teaching forever By Teach 5

I've been teaching forever. :eek: (21 years) I call what you have the 4-year itch. After my fourth year, I did quit teaching & went to work in the airline industry. I worked on the phone lines making reservations, etc.

The training was really tough, but once you got the job down, it was really boring! I used to pray for people to call me about lost luggage because it gave me a problem to solve. The airline wanted me to move up into management but the hours were crazy, swing shifts, etc. and we had just adopted our first child. I couldn't stop working because of finances, so I went back to teaching.

Over the years, I often think of quitting (about every 4 years) but I haven't been able to find a job where I can leave at 3 or a part-time job that will pay me as much, which is really sad because I don't make anything since I teach in a private school. Financially, I can't stay home, my husband is a blue-collar worker. He also works long hours & can't get away to help with the kids. I need to be available at 3:00 everyday for picking up kids, driving them to practices, etc. Teaching has worked for me because it has allowed me to be home afterschool & in the summers with my kids. I also like my job and I'm good at it. I've found ways to save time over the years, & sometimes you just have to quit because you could always do more. But there are still days when I spend more time planning, grading, etc. than I would like too.
I would never recommend teaching to anybody either. My oldest daughter is making a higher salary her first year out of college with a business degree than I'm making after 21 years! I've told my daughters to go for it & make the big bucks. Both of my sisters-in-laws made big money for 10 years & saved enough that they could quit & stay home with their kids & never have to go back to work. I believe that the only people that say the money doesn't matter are people that have money. Money does make a difference, will it make you happy? NO, but it can relieve stress, and allow you to make choices in life that aren't based solely on finances. Did I know that teachers didn't make a lot of money when I went into teaching? Yes, but I didn't fully comprehend how much money it takes to live. I thought I would "get over" the money issue & learn to be happy with what I have but it is always a struggle. We live a nice middle class life, but we can't travel the way we would like to or help my parents out financially. We've been unable to go on vacations with my siblings because we couldn't afford it.
So, I say try something else, you can always come back to teaching if you miss it. Good luck!

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