On being a child-free teacher part one:

I thought about being a teacher and being child free.
Well, hmmm. Oddly enough, I decided on both in my mid teens. Not on the same day!! I wanted to be a teacher because I wanted to show kids all the wonderful things in our world, even just different textures, e.g. wool, things they can touch, and also field trips!!
However, for most of my career I have felt like I was pretty much stuck in one spot, so much for the field trips, they have been few and far between.
And, yes, if I had chosen to be a mother, perhaps I could have taken kids out and about...
But I still don't really regret either decision.
That doesn't mean I'll be a teacher all my working life, I'm considering a change in the future, if I do change my career, I'll keep ya posted!

What do I love about teaching kids?

OK

Well, they amaze me how cute they are, how kind they are and how smart they are.

I work with little kids, three and four year olds but I have also worked with babies, toddlers and five year olds. I think that the little kids are not usually cruel to each other on purpose. Usually it's a case of you have the toy I want and that's why I hit you/don't want to be your friend or even, I want to be someone else's friend just because but it's NOT because you're a different ethnicity than me, because you're a different size than me etc. Believe me, people kids don't care about those things! Sometimes they notice that - for example - they are black, their friend is brown and the teacher is white. Do they care? No! They may say it as an observation but completely without any loaded intent. It's no different to them than the grass is green and the sky is blue. To kids both colours are equal!

When they are older, sometimes it changes. Ah, but where do they get that from? The racism? and other discrimination? Rhetorical question!

(Gender sometimes matters. Usually little kids play with kids the same sex/gender they are. But I have certainly seen exceptions!)

Kids can also be really cute (In My Humble Opinion) sometimes. So cute and yummy and delicious! Beautiful eyes, bone structure, skin, the cutest nose and so on!

But even if I don't think they are that cute at all, it is rare I can't find something I like about a child. (Yes, there have - unfortunately been exceptions there too but few and far between!)

Plus the intelligence!

They can surprise you at times with the things they know, the logical conclusions they reach, the things they remember! And the wonder when they do get to explore something new (to them!) you may have seen it a zillion times but it's new to them!

(P.S. did I mention how creative kids can be? Or how sincere?)

And ah school holidays! Love em!