I apologize. I’m sorry for the negative posts that I write. For the woe is Mac, life’s so hard and stressful, and that’s why I’m fat stories. I know, I sometimes write positive stories too; I don’t apologize for those. And I’m not saying that I won’t write any more negative stories because they’re helpful for me to work through whatever issue it is that I’m writing about.
Where’s this coming from you may ask? Let me back up a bit first before I tell you. Friday night, I got to hang out with my buds from the school where I used to teach. The football team had a playoff game down in my neck of the woods so a bunch of the guys came down to watch it with me. We had pre-game burgers and beers, and post game beers as well. And our team whooped the other team. It was a really fun night.
I’ve often said that the only things I miss about teaching are my colleagues and my kids. For those of you who might not have ever done it, teaching is a really stressful job. Planning lessons and interacting with the kids is the best part of the job. Assessing, cleaning up , dealing with parents, and struggling through the bureacracy of Oregon education is a battle that is lost by all but a few educators. There’s no doubt in my mind that my life now is much less stressful than it was when I quit teaching in June of 2005.
And Friday night, my buddies proved it. Sitting at a table with five other educators in various stages of their careers made me appreciate how lucky I am. They’re still talking about the same problems that they were talking about 3 1/2 years ago. None of them are gone, few of them are better, some of them are worse. My friends are more stressed out than they were when I left (except the one who retired). None of them have the time to take care of themselves like I do. They work too hard and get paid too little. And they still eat the same crappy cafeteria food day after day for lunch. But you know what amazed me most about the night? It seems like they still love fighting the fight.
So on Friday night, my friends reminded me of how lucky I am to be able to stay home with my kids and raise them the way that we feel they should be raised instead of having to put them in a daycare and hope that someone else can do it as good as well as we can. They reminded me of how lucky I am to be able to eat better than most people. They reminded me that I have more of an opportunity to take care of myself than most people. They reminded me that my kids aren’t as stressful as I make them out to be and that I should not be using them as an excuse to not live a healthy life. They reminded me. Now if only I can remind myself when they’re not around. Thanks guys! I miss you.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Okay…so I’m sitting here in my classroom, reading your blog and getting REALLY jealous. It’s a struggle for me to balance doing a good job teaching and taking care of myself and my family, and I’m really happy for you that you’ve found something that’s fulfilling and healthier. Way to go!
I taught in LA for two years, starting at age 23.
By the summer after my first year, my doctor was giving me warnings about my blood pressure.
I still have nightmares about some of those kids.
I am also a teacher and absolutely love it, and wouldn’t think of doing anything else. I am also in the process of bettering myself and taking care of myself physically. Although difficult, being the stressed teacher, I find that I am still doing what I can and that is all I can ask for right now, otherwise I will be burnt out from overworking myself, but I do need to be conscience of what I do to myself.
About the staying home and raising your kids, I applaud you! Many parents out there, in my opinion, don’t spent enough time with their kids. They kids are the ones suffering because they aren’t getting the family education and values that they need to participate in society. That is just an observation, and I don’t mean to offend anyone but it saddens me that people have kids and don’t spent time with them.
Good for you for finding a passion that allows you to be healthy and do what you love; being with your kids.
I saw your site and i agree with your ideas. I also run a blog focused on proper weight management. Had enough of the empty promises fad diets deliver.
Keep up the good work!
http://theweightlossrollercoaster.blogspot.com/
One thing I’ve noticed is that we tend not to see what others see sometimes.
For example I’ve been away on holiday for the last month and I regained about 3kgs and have been feeling a bit fat. I bumped into someone I haven’t seen for a year or so and they were astounded by how ‘skinny’ I am.
I think we can all too easily get bogged down in the minutae of life and forget the big picture.