I have a special place in my heart for teacher moms because I used to be one. I also have the added bonus of having perspective from corporate eyes as well because prior to coaching, I was in both these careers. A lot of corporate folks roll their eyes when they see how upset teachers start to get at the end of August as their summer nears an end. Those in corporate wonder how and why these teachers are so sad being that they just had an entire summer off from work. Something to keep in mind, however, is that these teachers make a lot less money than most corporate folks, so a ten month work year lines up with the pay. Also, most teachers work 24-7 during the school year as they are constantly tending to parent/student emails, planning lessons, grading papers, reading IEPs, differentiating instruction, thinking of behavioral plans to implement, etc. Burnout is a serious issue in the classroom and these 10 weeks of summer are pretty necessary for sanity. I am not saying that corporate jobs aren’t just as grueling; don’t get me wrong! I used to be an engineer; it was hard; I get it! I am just asking that instead of the eye roll, next time you give your teacher friends a little hug instead!
An even more specific category here are the teacher MOMS out there. When I had to go back to teaching at the end of summer after my maternity leave ended with my first baby, I was lucky enough to be able to drop him off at my mom’s house, but I still nonetheless balled my eyes out the entire commute to the school building that morning. Teacher moms spend the entire summer going to pools and beaches and play dates and concerts and fireworks and playgrounds and splash pads and get such long hours with their kids. The end of summer not only signals that this will be coming to an end, but also that their late nights of binge watching TV and late mornings in pajamas and messy buns must end also. They will very soon have to juggle the mom thing with the nurturing other people’s kids thing and it is mentally exhausting. Again, I am in no way forgetting about you corporate moms who do this day in and day out without summers off! More power to you. You are amazing. I just know how very different the mentality is because I had both a corporate job and a teaching job. Once you sign up to teach, you expect these summers off and its part of the territory so giving up those summers each labor day weekend is rough.
Basically, my words of advice to those teacher moms right now are just: feel the feels. Don’t worry that you are sad. It’s okay to shed some (many?) tears. It is a very rough transition and it’s mentally hard. The good news is, though, that this feeling will not last forever. You will soon settle into a new routine, and some of you may even love that new routine once you experience it. Daycare or school or a nanny or whatever your circumstance may be, it is exactly what the universe had in line for your kiddos at this time and they will thrive from that experience. You will be exhausted when you get home from work, but you will feel so much love for your children and they will notice it. Somehow, bedtime routine may now begin to be fun because you realize the quality time it is with your children. Weekends will be filled with apples and pumpkins and sports and your kids will look up to their working mamas, their heroes, who can really do it all. What a role model you are; you are inspiring.
