What I’ve Learned About Being a Teacher By Living With One

This week is teacher appreciate week, and I can tell you right now, I appreciate the hell out of them!

My wife is a Kindergarten teacher, and I’ve always been impressed by how she so gracefully handles the workload of teaching 20 other 5-year-olds while still being the amazing mother she is to our two kids.

Being in quarantine though has given me a much closer look into the life of a teacher. Working with that many kids would be hard enough for me…I’m just not that guy, but that’s only half the job. Watching and listening to the meetings, the state and federal guidelines they must follow, the pressure that comes with laying the foundation for each child in her room…man, it’s a lot! And on top of all of that, you must do it with a smile on your face because the last thing anyone wants is an angry parent! And to be fair, part of being a Kindergarten teacher is parent management. Parent’s of Kindergarteners are understandably anxious…it’s the first year their little one’s are in “real school” (no offense to any preschools out there doing awesome work), but it’s almost as important to reassure mom and dad as it is to encourage the student.

I’ve also noticed the friendly competition between teachers. It seems like every teacher helps drive the others by coming up with new and creative ideas…especially in this e-learning environment teachers are forced to work in.

I haven’t even mentioned the fact they are underpaid and all teachers spend so much money out of their own pocket to improve and maintain the learning environment for their kids. It’s almost criminal.

So happy teacher appreciate week to my wife and all teachers doing they best they can right now and making us all proud!