Teaching is easier than parenting

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I may be alone in saying this as a teacher mum but roll on September 😩😂

All of my teacher friends would agree 😂 their own kids know exactly what buttons to press.

Ah thanks @Crumpetring … I’ve just seen an Instagram reel (I know, I know!) about how last September nearly broke someone and what she’s going to do differently this September and it’s all relating to the teaching. I’m thinking the teaching part is the easy bit!

I am 100% with you. 60 hour week. 100 books a week to mark. 10 hours of planning a week. Teenage angst, kicks, behaviour, moods, smells. SLT bullshit. Endless fucking meetings. Break duty. Lunch duty. Bus duty. Breakfast club. Detentions. Homework club.

Easier to handle than two simultaneously bored and overexcited tweens for 86 hours a day.

When you're teaching there are Plans and Procedure and not much emotion. As a parent you're winging it and there's lots of emotion.

For me no, I love having more time with dd as I find I don't get as much time with her when we are in the midst of school runs and clubs and work etc. We do only have one dd though.

I would say they are both relentless and thankless jobs!

That's why I choose to do each one part-time only 😉

Yes this, of course, but that's also where the emotion comes in.

100% in teaching you get breaks and there is an end in sight… also kids are also better behaved with a teacher than their own parents - well most 6 year olds are -

I leave my teaching job and go back to my gorgeous 4 year old but then she whinges and whines and I think the classroom is easier than this.

In primary you get different children every year (some you are happy to lose) at home you get the same children at different stages of life. You might have had years of experience with 5 year olds but teenagers are unknown to you.

I work in a unit for childen who have been excluded from school. The staff are amazing with them, but it's amazing how many of these brilliant teachers (I mean that 100% genuinely) have trouble managing their own DC, to the extent that we occasionally get a staff member's child!

It's also interesting how many teachers know exactly how to parent until they get their own DC 😆 but I think that happens across all groups.

I teach the same age as my children (mid primary) and an starting to feel similarly this holiday! Although I did find it hilarious when the HV was saying something to me not long after having my first baby about how hard it was. With there being only one of them not 30 and not having to teach them anything, I couldn't really agree it was harder than work.

I disagree. Ex teacher Mum here and why I’m an ex teacher!

As a parent the only parent I have to deal with is myself and I don’t shout at myself and make ridiculous demands. My DCs also don’t tell me to fuck off, spit in my face or try to head but me.

Yes I think other parents make teaching very difficult. There needs to be more zero tolerance that is actually followed through, like in hospitals etc.

@Foodtom i was a brilliant parent until I had children 😩😂 I was also (and still am when the occasion demands) a great parent to one child - I do find having both hard. Although I hope this may get easier (some say it will and others say it gets hard in different ways!)

I was not cut out for classroom teaching at all, but home education was one of my happiest times.

No. My children are preteen and teen age. When they were younger I would definitely agree though!

That’s encouraging; it may get better yet!

Teaching should be considerably easier than parenting. Unfortunately, Primary teachers at least, are expected to do both.

DH would definitely agree with you! He's a primary teacher and we have 2 primary aged kids (5 & 10).

He's pretty cool as a cucumber at school. Works in a tough school in a deprived area and deals with a lot of behaviour issues and social problems with relative calm, professionalism and ease.

At home he gets stressed when our youngest spills his drink. He just says it feels totally different and emotionally he is so invested in our kids (obviously... I mean he is their parent after all!) so when they behave poorly/have problems he gets emotional about it and then that equals stress!

Meanwhile, I'm not a teacher and feel simultaneously guilty that DH is doing so much solo childcare in the school holidays (I do book the kids into summer camps a day or so a week though, and have 1.5 weeks off this summer hols ) and also wish I could have more time with the kids and feel rather jealous of DH's time with them!

It really does!!

I disagree. My kids are teens now so obviously less input from me in terms of entertainment but I am lucky. They were both great kids and a billion times easier to entertain and much better company than many of the collective groups I taught at school. The only area where I would agree is that it is tough as a teacher parent because you are often child care for the entire 6 weeks and don't get a break. You have to plan this in because if you are exhausted the parenting becomes exhausting.

My mum was a teacher. Gave it up to have my brother. And was so shocked that she found him difficult to parent after teaching a range of ages and abilities at primary school! I think at least with teaching you have a good few hours of break from the treasures whereas you don’t from your own!

I have 5 children and I teach in a mainstream secondary school Yr7-11. This thread is really interesting and it has got me thinking...I feel like I can be very honest with my children and I have more freedom with them.

However it is lovely to have breaks at school...and there is only so much you can do- there is an Arabic proverb: You can pile books upon a donkey but you can't make it read!

Ofc! You get to hand them back after 6 hours!

I've had my dd off since april due to sen school issues - I AM COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS

I think somewhere in my not too long ago memory there was a time when holidays meant relaxation and a chance to switch off!