Teacher Appreciation Week

Well. I must admit. I have a new found respect for teachers. I have been 'teaching' for three years now at a Mother's Day Out program. I never really considered myself a teacher, I have no 'official' training, no college at all, and no certificate or degree. When someone would ask me, what I did. I always said " I work with two year olds at a mother's day out. I was afraid if I said I was a teacher...I'd have to explain that I wasn't a 'real' teacher.
I have come to realize that I do actually teach the children things. Like:

1. Why you have to sit in the same spot at the same table everyday. (not just because I said so.) By the end of the year, they are ready to fight someone who has 'mistakenly' sat in their seat. (kinda like us Baptists)
2. Why it is important to walk in a line. There are over 100 kids at our school, when classes pass, it is very possible a two year old may decide they like the way the other class looks and take off.
3. Sharing......it's hard for them to share, when they think everything is theirs.
4. Why you don't go up the slide. It hurts when you on your way up and a bigger kid is on their way down.
5. Why it is important to wash your hands a lot. Have you seen where two year olds put their hands.
6. Why it is important to keep your hands to yourself. (see #5) Not all children like you to pull their hair, or poke them in the eye.
7. Numbers 1-10 - colors - shapes

Anyway, Now that I am finally comfortable with teacher, it is amazing that their are some parents drop their kids off and never ask how they are doing, how they behave etc. Some do care but really use us as a babysitter. There are a few that really get it.

I received lots of nice gifts this week. Lot's of gift cards...several moms took the time to ask what we liked. One little girl gave me a pot with 3 little sprigs in it. She had planted them as seeds and 'loved' them into cherry tomatoes. She was so proud of her accomplishment. Her mom was a teacher and gave us something everyday. Flowers, cookies, cherry tomato plants and a target gift card. I got some cool funky rubber gloves for if I ever do the dishes again. A mom wanted to bring us lunch, but we eat with the kids..so she got us a gift card to Panera Bread, so we could go on our own time and enjoy it. I think the best gifts were those who gave us handwritten cards and notes telling us that their kids loved coming to school and talked about us a lot at home.

Moral of the Story

Unless you have worked in some capacity with 10-12 kids in a 16 x 16 room for over 5 hours a day, it's hard to understand the work that goes into it. All those cute little crafts and worksheets they bring home...who do you think gets them ready? Thinks of them? Unless you have tried to get and keep the attention of a roomful of kids.....when there are so many other interesting things to do all around, unless you have watched a child cry of embarrassment because they have had an accident in their pants, unless you've had a child throw up down your back because 'mommy' sent them to school sick, it's hard to understand. We don't do it because of the money.(no seriously, we don't no teacher gets rich teaching school) We do it because we love when a child remembers something 'we' taught them, when they get it, and are excited because they see how proud we are of them. Teaching isn't all fun and games. We don't just sit down and play with the kids all day. Even at two years old, we are getting them ready for 'real school'.

Gosh, I didn't say all this to pat myself on the back, Just remember when you go and pick your child up to ask their teacher how their day was. To make them feel appreciated. Some teachers see your kids more than you do during the week. Just say thanks. It really does make a difference.

This one is for me:

There's no such thing as perfect people, there's no such thing as a perfect life. So come as you are, broken and scarred. Lift up your heart, be amazed, be changed, by a Perfect God.