Do you love your job? I do. I truly love what I do.
This year marks my thirteenth year as a teacher.
I could go on and on about how teaching isn’t easy. It’s hard–sometimes very hard. It’s stressful and draining. But other than being a mom, it’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. When you’re a teacher, no two days are the same. It’s always different and it’s never boring because, well, you never know what’s going to happen.
It’s also not for everyone. If I had a dollar for every person who said to me, “I don’t know how you do this job. I couldn’t do it!” then I’d be getting massages weekly rather than yearly.
As a teacher who is a mom I’ve also been asked, “How do you do this all day? How do you take care of other people’s children, and then go home and parent your own?”
How do I do it? I don’t really have an answer to that.
Why do I do it? I do it because I choose to, because I want to. I knew when I was in the 3rd grade that I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up. I also knew I wanted to be a mom. Balancing the two worlds isn’t always easy. There are days when 3:30 rolls around and I just want to run somewhere and hide, or if I’m being honest, have a drink. But heading off to happy hour after work or curling up in a ball on the couch in front of the T.V isn’t really an option for me. When 3:30 rolls around it’s back to “mom” mode.
Five days a week I play two roles: Mrs. Bass and Mom.
Monday through Friday from 7:30 until 3:30 I become a ‘mom’ of 14 instead of one. Those 12 little students in my class are my responsibility for those eight hours. My students and I talk about how we are a ‘school family’ during the day while we are together. And it’s true.
The parents of those 12 little ones are trusting me with the most important thing in their world. I don’t take that for granted because I know exactly how it feels. I have to do the same thing with the two most important things in my world. Leaving your children in the hands of someone else isn’t easy.
When you’re a teacher, and also a mom, you never really get to clock out.
From the moment we wake up until the moment we go to bed we are responsible for children. As much as I love it I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t exhausting at times. But with that being said, I wouldn’t change a thing about it.
Caffeinate, Educate, Sleep, Repeat. That has become my daily motto.
Balance is key in everything we do. As a teacher, our students are counting on us. As a mom, our own children are counting on us. We have to figure out how we can be the best versions of ourselves to those who need us, both professionally and personally.
So here’s a shout out to all of the teacher moms out there! Keep on keeping on! We got this!
Even when it doesn’t feel like it, we are making a difference in the world.
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