Wednesday, October 12, 2011

the conundrum of being a teacher

While my Mister and I enjoy many aspects of our life, having a lot of disposable income is not something we know anything about. We are both teachers, and that means our total household monies are in the 5 figure range. Think about that for a minute. We, TOGETHER, make less than many "businessmen" make alone. By about a third (or more). (MUCH more.) (SO MUCH MORE.) Why am I not complaining?

Mostly because there are days when I realize, "They PAY me to do this!" And I don't mean weekends, summers, and holidays off (anyone who knows a teacher knows-- there really ain't no such thing as "off" time to a teacher!)-- I mean that the joy I get on a daily basis from my job is so great that it can be hard to remember it's not a volunteer activity.

Sure, there are days when I realize, "They don't pay me ENOUGH for this." And there are days when I realize, "They paid me, but that plus more was spent on things for my classroom." There are days when I feel like I must apologize to my own kids because they came second to my students when the decisions about where the "extra" money would go that month. Days when I hope my teacher husband doesn't tally how much I spent on my room; days when I resent how much he spent on his.

But today? And most days? They PAY me for this. You may not have any idea how that feels. Your salary may be aMAZing, but I know how it feels to realize that they PAY me... for THIS. It's fantastic.