It's Tuesday and the sun is hiding behind the clouds and rain.
A very brisk 44 degrees outside, not freezing, but enough to piss on any ideas of working out outside like I usually do.
The boys are playing PS3 in the living room and Momma's at the grocery store.
People, behind the security of anonymity and private thoughts, scoff at the idea of a teacher's salary. Quite frankly, it could be worse. I live comfortably (at least attempt to) within our means. But this isn't about that. As much as many folks will sneer at being a teacher, I never hear the end of how lucky we are to have such great vacation dates. Thanksgiving, Christmas (Winter Break if we are being PC, but we're not so...), MLK, Spring Break, Good Friday/Easter, Memorial Day, and Summer Break are the big ones that pretty much all schools get in one form or another. Add in a few local holidays (stock show for country schools and such) and you get a nice little break regularly.
And that my friends, is one of the biggest pay-offs for teachers. No, I don't get to vacation in the absence of school aged children; my holidays mimic theirs. No, I usually have to schedule things around the holidays (major travel, special trips, dental, etc.) and usually encounter even more kids in doing so. But for all that, I'm the luckiest guy out there.
In this holiday alone, I've had the fortune to visit my Grandmother, my brother and his family, my mother and her family, celebrate Christmas with my family (extended as well) over three days, practice my guitar playing, visit with my buddy Tom (guitar and PS3 activities), buy a new pedal (and try it out), take the boys to see Avatar (see the link for a great review), and still have time to prepare for celebrating New Year's Eve.
I'm forever thankful for the career that I have. To disagree with Diddy, it ain't all about the Benjamins; it's about the family. Being around my family, especially the boys, at the same time they are off is truly priceless. They are at an age that they can still see that magic. I'm still cool (but that's fading fast with the older one) and that counts for so much.
Wherever you are, whatever it is you are doing, make it the best. Don't give teachers shit about having holidays off; you probably make more than they do, and they spend more time with your kids than you do during the school year anyways. Enjoy what remains of the holiday.
But as for me, the holidays themselves take a break for kids to go back to school.
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