When I made the vow to become an army wife, teaching definitely became second on my list of priorities. It became second not because I didn't want a career, but because we were moving around; finding reputable work isn't easy!
Especially during deployment cycles, I tended to minimalize my job. "Of course I can take block leave…it's only 2 weeks. I'll just do unpaid leave and that's that." And I did. Twice. And it took me a month to plan for 2 weeks off each time. But I never made a big deal about it because Scott and our time together took precedence when the army was involved.
So, now, when the conversation comes up with family and friends, my job doesn't always appear to be *that* hard.
The truth is that it's really hard. I mean, REALLY hard. You saw my day-in-the-life post a few months ago. I never actually get to stop.
I suppose the point of all this is that I need to start being easier on myself. Truth: I don't do physical labor. Truth: I don't have an hour commute to work. Truth: I don't commit to extra-curricular activities at school. There's no need for that. But truth: I work really hard.
I often feel like I complain about work a LOT. Like, a lot-a lot. Scott has, most of the time, worked much harder than me at his job. Therefore, it's really unfair to complain to him about work being hard. He's spent the better part of 4 years working 12-15 hour days. However…my job is physically, emotionally, and mentally taxing. It's also all I've ever known, unless you want to count bartending. So I'm used to it.
I'm starting to really feel the stress and the crunch of the end of this year. I've never felt this before. In Alaska, the end of the year was always exciting, enjoyable, and I always powered through, often printing/copying my 1st week of school materials by the end of May, so I'd have them ready to go on my desk in August. I was die-hard. And you know, I always believed that teachers made an honest living, but I've also heard an awful lot of people say they make too much money. That they don't work hard enough. That it "must be nice" to be a teacher. Sure, it's nice. Most of the time. Just like your job, random commenter, is probably "nice" too. It pays the bills after all. Most of them.
I'm trying to eat healthy, exercise, and spend appropriate time with friends because, really now, we are leaving this place in 2 months. The physical symptoms of stress are present at this point. I've also been trying to keep the house clean and reading voraciously; both books and blogs (Have I read your blog? Yes. Have I commented? Probably not.)
It's a fascinating balancing act and I'm failing miserably. I can say for certain that this transition year in Missouri has been harder on me than I thought it would be.
I suppose the point is: Don't let yourself tell yourself that you don't work hard. The more you do that, the more you might start to believe it.
(I thought maybe one of those "Comparison is the thief of joy" quotes would fit in well here. Then I thought that I don't want to compare myself to other blogs. A dog picture is always appropriate.)