I never wanted to be a teacher.
Not ever.
When I was a kid and people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I never said “teacher.” I looked at my many friends pursuing teaching degrees in college with a mixture of pity and wonderment. Pity because of all the busy work in those horrid education classes*. And wonderment because, to me, it was the height of self-sacrifice.
When I was 10 or so and my best friend would set up “school” for us to play, it took all the enthusiasm I could muster to go along. She’d happily stand at the front with ruler in hand pointing at the board, going over lesson after lesson, while I’d sit on the floor, the dutiful student waiting for school to get out.
Now that I’m a homeschooling mom, teaching is my life. Let’s face it, if you’re a mom, period, teaching is a big part of your life, even if you’re not homeschooling. Everything about having kids involves teaching.
But, shockingly, I love to teach. There, I said it. I love to teach my kids. And no one could be more surprised about it than I am. Yes, it’s hard work and yadda yadda yadda, but what I didn’t know was that it is also incredibly rewarding and exciting.
I’ve always loved to learn. I could have stayed in school for a very long time and been quite happy, I think. Teaching my kids gives me an opportunity to continue learning and it also has pushed my relationship with my kids to levels that I wouldn’t have anticipated.
Looking at curriculum, getting to decide what fits my kids and our family best, reading and reading and reading some more, it’s awakened the teacher in me that I never knew I was.
Having my daughter read a book to me and knowing that I had a hand, the hand, in teaching her to do that, is a reward better than any degree I could earn. And, at least I got to avoid the busy work!
*Not all teaching degrees require horrid busy work. That’s just my perception. 🙂