Everyone thinks teachers have it easy. Easy hours, summer’s “off”, what’s not to love? I won’t even get into the teacher debate now, but I want to focus on one specific teacher-the teacher who’s also a mom. As all of you mommas know, mommin ain’t easy. During your kids’ summer breaks, you go insane trying to keep them occupied and happy.
Teacher moms do that, too. I haven’t spent more than, well, the hours that my kids sleep away from my kids all summer. At this point they literally feel like an appendage of my body. It drives me nuts at times, but I love my kids with everything I have and I am so happy they want to be around me 24/7, so I am trying to focus my perspective on soaking it all in.
However, with it being August, that teaching job is knockin’ on my door and I’d be remiss to say it saddens me. It’s not even about the kids that I teach-I put forth all of my effort into teaching those kids. But it’s the teaching and momming combo that has me flipped.
What all of you don’t know is that teachers give so much during their school year-meeting after meeting, limited socialization with adults, rigorous expectations, few resources, fifteen minute lunch break, days without going to the bathroom during school hours. It is easy to get bogged down with all of this unbelievable amount of stress that, sometimes, it seems like your own family takes a backseat to your profession.
And that is not okay.
Being a teacher mom means you have to put on all the hats of your teacher life, but also meet the demands of spearheading your family. That means you still have to plan meals for the week, go grocery shopping, keep the house clean, shuttle your kids from activity to activity (all in different areas of course), spend quality time with your husband, spend quality time with your own kids, walk the dogs….it’s never ending.
Teaching is one of the most stressful professions out there right now, but so is being a mom. Put the two together and you are fighting a losing battle.
Every year I make it my goal to maintain my mental health during the school year. I’ve gotten so much better with it than I was, but expanding our family makes it increasingly tricky to keep that healthy line between work and home. More at home to focus on and less time to spend with all of them.
So if you know of any teacher moms in your area, or if you know your child’s teacher is also a mom, please be kind to them. They are trying their best at their job while simultaneously maintaining a solid home structure. Imagine walking a tightrope, holding glass plates spinning on a tiny skewer, one in each hand, one balancing between your feet, one on your head, and you must keep those plates spinning. That’s being a teacher mom. Because we all know not one of those plates can drop.
