Teaching is hard.
Teaching preschool is hard.
Teaching special education is hard.
Teaching is not for the faint of heart.
I appreciate teachers. I respect teachers. I admire teachers. I am a teacher.
Today I subbed for one of my teachers who was at a training. I danced my dog and pony show, I relied on my instructional assistants. I used all kinds of strategies, I sang songs I didn’t know the tune to, I gave stars, gummies, and high fives for expected behaviors. I struggled. I loved on those kids. I have to admit, I am REALLY good at supporting my staff, I am NOT really good at pretending to be them. I used ALL my Stress-Away.
How amazing are these kids to come to school every day, willing to learn, willing to trust, willing to participate, willing to find new ways to communicate, willing to have fun. They are equally my heroes.
I’m beat! Good-night.
Did any of you ever listen to the Chipmunks growing up?
At Max's this weekend, while patiently waiting for my Matzo Ball Soup - Abba's "Take a Chance on Me" came on overhead. I sang every word, into my spoon, to my boys ultimate embarrassment. This album was my jam, loaded in my walkman, and flipping sides every 30 to 45 minutes. I was a 2nd grader and knew my rock - thank you Chipmunks! (Yes
Myles Becker
significantly contributed to my knowledge too)!The cover art copyright is believed to belong to the label, RCA, or the graphic artist(s).
Today, I visited a new congregation, United Church of Christ at Squaw Valley Chapel. This building was built for the 1960 Winter Olympics. Their motto is EVEYRONE IS WELCOME – No matter who you are or where you are on your spiritual journey, you are welcome here. I felt VERY welcome there.
I met Rev. James Kosko, he is a fabulous preacher, we enjoyed his Easter Sunday service on the mountain last March, but today, today was about water. He preached from the point of view as if he was water, it was so good. He spoke about the cancer he has growing in the middle of his Pacific Ocean, made up of all our plastics. He spoke about how he was here before us and we can’t live without him. How we are made of 71% water, so we need to take care of him. How he is above us in the air, below us in the ground. I felt like @dailydoseofwokeness would really have enjoyed the message. Like WAKE UP! Water is telling us we are ruining it for ourselves.
The message then moved to how water has been a part of most of the major messages in the bible. Noah’s Ark, Moses, water to wine, and the message of the day, Jesus baptism. They are a kind congregation, unfortunately, they are now going into hibernation until spring – right about the time I’ll be allowed to ski again.
Let’s talk about my obsession?
Are you ready? Can you handle it?
I am obsessed with essential oils, why? Because they have changed my life, they have changed the amount of toxic crap I allow in my life, they have saved me money, and they are the bomb.
This is a great graphic for teachers, I work with so many amazing teachers and it is constantly running through my brain how these little bottles of goodness change lives.
I started with oils when my youngest was in third grade and miserable from the seasonal sniffles. He was taking a daily OTC to help control his symptoms but you, like me, have heard the long-term effects on memory is frightening – who wants to be responsible for doing that to their own child, not me. So we started with a roller of lemon, lavender, and peppermint along his jaw and down the side of his neck, on really bad days he took a drop of each from the vitality line (white bottles) in local honey, and his symptoms have gotten so much better. We then attacked his “popping up” and ending up in our bed multiple nights a week. He now sleeps with a diffuser every night. He has found SO much relief. He is so sweet and responsible now, five years later that he has even taken to filling my nighttime diffuser.
I’ll tell you at my house we use a lot less OTC than we used to, the plants support me, and like I shared – I am obsessed. My name is Canaan Richards, and I’m an oil addict.
What would you tell your 5th-grade self?
I saw this prompt today. This really is a gut-wrencher for me, I remember once upon a time saying I would rather do ANYTHING in the world rather than repeat 5th grade. What was so bad? To me it was torture, to me, it was the year that the social challenges that so many young girls face were ramped up and in my face, to me, it was WAY worse than any statement you hear about “middle school girls”. To me, middle school was a blast. In 5th grade I had a lovely teacher, she may have also gotten pregnant that year, although I don’t remember being as mesmerized as I was in 2nd grade (see previous blog). Actually, when I think about it, our class at that little Christian school was the class that always had a teacher with a significant life change. 2nd grade, pregnant, 3rd grade engaged, 4th grade – nothing, 5th grade pregnant, 6th grade – the space shuttle exploded. Geez – sorry, I digress.
5th grade is also when my parents got a divorce if I’m really being raw, my dad went to rehab (again) but this time it was a residential facility. We as a family were required to participate in all kinds of classes and sessions, and then there was family day, ugh. Thank goodness for the other kids. Now that I think about it, it must have been rough to be my friend at school and not know what to say. Not know what to say coupled with a time in life that social hierarchy is significant. That no one at a little Christian school is dealing with divorce much less alcoholism.
But in all fairness, we also had a lot of fun. We were silly, we were still little, we wore florescent pink, we had sleepovers, we began to have crushes on boys, we fell in love with Madonna, Wham, Chicago, and Prince was still Prince and the Revolution. We didn’t have bills, we barely had homework, The Cosby Show was wholesome, the Golden Girls were in their prime, and we were in love with Kirk Cameron on Growing Pains.
I can be gentle with 5th grade me, I can use guided meditation, friends who are like therapists, oils with names like FORGIVENESS, PRESENT TIME, INNER CHILD, and use time to heal my 5th-grade self. I can be generous and gentle when my own boys express “that” year in elementary school because I know they’ve each had one, we probably all have… it doesn’t matter how your life looks from the outside, it’s your experience of and perception of the circumstances. It really just brings me back again to BE KIND.
So what would I tell my 5th-grade self … I’d tell her you are going to be fine, you are going to be better than fine. You are going to continue to be lifelong friends with those girls, you form bonds with them that get you through other hard times in life, they will become family. You will continue to be a champion for the underdog. You will lead with your heart – it is not broken. You should cherish the time you have with your dad because you won’t have him long. You will meet an amazing man and raise two amazing boys together. You will be a child of divorce but that will NEVER define you. I would tell her to continue to be you, shine through, you got this!
