– Flash back to 28 April 2019
I had just had tea with a friend, we were talking about teaching and for the first time ever, I told someone of my dislike of Sundays … I wrote this
“I fear the the return to routine, to demands, to clocks, bells, schedules. These school rituals feel even more restraining against the contrast of an afternoon and a day passed with freedom of choice and time to go slowly. Sunday, no matter how beautifully spent, cannot last forever … tomorrow must come.
I should not live with fear of fatigue. I should not feel I am returning to meaningless monotony, daily drudgery. I should not feel that I have no choice, that I have no control. After all, I am an adult. Then why do I have the same feeling that so many children feel about going back to school on Monday, after a lovely weekend?”
Sometimes the Sunday sadness was caused, because of unfulfilled expectations, a to do list that was not even started. Groceries, laundry, not to mention the pile of books that is still sitting in my car boot and that research that I had wanted to do that would make me a better equipped teacher … and I had really wanted to make that batch of breakfast bars so I could have a healthier start to the day.
Just naming my fear, was the beginning of my overcoming my sad Sunday feelings. My friend encouraged me to make time every Sunday to do something just for myself. To mentally and emotionally reinforce the fact that I was in control of my life. That my chosen career was not a death sentence and that I could ditch that back to school feeling.
I’m pleased to say that it has worked. Sometimes I go for a jog, sometimes I bake, sometimes I blog, sometimes I sit in my garden and drink tea with my family. I accept that I can’t do everything so I choose what I can do and accept that the rest is for another day.
Now I try to do my Laundry on a weekday or at the very latest on Saturday. I try not to bring school work home, and rather push myself just a little bit harder during the week to get my jobs done. I accept that I am enough and that I can’t do everything, and that by just investing in me I am becoming a better teacher.
ThriveZim Education 