That Time Of Year Again

There are good and bad points to every job. So, first let me reassure everyone that I'm very grateful for Bob's willingness to work, to work at a job that makes a difference to a lot of people, and one which, mostly, he enjoys. I'm also very grateful that he has a job - especially when we keep hearing about others around us who are struggling to find one. It's a job that allows him to provide for our family, and thereby we are blessed.

That being said - there are times when I really wish he worked a different job - generally fleeting moments, but never the less, they are there. The last couple of weeks have been one of those moments. The hours he puts into school work prior to progress reports, late work notices and report cards is always amazing. He's contracted for a set number of hours - and yes, I realize to anyone looking from the outside, those are the only hours they see. And to look at those contracted hours, one might think he's got an incredibly great deal. After all - afternoons, evenings, weekends, all holidays, plus Thanksgiving week, Easter week, and something like 10 weeks in the summer sounds great! It looks great on paper too.

What's not shown is that his contract also requires him to meet certain criteria - like grading his students, parent teacher conferences, and so on. These things are not typically preformed during contracted hours. In otherwise, though they are a necessary part of his job, he's not actually getting paid to do any of them. Does that make sense? See, he's allowed to leave the school by 2:45pm - oh, but on Mondays, though contractually he's allowed to leave, there's a staff meeting. And typically on Wednesdays and Thursdays I'll often find he "can't leave", though he contractually could, because there are parents lined up to meet with him about his students.

When it comes to grading - well, he could be a no grades teacher, but then how would he know if his students were understanding the work. He has lots to correct. There is not enough time in the school day (especially in the current position he's in) to prepare lessons and grade homework, tests and quizzes. It's not uncommon for Bob to stay at school until at least dinner time and often later, getting the work done or caught up. And then comes the progress reports, the late work notices, and report cards. For the majority of the week leading up to these events, he will be found at the school working until the middle of the night - some where between 11pm-2am.

I won't pretend that all the time is spent at the school working in such situations. Take tonight, for example, he's the scout master so he had to take a break for a Court of Honor tonight. But, up until then (skipping dinner) he's been correcting and he's going right back after to finish it up.

Bob's a teacher who cares - there are lots of teachers who care. And one of the marks of such a teacher is their willingness to put in long hours for which they are not paid. I admire this in him and in the teachers I've met at the school he currently works for. They certainly practice the concept of care and concern for learning. They want their students to get a good education, to learn, to enjoy learning and they care about each of their students individually. It shows. But it means they put in a lot more hours than they are contracted to.

Though on many levels this does not bother me (especially on the "normal days" - the work until dinner days), during the worst moments (the last nights leading up to progress reports, late work notices and report cards) life gets rather stressful around here. We all notice the difference between Daddy being home for the bedtime routine and when he's not (consistently). The kids and I usually do well for a couple of days, but then it sort of falls apart. The kids stop listening to Mom, Mom stops having patience, our house becomes a zoo (monkey's flying through the house, kangaroos on the furniture, lions and tigers ripping everything to shreds and leaving it all lying around, etc), and we're grateful to still be in one piece when we go to bed at night.

This is not new for us - one might think we would have finally figured out how to "keep it all together" during these times. I'll admit, generally speaking, we're doing a lot better than when the kids were younger, but we still all have our ways of showing that the family is somehow not as complete when Daddy is missing.

Grades go in tonight! That means normal is coming soon - and Daddy's empty space in the family prayer circle will be filled once again! Relief is in sight!