Teaching awesome.

I just want to take this hot second and give major props to all the teachers out there.

Here is what I have learned in my few, short years on this Earth.  Kids are hard to deal with.  As are adults.  Humans, in general, are kind of tedious.  Luckily, most of us only have to deal with other adults (until we drop the proverbial ball and make wee spawn of our own) on a day-to-day basis.

Can you imagine having to deal with all nonsense adults deliver every day AND whatever cockamamy business kids are dishing out?

And, in the effort of full disclosure, allow me to mention the fact that I Really, Really like kids (in the least creepy way possible).  I enjoy hanging out with kids (again, uncreepy) and have, since I was a kid, found myself working with them in a variety of ways.

"Oh!  You're so good with kids.  You should be a teacher."
"Oh!  You're so good on the toilet; you should be a plumber."

I've only ever taught kids in awesome capacities.  I teach them specific awesomeness and leave the regular learning to the true badass teachers out there.

I had this revelation a few days ago as I was walking to work, where I spend more time than I truly thought possible, negotiating, pleading, convincing, speaking sternly, bribing, and losing my mind with kids.  And there are only kids in the building 6 hours a Week.  And I feel like I spend all my time dealing with them.  And then I thought - holy crap, teachers spend All.Day.Every.Day with kids - fighting the epic battles of education with their bare hands and bared souls.

It is so amazing the work that teachers do.  The completely thankless task of getting kids to learn things despite their kicking and screaming.  And, lets be real, there are some sweet teaching gigs out there but - they are few and far between and the more I see the inner workings of the school systems, the more I think that a sweet teaching gig is quite the golden ticket.  Most of the people I know who are teachers, teach kids who have gotten it in their brains that they have something better to do?  As if you shouldn't be incredibly grateful that instead of spending all day in a field or a coal mine somewhere, you get to learn how the world works and all of the awesome potential you have as an educated part of it.

Again, as I am reading this I am trying to make sure I don't make any one too mad- I am not trying to dig on kids, there are kids out there who totally get it.  Who love learning.  Who drink in books and geometry proofs with a spoon.  I know.  I know some of those kids.  And they're totally awesome and man, do I hope they get to be in charge someday.

But there is a part of me who wants the other kids to be in charge too.  The kids who struggle and fight every single day.  Those are the kids who need amazing teachers to paint a picture of the world, even if it is one color at a time.

So thank you, to all the awesome teachers I know.  You are amazing.  And I figured I would wait until the Monday after teacher appreciation week, to let you know how much I mean it.