Why Teachers Need Two Weeks Off at Christmas

This is my fifteenth Christmas as an educator.  Having worked in both retail and corporate before this, I know that everyone deserves a break this time of year--time to spend with family, time to reflect on the events of the year, time to get some things done (like bake cookies with little ones who are growing up too fast or build a snowman with your sister).  That being said, here are five reasons why I believe educators have earned their two weeks off:
1) Christmas is magical--and your kids have been under a spell--for weeks.
I know your children are perfect angels at home, but at school, they've been a little distracted ever since they visited the mall a few weeks ago (who am I kidding--months ago) and noticed the Christmas displays were up.  They seem to have only one thing on their minds: presents--and lots of them.  Not only do we get to listen to sweet little Susie tell us over and over again how her elf on the shelf flushed mommy's favorite perfume down the toilet, after spilling a bag of marshmallows in the dog bowl, we don't have the luxury of telling your kid to stop or Santa won't bring him or her a present.

Your kids are under the spell of Christmas magic.

2) Our brains are like sponges--in that there are holes in them.
Let's face it people, school is hard, much harder than it used to be. If I had to teach third grade math, I think it would take me three or four hours to plan a thirty minute math lesson. Anything above third grade? Forget it. If you're like me, one worksheet of math homework can take up to two hours, and by the end of it, not only is your kid crying, so are you.  This is our day. Most of the time. Now, I'm not saying that we don't have competent teachers, but as the standards continue to get harder and we keep pushing curriculum down the grade levels so that our kindergartners are experimenting with algebra, our teachers have to adjust as well. There's no more pulling out last year's ditto sheet and asking the kids to complete the problems. Planning takes time, and energy, and brain cells. And ours need a break!

Our brains on school.

3) We've been in survival mode for so long, we are longing to be voted off the island.
The honeymoon was over somewhere in September. Since then, that one kid who, while he has some admiral qualities, for the most part is driving us out of our ever-loving minds--is on overdrive these past few weeks. He's learned how to push our buttons, and he's doing a fine job of it.  If I hear the chorus of "The Final Countdown" one more time (complete with guitar solo) I'm going to lose it. Asking him to stop has done no good, sending him out of the room has done no good, asking for help from parents has done no good because they can't make him stop either. What we really need is a vacation (and not in Europe!)

Just send us home already.

4) Early mornings/late nights.
Have you ever driven past a school at 6:30 in the morning? There are cars there. (Notice that was plural. It's not just the custodian.) Have you ever driven past the school at 7:30 at night? Still cars. Some of them are the same.  Teachers work long hours. And even the ones who have to run home as soon as their after school duty is over are still working. We are grading papers while we watch reality TV. We are reading books for lit circles instead of Danielle Steele. We are researching effective ways to teach multiplication to six-year-olds instead of calling our mothers to chat about whether or not we will have a white Christmas. I know people in other professions work hard as well. They put in long hours, too.  Maybe we all deserve a long break!

It's been so long since I've seen a sunrise from anywhere other than my classroom window.

5) The weight of the world is on our shoulders.  
When I worked at Walgreens, I got yelled at for things like running out of blueberry Poptarts. When I worked for corporate America, if I didn't get a certain person or company to pay a bill on time, it meant our company wouldn't have quite as much interest on the money we had in our bank account. The world would go on. If I don't teach little Johnny how to decode CVCe words, it may ruin his life forever. He could end up living on the streets or become completely dependent on the system for the rest of his life. He may turn to a life of crime--all because I failed to arm him with the tools he needed in order to be successful in life.  Obviously, he would need a lot of teachers to fail him for lots of years in a row in order for this to happen--but I see it everyday. I see kids who are slipping through the cracks--the unprepared and the underprivileged. I do what I can to help them, but it takes a village, and it's a lot of responsibility.  Our kids are the future and our teachers are the Jedhi Knights who must teach them how to use the Force. It's not an easy task, and sometimes it can be overwhelming.

This is getting heavy!

This is why--this is why--we need a few weeks off to make some magic of our own, to fill in the holes in our thinking, to learn some survival tips, to get some sleep, and to rest our weary shoulders.  And maybe build a snowman with our sister.