Can you imagine a day when you walk into your school and the day goes exactly as you had planned? Nobody gets sick. No one needs to go to the office or the nurse. No new students. No one has a meltdown. Nobody arrives late or needs to leave early. No admin emails to answer. No meetings. You eat lunch and go to the bathroom when you need to. Then you leave, taking nothing home with you. That day will probably never happen!
Most of us who work with children pride ourselves on being able to eat lunch in 10 minutes while we attend to emails, notes, folders, etc. We call it multi-tasking but the truth is, we are in a business that makes demands on our time and our well-being. It’s important to take some “me” time on a regular basis. We need to take care of ourselves. We are better when we do. The reality is, self- care is more important than your to-do list.
When we practice self-care, we are better and we are better for the children with whom we work. Do a search for teacher self-care and the articles and lists of ideas and research returned is long. There is a multitude of suggestions ranging from getting up 15 minutes earlier to enjoy some “me” quiet time to keeping a gratitude journal to just giving up guilt for taking time for yourself. Regardless of the action listed, what each article has in common is the importance to do it! What feeds your heart, your body, your mind, and your soul? What refreshes you? Decide and then do it!
Last May, ReadyRosie asked YOU what you did for self-care and we collected over 250 educators across the country in this poster. Here are a few of your responses:
