Why I Do It

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I don’t have the kind of personality that can tolerate doing a job I don’t like. If I’m going to do something fifty or sixty hours a week, I have to love it. I have to believe in it because for me it encompasses so much of who I am.

I have friends, and even my brother, who refer to the day-to-day, ho-hum of work as, “The Daily Grind”. Their passions lie elsewhere, so they work the grind and go home. Every day, every week, year after year. And they seem to be OK with it. But that’s not why I do this job. I’m not cut out for that. 

I could say I got into teaching because I wanted summers off. I could say it was because of the benefits and the retirement package. But those reasons are far from the truth.

Prior to teaching, I ran a child care center. It was a big old house renovated to accommodate around 40 kids. I had a dedicated staff of about 8 people, who worked for far less than they were worth, in return for free child care and an opportunity to shape kids’ lives.  It was there that I discovered the magic of teaching. It was there that I learned to see through the eyes of a child, and where I learned that the best teacher was the one who didn’t have all the answers. Even though I knew when they mixed the blue and yellow Play-Doh they’d get green, I didn’t let on. Even though I knew they’d slop the macaroni and cheese on the table, I’d let them serve themselves at lunchtime. Why? Because nothing- I mean NOTHING beats seeing the look of AH-HA when a child discovers something for himself. To me, hearing the words, “I did it!” from a three year old child provides satisfaction unmatched by any other phrase. It was a celebration of gigantic proportions when a toddler put her shoes on all by herself for the first time, or when a four year old finally mastered the art of pumping on the playground swings. Their accomplishments were mine, and I thrived on them.

But child care didn’t pay the bills, and after several years of financial struggle it was time to face the truth. In February of 2000 I closed the doors on my child care center and went in search of something new. It took no time to decide where I needed to look, and off I went to graduate school to get certified to teach elementary school and reading.

So here I am now, eight years later. Still delighting in the ah-ha moments of children; still taking pride in their accomplishments as if they were my own. And why not? It’s why I do it.