The park where Maya and me are going has its sandpit near a school, a religious one, a very noisy one, like all Israeli schools are. Today, while we were playing in the shade we heard a commotion and we watched as a teacher scurried along the school yard, followed by a mother (short, fat, jeans, white t-shirt, with a toddler proped on her hip) that was shouting something at the teacher. I didn't understand the words, but her tone told us she wasn't congratulating the teacher for her good work. After them came running a girl shouting really loudly:"Don't touch my teacher! Don't touch my teacher!" And them I understood what was all about. Today was the last day of school for the primary schools, the pupils received their certificates, and it seemed to me that the mother wasn't pleased at all with her offspring's school results. And who is to blame for that? The teacher, of course ...


Well, this is one of the reasons I decided to quit teaching. Sometimers my students scared me, but most of the time I was terrified by their parents...From time to time, in the media would appear an article about a parent that had beat a teacher up - no, I'm not kidding, and I think I was really lucky it didn't happen to me. Don't get me wrong...I really enjoyed teaching, but it was absolutely destroying me. Every day I had to battle my way to the end of the school day, and I felt drained, powerless. I tried to do a good jod and they rewarded me by giving me more discipline challenged classes - because you have a way with them, they told me; by giving me all kind of extra curricular activities - because you don't have small kids at home. During the year when I was pregnant with Maya I was terrified that all the shouting and stress will afect her, so my husband bought me a Tibetan bell or chime, something that you wear like a pendant around your neck and it reaches your belly-buttom, and when you move, the baby inside you hears the soothing sound of the bell.
Weel, the event that I saw in the park triggered memories, not very pleasant ones.
After Maya was born, I decided my sanity in more important than the money I earned (pityful wages, no doubt) and I quitted.
About the other reasons, I'll tell you some other time...