Dad Has All the Appreciation for Teachers After Struggling Through Daughter's Field Trip
Given the challenges of raising a child, parents often feel waves of gratitude for the educators who do everything they can during the school year. It's one of many reasons back to school season is so celebrated by parents everywhere. Clint Edwards, a dad of three who blogs on No Idea What I'm Doing: A Daddy Blog and author of Silence is a Scary Sound: And Other Stories on Living Through the Terrible Twos and Threes, summed up exactly why teachers deserve all the props in a post that's going viral.
Edwards recently chaperoned a kindergarten class to a pumpkin patch, and he got to see just how much of a superhero his daughter's teacher really is. He shared that following the day's events, he wanted a drink "real bad," despite not having one in 16 years.
Clint Edwards
"Listen: I love my daughter, but other people’s kids are a bit much," the Oregon dad wrote. "This trip left me with an incredible respect for people who who work with young children all day. I only had five in my group, and they listened about as good as goldfishes. The whole time I was afraid I’d lose one in the corn field, they’d never be found, and ultimately end up as the premise for a Stephen King novel."
He was with the children for only about four hours, but confessed that "between the mud at the pumpkin patch, and the smell on the bus that I couldn’t quite identify, but was probably a virus, and that one wild little boy that is either destined to be a ground breaking artist or an inmate, I ended the afternoon with a long hot soak in the bath, TOO many cookies, and a handful of Tylenol."
He shared that "in contrast, my daughter’s teacher successfully orchestrated the children changing their shoes twice: once before getting off the bus, and once before getting back on. This was to prevent the children from getting mud on the bus, but I’m pretty sure if she listed this act on her resume, she’d be as respected as any military general. I mean, wow! No child lost a shoe and she smiled the WHOLE TIME!"
Edwards said that if his life ever depended on his own children finding their shoes, he'd be dead, so for his daughter's teacher to "pull off this shoe swap with 20 something 5/6 year olds places her on par with Batman."
He summed it up by giving major credit to educators, writing, "If you are a teacher reading this, give yourself a huge pat on the back. You are incredible. And if you know a teacher, give them a huge thank you."
The post has been shared over 9K times since it was shared on October 18, and over a thousand commenters have chimed in, doing as Edwards asked and praising educators. Many are teachers themselves who have shown appreciation for his shoutout. One wrote, "I was a pregnant kindergarten teacher on a pumpkin patch field trip today...and as I sit here still numb from exhaustion, this post made me totally smile!" Another shared, "I teach first grade and wish more parents would post about their experiences after field trips. There is truly nothing like it. Good thing you weren't on my last one where I washed someone's pee pants with hand soap and held them under the hand dryer FOREVER. Thank you for appreciating teachers and for chaperoning in the future."
Edwards tells Parents.com he wasn’t even supposed to attend this field trip. His wife Mel was "on deck, but she threw out her back," so he filled in. "Sure, I was tired, but was awesome to see my newly minted kindergartener on her own turf and see how her teacher handles her class like a boss," he shares.
He's also adoring the positive reactions and love for educators. "It’s nice to see people appreciating teachers, because they do so much," Edwards says. He hopes that his post serves as a reminder that "teachers are rockstars, and kindergarten teachers deserve hazard pay." And if you're chaperoning your kid's field trip? "Bring caffeine."
