Teacher Appreciation Day (Not Mother Appreciation Day)

Even though I resigned, I still have my teaching badge and am still a licensed teacher. Therefore, I have no shame in taking advantage of free Teacher Appreciation incentives. Between Taco Bell, Chick-Fil-A, PDQ, and CiCi's, Jesse and I ate free the entire day. We likely consumed 10,000 calories in the process, but they were the only places that offered free food for teachers. 

In between the eating, the kids and I stayed busy.

We spent the morning painting outside. Every time a plane flew by, the trio stopped and waved, sweetly saying, "bye plane". Jackson was in a pissy mood all day, and angrily mixed all his colors and smashed the paintbrush onto the paper over and over. Then he got mad that I complimented the texture and colors.

Our first outing was to CFA, where I barely made the 10:30 cut off time for a free chicken biscuit. The location I went to is across from the mall. Jackson wanted to go to the mall, so we played in the kid's area and walked around a bit. I stopped by the aquarium because I thought I had read that they offered free admission for teachers. They do not. Once again, I enraged Jackson because he wanted to see the fish and I didn't want to spend any moeny.

While at the mall, a friend sent me a message that PDQ provides free meals for teachers today. This was a win-win because they have a drive-through and they're located right beside the mall. I was really surprised when the employee said I could order anything off the menu, including a drink and dessert. The kids split this chicken tender meal.

We had made plans with friends to meet at a fun ice cream stand that has a playground. This meant I needed to put the trio down for an earlier nap so they would be in good moods this afternoon. I was completley surprised to find that Jackson had crawled in our bed, buried himself under the covers, and was snoring away.

I had already decided not to get ice cream since Jackson was sleeping. He's probably taken a nap (in a bed) five times in the last two years. If he was sleeping, I wasn't going to wake him up. Unfortunately, he woke up on his own screaming bloody murder about not wanting to go anywhere. After THIRTY minutes of yelling, he decided he wanted to "eat ice cream at the park". I wanted to go, too, and I had already changed and fed the trio during Jackson's meltdown. Even though we were an hour late, we still got a chance to hang out with friends and eat ice cream.

We headed back home for a brief respite while we waited on Jesse to get home. Our final stop on the Teacher Appreciation Day tour was CiCi's. Since Jesse and I both had teacher badges and kids under two are free, we only had to pay $3 for all six of us to eat. 

I had a meeting at church to attend so I left as soon as we got home. Jesse put the kids to bed.

I wish I could say how thankful I am that I can still receive appreciation as a teacher, even though I'm not in the classroom. Unfortunately, the whole day was a reminder that I am not a teacher. I have no job. I don't contribute a single penny to this family. And quite frankly, I feel stuck at home lately, so much so that I've been considering going back to work. Motherhood has been kicking my ass the past few weeks. Between a constantly moody 4-year-old and three toddlers who are entering the terrible two's, I feel mentally drained and totally inadequate.

...

At least I didn't have to cook dinner tonight.

Happy Teacher Appreciation Day.