The Downside of Being a Teacher- What they never tell you and probably should!

I am sitting here contemplating lunch. The glorious time of a Teacher's Day when we have about 20 minutes to catch our breath. However, noone tells you that you don't get to leave- so the lunch menu leaves much to be desired. Your choice is either school lunch- as expensive as a meal deal from McDonald's, yet much less appetizing. Leftovers from home (which you really have to be organized and awake enough in the morning to bring) or the large variety of frozen meals out there today. I am becoming quite the connosuier of frozen tv dinners- the cheap ones that is. I am known as Coupon Kate for a reason, if I have an expensive variety of frozen meal, I must have had a coupon! Banquet mashed potatoes are no even worth the space they take up on the plate, and while Michaelinga's tast good- the portions are tiny and the visual display of the product does not match the picture.

To make matters worse, the subject of lunch creates a deep seeded anger towards my husband. My wonderful, hardworking husband who leaves the house before 5:30 AM everyday to return well after 7 PM every night. My husband who stands in the cold, or the rain, or the blistering heat to double check details 12 hours a day on a construction site only to come home to get 'tagged' into the wrestling ring of parenthood. Help me with my science, Daddy. Do I really have to take my shower? It's not mmmmyyyyy turn to empty the dishwasher! Complete with puppy dog eyes and whiny voices. Not to mention the wife who has discovered a new hole in her pantyhose, hair rumpled like I don't know what a brush is anymore, running on empty- yet needing to finish dinner and completing just 3 more loads of laundry.

So why the anger? Well, everyday my husband gets to go out to lunch. Oh and he gets to complain about this too. How tired he gets of eating the same things each day at the same places. Today I spoke to him and he was eating a salad and sandwich. Me- I was eating a Banquet country-fried steak thing. Imagine a weekday of eating a meal someone else created, someone else served, someone else cleans up! The thought is pure bliss!

However, with my career choice comes sacrifices. Let's not even discuss the pay scale- but the loss of leasurely lunches at restaurants I now consider a huge treat- extravagance- is an unseen sacrifice of all teachers.

So for all of you parents out there struggling with what type of holiday gift to get your kids' teachers? The best I ever received was that of a menu in a card. I was able to pick out a lunch of my choice and it arrived two days later. That one blissful meal that someone else prepared, was one that I will remember always.