Be nice to a teacher!

I've had a job or two in my life. You can skip all the details below if you get bored, but be sure to read the last paragraph. 

In high school I worked at St. Simons Drugs (mostly selling beach items to tourists), at an attorney's office (mostly typing and answering the phone, and at Epworth by the Sea (front desk clerk).

In college...hmmm. There was the time I worked at Arby's. That lasted two weeks too long. I worked at a Bi-Lo grocery store and had to quickly quit that job when I got word from a stocker that the skanky manager was going to take some money and blame me (scary!). I worked in an office at the college for a while. I can't remember what my title was but I DO remember one time one of my job duties was to scrape price tags off cheap picture frames for a solid week. My most fun college job was working at the information desk at the student union. My least fun college job was working as a waitress at a Chinese retaurant and having the owner yell at me because I didn't really want to scrape the pee off the wall in the men's restroom for $2/hour.

After college I was an elementary school teacher off and on for nine years. Because we have moved a good bit, I have had a few other jobs as well. I worked in sales at a large, upscale health club in Alaska. Our  manager made us go put out those "win a free membership" boxes all over town. You can imagine the kind of people that often fill out those forms after a night of partying (or working) while they wait for their late night breakfast at Denny's. Working as a sales consultant at a furniture store in Alaska was a very lucrative job but the hours left absolutely no time for a life. Late one winter in Alaska I saw an ad for a job that required a week of training in Seattle. I didn't really care what the job was. All I wanted was an all expense paid "vacation" to somewhere not buried in snow. That resulted in a secret shopper job for Safeway grocery stores. What a FUN job! They flew me all over Alaska to secret shop, and I actually made good money and got to see lots of beautiful places. Oh yeah...I worked at a gift shop in Anchorage a couple of summers.

In Charleston I taught school and then started a company called Charleston Concrete Design. That was my craziest job where I think I proved to myself that I can do pretty much anything (within reason) that I make up my mind to do. I eventually sold that business and got into photography. While photography took lots and lots of practice and learning, it's a pretty easy job. It consumes a lot of time, but honestly, it is the most stree-free job I have ever had.

I've left out some jobs I'm sure but let me tell you...teaching was without question the hardest, most stressful job I have ever had. It was rewarding, and I LOVED it for a long time. But it was HARD. I can't even begin to tell you the insane amount of overtime teachers put in with no pay - and I'm not even talking about the amount of time consumed at home with grading papers and planning lessons. I would spend at least $2000/year of my own money buying supplies for my classroom to make learning fun for my students. The pay is definitely better than minimum wage, but considering most teachers have advanced degrees and lots of years of experience - it's nothing compared to what they could make in other careers. Don't even get me started on the topic of teachers having "paid summers off."  :)  Yep, I have had a lot of jobs. I actually enjoy working and am grateful that I have had the vast experiences that moving around has afforded me. I learned something important doing each job, and I am thankful for each job I had. The long-winded point I'm trying to make is that teachers have one of the toughest jobs on the planet! The first week or two back is always super crazy, fun, and absolutely exhausting. So be extra nice to a teacher as your kids go back to school. Why not surprise them with something unexpected the first week or two of school just to tell them thanks for all the hard work they have put into preparing for a good year.

I made some cookies yesterday for Cole's teachers for his first day back at preschool. The ladies at his school are amazingly sweet, and I am so thankful for them!

If anyone has any good ideas for fun gifts for teachers be sure to leave them in the comments below!