A Thank-You to Teachers Enduring Cabin Fever

I became acutely aware last night of the stoic campaign Oxford area teachers must be enduring.
My wife and our two daughters and I went for Chinese dinner at 6 p.m. to the Big Bowl restaurant. It had been a while since the whole family had eaten a bona fide sit-down dinner together somewhere other than at home. Upon taking our seats in a booth, the children were amped up and acting nutty to a degree just short of the boss’s kids from Raising Arizona. The six-year-old kept standing up on the seat and juking around, while the four-year-old on the opposite side carried on as well.
I couldn’t figure it out, because typically they are tired and cranky at this time of day. My wife pointed out that they haven’t been outside for recess at their respective schools since before Christmas. The younger goes to Willie Price and the older to Bramlett, but I’m sure the same has been true at Lafayette schools, Regents, and OUS. It’s been far too cold most of the time to let small fries loose outside. This realization immediately led me to wonder how the teachers at these schools haven’t lost it. Without that time of day where the kids can burn off some of their inner freak fuel, the teachers must be descending into madness.

Sitting in my peaceful office, I actually get to process a thought every now and then. I can only imagine the wherewithal it must take to lead a room of pre-schoolers or first graders without opening the recess valve every now and then. The temperature this morning as we readied for school was 1 degree, so I reckon recess isn’t an option today either.
So, I salute teachers in the Oxford area and in any other area trudging through this cold winter.
— Tad Wilkes, tad.wilkes@hottytoddy.com