Ode to Teachers on Open House

If you are a parent going to a school Open House sometime in the next few weeks, pat the teacher on the arm and thank them. Because they stayed late yesterday for a staff meeting from hell, and they were at school this morning at 6:45 AM. Then they taught all day, which included supervising an assembly where no blood was spilled and no one was permanently injured. They cleaned their room, because even though the nice janitor lady cleaned last night, 120+ kids wandered through today and left footprints and pencil shavings and other trash. They put up your kids' stuff on bulletin boards and cleaned off their desk, which at this time of year is not an easy task. They ate their dinner at their desk, as the headache got bigger. They took some Motrin and drank a cup of tea. They did some grading. And then kids and parents started to file through, and they tried to recognize parents they hadn't seen since December or September in some cases. They smiled and shook hands and made small talk about your child's accomplishments, even if they had done absolutely nothing all year. After being at school over 12 hours, they drove home, exhausted, and went to school again the next day.

I think I'll bring my kids' teachers flowers (oh wait, I can't afford flowers). Sigh.



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