As I finish up the second full week of school
tomorrow I can't help but reflect on the fact that I miss summer. Summer was
filled with relaxing, reading, working out, and time with friends and family.
It was time to relax and recharge. It was a time to take care of
myself. Then, August hit!
When August arrived, everything shifted.
The once quiet campus was filled with energy and excitement: new kids
registering, returning families dropping by to say hello, and teachers making
their way back into their classrooms. Not only were they focused on getting
their classrooms together, but grade level teams were meeting to plan lessons
and discuss new ideas for the upcoming year.
It was just the beginning of the countless hours that the staff will
continue to put in throughout the year.
I was excited when the first day of school
finally arrived. Greeting the kids as
they walked onto campus, seeing the excitement in their eyes and smiles on
their faces validated all the work that we put in to preparing for the first
day. Popping into classes the first two days and seeing the students engaged
and connected with their teachers and classmates added to the energy. It reminded me about why I love what I do and
put in all the hours of work.
After the first days passed, everything else
began to hit: deadlines, parents, professional development, site plans,
students having meltdowns, scheduling, sub request, CELDT testing, meetings,
and more! All of the a sudden the refreshed feeling from summer quickly started
to disappear. My days and nights were
spent focused on work and the things that rejuvenated me during the summer were
pushed aside. I had to stop, reflect,
and think about what I was doing. Can I
continue?
I can! But I must continue to take care of
myself along the way. As I look back over the past couple of weeks I think
about our lives as educators. In
education our time and energy is most often spent taking care of others. We
take care of the kids at our school during the day, and often the hours after
work are spent thinking about what we can do to help a specific child or
children. Many of us leave school to go
home and take care of others in our lives, but what do we do to take care of
ourselves?
I realized that in order to do the job that I
do, I must put aside time for myself. I
know this isn’t something easy to do; it’s something I constantly struggled
with last year, but I realized how important it was in order for me to do what
I do everyday. The thing is, we can’t
wait for the three-day weekend, a week off for the holidays, or even summer
vacation to take care of ourselves; it needs to happen all year.
So I challenge you (and myself) to do something
for yourself every day. Whether it be
running, walking, hitting the gym, time with a friend, picking up a good book…do
something! You matter and it's important to take care of yourself.
