It’s that time of Year! The time when stay at home moms and dads breathe a little sigh of relief. I mean let’s face it, trying to occupy our kid’s days and keep them busy for a couple of months is tough…and expensive. Gone are the days when parents send their kids out the back door to play in the yard, or out the front to play in the neighborhood.
Now we have camps, lessons and schools with—hopefully—a vacation thrown in there to boot. By the end of summer the wallet’s empty, patience are thin, and the kids are bored to tears. That’s when my heroes step in and save the day—TEACHERS!
I’ve always appreciated the job teachers do, my sister’s a teacher, I volunteer at my kid’s schools, and I’ve taught Sunday school. But until I retired and my focus throughout the day turned from my career to my kids, I never appreciated what it took to occupy my kid’s time–day in and day out—hour by hour. The constant question, “Why?” slipping from my daughter’s mouth as I struggled to put every answer in her terms on topics ranging from gecko’s to flowers, to math, to neutering. (Can I just say, I’m not a fan of that commercial creating more questions about male animals every time it airs?)
So to those teachers who dedicate their lives to our children, filling their minds with the gifts of knowledge and allowing us to rest our brains and get back to work-Thank You!
What moment have you experienced with your inquisitive darlings or witnessed in the stores during those hours that should be peaceful shopping hours while kids are in school, this summer to make you appreciate these brave heroes?
About Kym Roberts
Ah, yes. Our district went to a “balanced schedule” this year – shaving two weeks off summer vacation to put a few more days off in the spring, fall, and over Christmas – and the kids went back to school two weeks earlier than usual. I can’t even begin to tell you how happy I was to see the backs of them. That makes me sound like a horrible mother, I know, but you’re right: they get bored. When we were kids, we occupied ourselves all day, wandering the neighborhood, bathing in the river or pool, hanging out with friends. They can’t. Life doesn’t work that way anymore. Or maybe it does, somewhere, but not where I live. If anyone knows of such a place, please let me know where it is. I’d be eternally grateful.
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Kym Roberts Reply:
August 11th, 2012 at 9:12 am
Jenna-
You’re NOT a horrible mother. I wish my kids could have the freedom I had to wander the woods, walk to the neighborhood pool or go out on the lake with my cousins. I think some of it reflects on the fear the media has driven into us, but lets face it-more people–more wackos and higher rates of child victimization. So bless the school districts for recognizing parents need breaks, and teachers too!
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I don’t have kids at home anymore, Kym, but I remember the mixed feelings of sending them back to school at the end of every summer. Mixed because I’m not a morning person and it meant waking up early and driving them to school in halfway decent pajamas. But happy too because it did mean I had more time to myself. And teachers! I say let’s pay them more and elevate the profession to one treated with the same respect we give to the doctor that cares for our gall bladder.
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Kym Roberts Reply:
August 11th, 2012 at 11:30 am
Oh, Molly the drop off procedure at school could be a whole separate blog! Like for example what it looks like from the teachers prospective-the moms with the perfect make-up and hair, to the moms who look like the grim reeper didn’t quite finish his job and left a half living shell behind! (I think I’ve been in that category a few times after a long sleepless night on the PD!
And you’re right- they are inspiring our kids– invest in teachers and you invest in your child’s future.
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I’m with ya. Teachers are unappreciated heros for sure and I can’t wait to turn my children over to them from 8-3.
It will be nice to go to Target without the kids playing hide and seek in the clothing racks.
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Kym Roberts Reply:
August 11th, 2012 at 5:22 pm
Your right Tracy–hide and seek got old the first week of summer break! Shopping will be so nice;)
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