Released

I used to teach English to two and three year olds. Somehow I came away thinking, "Yeah, parenting looks easy."

At the time, all I could think about was how badly I wanted kids of my own someday.

Now I have three young boys, and I honestly wonder how I ever survived as a teacher.

A few things were at play:

• I was much younger then.
• The Japanese teachers handled the really tough work, and I mostly got the fun stuff.
• I got to see the kids at their best.

As parents, we often get our kids after they've spent the whole day holding it together. When they finally come home, they let all that stress out, because they trust us.

Which is beautiful. And also exhausting.

So show your kids' teachers some love. The job is hard, important, and not paid nearly enough.

One of the best parts of teaching was the love and gratitude from parents.

While digging up b-roll for a recent video shoot, I found this gem from my time at SEI: a handmade photo album the parents gave me, with a page from every kid in the class.