After returning from a particularly frustrating meeting with the “powers that be” in the education system, one in which the outcome resulted in demanding more from his thinly stretched staff, my husband overheard his overworked, temporarily frustrated principal questioning (to anyone who would listen, I think) “Why would anyone go into teaching?”
Well. I don’t want to delve into that potentially volatile debate (by the way, I taught for eight years and loved almost every minute of it… but I don’t know if I’d ever want to go back), but there is one perk to Lance’s job in Tiny Town that I am specifically grateful for. And no, it does not include him getting 3 months off of work every summer, because that is such a myth!!!
Daddy is accessible in Tiny Town! We get to see him and be a part of his day, even when his work day is 16 hours long. While trying to not take advantage of the situation, we have visited his classroom on occasion. Our children have been the study subject for a few psychology lessons. Once we even trotted over to the school (less than a block from our house) after discovering the most colorful caterpillar we’d ever seen climbing the pillars of our front porch. Too bad the biology teacher was off coaching a volleyball game at the time and couldn’t identify it for us… guess that’s what the internet is for.
We spend many a beautiful fall day over at the football field during season. The kids love to play on the tackling dummies.
Thirsty? There’s water nearby.
We also watch daddy in action during his ballgames. Every once in a while I have to chase down a toddler headed out to the field or out on the court to “help” coach. During basketball, we can hang out in the gym. And last track season, the boy learned how to take off from the starting blocks!
Not so secretly, my very favorite “daddy job perk” is that every once in a while I can put the little one down for a nap and send the two bigs to whatever practice is going on… and enjoy an hour or two to myself!
Teaching (and coaching!) is a tough job. I’d put money on it being one of the toughest, actually. And the rewards? Certainly not monetary. Definitely not the hours, as I type this late in the evening while my husband is at school entering grades. But in our current situation and location, we feel blessed that we get to be a part of daddy’s day. For that I am grateful!
And on another totally different note, I’m so grateful to have met Laura over the weekend. How fun! My only regret is that we were so late to the birthday party that we missed the rolling cooler acrobatics. Darn! 
For more Gratituesday, visit Heavenly Homemakers, and for lots of great things to Talk About, visit The Lazy Organizer.
There are a few perks to living in a small town – I remember letting my kids play out front without any worries.
How nice to be able to send the kiddos off to work and that work is so close! I’m so jealous thst you were able to meet Laura!
THat is great that you are able to be so close to his work and get to see him more in a day!
I bet the children love that!!
We love living in a small town. Being able to send the children out to play and not worry (so much) about them outside. I enjoyed your post.
I love all the pictures of the kids with the tackling dummies. That HAS to be fun!
Oh yes, you sure did miss the best part of the birthday party. I was much happier to meet you after I was back up on my feet again.
The kids look like thet are having a great time!!
As the wife of a teacher and 2-sport Varsity coach, I liked your positive spin on the situation. We live in the KC Metro area and my husband teaches about 25 minutes from home, but we are hoping for him to get a job closer to home. It would be really nice to be able to pop in over there more often. Thanks for the reminders of the “perks” of their jobs. Coaching has just begun here, so your timing is perfect. Thanks!
Hey there, visiting from The Lazy Organizer….I love your blog. I had a good time surfing around. You have a lot of good info and I’ll be back to see what’s new and exciting.