Back to school

This is another one of those posts that I "had a lot of trouble with".  It seems really tricky to write something that I feel strongly about, without sounding snarky, but while still including what I really think.  Maybe some of you have some (nice, helpful) thoughts to help me clarify what I'm trying to say!

Another summer is gone!  I've been back at school since August 12 and my students started August 18...but the boy and the girl go back today!  When they were little, those "gap" weeks were really tricky--I was usually off about the same days during Winter Break, but not always during their spring break or the week before their school starts.  Some years we would make a deal with another family, that each parent would take one day off and then one of us would take two days so we had "free" childcare.  But it is really hard for me to take day(s) off the first week of school--leaving lesson plans is almost always more work than just going to work, but during the first week?  Eek!  Other years my parents came and covered the gap or I found a "day camp" for the kids.  Luckily, the kids are old enough now that they can either go to IM's office and watch cable tv all day (yes, we have cable at the office and not at home) or they can stay home and entertain themselves pretty well.  Another benefit of having "older" kids ,I guess. The one flaw in this system is that The Girl is investigating babysitting gigs...meaning The Boy will be "stuck" at IM's office...oh, well...I suppose there are worse places to be than an air conditioned office with cable tv. (Note..I wrote this a couple weeks ago...The Boy actually got to hang out with his friends Z and M and do all kinds of cool stuff--I'm a little jealous! Better than cable tv!)

As the summer wound down, I've mentioned a few times that "boy, this summer went fast!", usually leading to a comment from the hearer about "teachers having too much time off". I get a lot of crap, for lack of a better term, from people about "having my summers off".  Sometimes I think people think they are being funny, but this summer a lot of the comments were particularly mean spirited.  Especially because of the mean-spiritedness, I haven't had a good reply in most cases.  Sometimes I've said something like, "well, if you are so jealous of my summers off, then I guess you should look into teaching...although that's not a very good reason to teach..."    I have a hard time explaining that it isn't that I think I deserve to have more time off (because I know I don't "deserve" time off any more than anyone else), or that I think the teachers at the speaker's child's school should have more time off.  If you read the first paragraph, you know that I totally "get" how much it stinks when my kids (your kids, our kids) are out of school and therefore daycare must be found.  And yes, I get that thousands (millions) of people do all the things I do during my summer (grad school, continuing development, vacation, scramble for childcare) in the midst of their own very demanding jobs.  Maybe they are just better people than me. I did some googling looking for "responses from teachers about too much time off" and most of those were snarky...not what I think at least, so that didn't help me verbalize what I'm thinking.

I wonder if the same people who tell me I have too much time off (when I say, "gee, that went fast") tell other people in other professions the same thing.  I mean, would they tell their doctor, who just said, "gee, that week in Florida went fast" that the doctor has too much time off?  And are they the same people who say that stay at home moms "don't work"?  Because, let me tell you, it is a luxury during the summer to only have one job...that of stay at home mom, and I appreciate that luxury greatly..but it's not like I'm sitting at home eating bon bons on the couch....even with older kids!  And, part of my "gee that went fast" is the same as that of any other parent...while I know my job is raise my kids to be positive, contributing adults...I do sometimes have that moment of "wow...when did they become so big?  How did I miss that?"!

There is also not only the loss of summer (winter is not my favorite) and the loss of some "free time" but also it is about changing job titles every fall.  Going from "mom" to "teacher"...and feeling like I don't have enough time to do either job well.  I feel guilty when I am at school, because I'm not doing what I need to for my kids, and I feel guilty at home because I'm not doing what I need to for my students.  Yes, I know that is a common feeling for all working parents, especially those who deal with people.  I think it hits hard for teachers though, because we are surrounded by kids all day...but not our kids.  In our students we see the people our children used to be or are becoming and realize multiple times in a day that we missed or are "missing" things with our kids to be with other people's kids.  Maybe that is true for other professions, but I think it hits harder for some teachers than it does for some folks who are in an office with adults all day.  I could argue that working with children/teenagers, other teachers, administrators, and parents is at least as challenging as dealing with co-workers, customers, and bosses in the corporate world, but I'm sure that the snarky people have an answer to that as well.  And while many other professionals may feel like you can take the third Tuesday of May off for their child's school performance, many of us teachers can't do that...because we are presenting your child's program or teaching a unit that would lose value if changed so a sub could teach it.

Maybe my point is that teachers seem to be the recipients of a lot of hostility  lately.  Even though we didn't create the American Educational System, we are "yelled at" by our friends, neighbors, and relatives about our laziness, that we have too much time off, that we are whiners...and yes, that is true of some teachers, just as it is true of a percentage of workers in every other profession.  It would be great if people would take our "wow, that summer went fast!" at face value...that whether the rest of the world likes it or not, summer break is part of a teacher's benefit package, a benefit package, that like everyone else's, is shrinking a little bit each year as insurance prices and other benefits shrink.   It doesn't mean we hate our jobs...we are just like everyone else, that, yes, some extra time off would be nice. Maybe I miss it because I'm deep in the field of education, but I don't hear about outsiders telling doctors and lawyers how irresponsible and lazy they are when they decide to take a mental health day on the second Tuesday in November....but when teachers lament that Veteran's Day is no longer a holiday for schools (although banks are closed) people tell me I'm lazy and spoiled.  Hmm.

For those of you who think that school should be in session more/longer, I urge you to do something about it, rather than "yell" at educational professionals.  Do some research, investigate the pros and cons for kids of having more days of school, of alternative programming, of having longer days...present your findings with an open mind to people who can make changes and listen to what folks who are teaching say.  I'd love to see real statistics and evidence as well, not just opinions.  Investigate schools that offer year round programming for your own kids--find out if it is really what will work for your family. Remember though, that lecturing me about how lazy I am is not going to benefit the children in my classroom or my relationship with you.

Happy Fall, everyone...Gee, that summer went fast...