Trade secrets of early childhood educators

Every occupation has its own trade secrets. We are lifting the lid on 10 little known facts about early childhood educators!

1. In our heads, we high-five ourselves when we make it to the end of a book without interruptions. It’s the teachers equivalent of an olympic gold medal. Legendary status, a historical moment reached by few.
2. In public we secretly consider ourselves to be child/baby whisperers. We often give big cheesy grins to small children. We know that they know, that we like all children, and that we are somehow accepted into the babyhood.  To passers-by it may seem weird, but we know it’s like a secret handshake, a sign that we are in the babyhood. 
3.  Want to know why teachers carry so many bags? Well the truth is, teachers are exceptionally well ready for any given situation that may arise during the day. MacGyver could get out of any situation possible with the contents of a teachers bag! We don’t use everything in our bags most of the time, and most nights we tell ourselves we need to be more minimalistic with our work bags. And yet we return day after day with our bags and bags and bags of essentials.
4.  We are secretly a tiny bit jealous of people who at the end of their working day are clean with not a wisp of hair out-of-place.  We often look like we have spent the day caught in a category 5 hurricane, and we don’t realise this until we suddenly appear in public and it hits us like a ton of bricks. 
5. At the same time, we are equally as pleased that we can jump out of bed, throw our hair into a messy bun and pull on comfort clothes. This makes us feel a tiny bit smug towards others who are up early ironing their shirts, checking stockings for ladders, perfectly tying their ties, shining their shoes and tweezing their perfect brows. We are the kings and queens of casual dress codes! 
6. We cry easily. Teachers are well-known as criers. We cry when we’re happy, we cry when we’re sad, we even get teary when a child says something that is particularly cute. We are well-known as an emotional bunch. It’s just what you get when you work in a job that is about relationships and feelings. Perhaps plumbers and bankers and florists also cry, but it’s like fight club. They don’t talk about it.
7. We often think to ourselves “did I really just say that?!?!” When taken out of context or when we imagine the things we say being said in any other workplace, we are often left giggling to ourselves. Can you imagine a builder saying “it’s best if we don’t lick the windows”, I rest my case.
8. Come Friday night, we don’t want to talk to anybody, we are all talked out, we have spent the week having our own name being pronounced in 30 different variations and giving our undivided attention to many other people. We have talked A LOT! We love you but please leave us under the blanket on the sofa, not talking, with nobody mispronouncing our names. We like the idea of not having to concentrate on ANYTHING!  We love teaching with all that we’ve got, but Friday nights are a much-needed time to recharge our emotional batteries, so that we can do it all again the following week.
9. We have slight hoarder-like tendencies. We save newspapers, egg cartons, buttons, wrapping paper and much stranger things. We see a purpose for things that most people consider well past the use by date. Got a pile of grass clippings? We’ll take that! Empty pasta jars? Give them here! A leaking fish tank? We can use that! You name it, we’ve probably got a use for it!
10. Teachers are ever so slightly addicted to Pinterest. If studying Pinterest was a qualification, teachers would have earned a doctorate in it by now. PS if you haven’t already, check out our Pinterest page here!

Disclaimer: This series of trade secrets is in no way indicative of all teachers, everywhere. We hope it made you smile and that you can identify with one or two of them at least!