Okay this is kinda stupid but I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. I’m a third-grade teacher, which I love, but for the first couple years, I brought SO much work home. Like, every weekend, my dining room table would be covered in lesson plans or things to cut out. My parents would joke about it, saying I was basically living at school. It felt… expected, I guess? Like that’s just what you do if you’re a good teacher. Everyone else was doing it, or at least it felt like they were. Then, about six months ago, I just… stopped. Like, cold turkey. Weekends are for me now. I don’t even open my laptop for school stuff. It’s been amazing, honestly. I have time to actually see my friends, or just binge watch something without feeling guilty. It’s not a big deal but… every time I walk down the hall at school and see Mrs. Henderson’s classroom, or even Mr. Davies’s room, and they have those elaborate, handmade bulletin boards or those super detailed learning stations with all the little cutouts and laminated everything… I get this weird, sharp pang. It’s not even jealousy, exactly. It’s more like this little flicker of SHAME? Like I’m not doing enough. Even though I KNOW I’m teaching just as well, probably better because I’m not burnt out. Am I the only one who feels this? Like, has anyone else made a change that’s objectively better for them, but still gets that weird little internal judgment when they see someone else going above and beyond? It’s so dumb, because it’s just classroom decorations, but it really sticks with me.