slip-up)
posted by Mona Buonanotte @ 1:51 PM
4 comments
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4 Comments:
Having been a teacher myself (high school, my career lasted exactly two days) I think you probably made a good decision in not going the education route. There's no other job in the world (except for maybe parenting) that's quite like being a teacher. Underpaid, underappreciated, and each and every day you're given some other guideline or missive or directive from someone who thinks you aren't doing your job right.
Perhaps if we paid teachers like we paid sports figures or rock stars then I'd feel better about living in this world. Sounds like you've got the best arrangement you could have--step in, help out, take a big slice of Glory and get home again, knowing you helped.
Yeah I'm thinking that this is a case of 'nice place to visit but wouldn't want to live there'. Sure the vacation was beautiful and the people were friendly, but if you moved in next door, that'd be another story!
Like Irr, I had an astonishingly brief career as a teacher. So, yeah, what he said. Teaching is a very frustrating and exhausting row to hoe.
"the glowing teat of Excel" made me smile.
As someone who did It for 10 years, let me tell you - be glad. I loved it, don't get me wrong, and I might go back someday, but it's not what you think it is.
Teachers are mean to one another, administrators are rude to teachers, and you can't keep up. Ever. And that's not even taking into account the challenges the kids themselves bring, and the parents that aren't all as helpful or cool as you.
I'm glad to be out of it, if only for awhile.
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