First of all, it's not vacation because I brought tons of work home with me and have been sitting at my kitchen table most of the day going through a foot-tall stack of folders and papers. In other words, I'm working here. I am not even close to being done.
Thirdly, I'm not on vacation because I'm not getting paid. That's right; you read that correctly. Teachers do NOT get paid for these week-long breaks. We only get paid for the days that we are required to be at school (barring sick days). In other words, I get paid to teach and/or to be in school for 184 days a year. I only get paid for those days. Please don't call my unpaid time off "vacation." It's not vacation; it's unpaid leave.
Lastly, I am not on vacation because I am sick. SICK. That's right. Last Friday was a half day and I woke up feeling like someone stuffed my head into a locker and slammed it a gazillion times. My throat felt like sandpaper on fire with gunpowder and hot pepper thrown in for fun. Now, five days later, I feel like I have been hit by Wile E. Coyote's anvil and stepped on by the entire Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Thanks, April break, for making me sick near death over the few days I might've enjoyed. You suck.
So, folks, I will continue to muddle through my April break then head back to school after being sick, sick, sick and after having spent my unpaid time off doing curriculum work that people complain I don't do anyway because I'm a teacher, and all I do is take vacations.
April vacation? I wish.
