The moment you become a teacher or a parent, your life changes and self care is a thing of the past. Your focus is less on you and your needs and entirely on the children in front of you.
I’m a teacher and a parent. Before I become a parent, my students were my world. I woke up and thought about what I’d be doing with them during the day. While I was with them, I was all about them. After school, I’d lesson plan or photocopy for the next day. On the drive home – mine is very long- I’d reflect on the day and make changes to the following day in my head. I’d then come home and make notes about the changes and so forth.
I’m now a parent, so when I come home, I spend my time with my children but the before, during and the drive home are the same. When my kids go to bed, I do my work.
As a parent though, it’s rare to get a break. I try to do the dishes while playing with my toddler. I’m currently on maternity leave, so my day is spent with my infant who feeds a lot and never wants to be put down for more than a couple of minutes. My left wrist is starting to hurt from holding him on my right side and trying to do chores with my left hand. When my toddler comes up from school, I put my baby down for a quick nap so that I can teach my son. We do literacy and math development after dinner so that we have structure during the evening. I’ll write a post about the reasons on a different day. We then play after I feed my baby and so forth.
As you can see, the day never really ends whether you’re a teacher or a parent. You work all day long until you go to sleep. If you’re a parent of a newborn or an infant, you probably don’t get more than a short while to sleep.
For these reasons and so many more, it’s important that we take care of ourselves as we’re no good to our kids if we’re running short of energy. The following are a few ways that you can find time to do it.
Self Care Actionable Steps:
#1. Time Block
If you’re a teacher, take 5 minutes off during your first recess or first thing in the morning.
For parents, when your kids are napping, that first 5 minutes of one of those naps are yours. The instinct is to rush to get your to-do list completed but if you don’t slow down, your body will eventually force you to, as you’ll get sick.
During these 5 minutes, do something for yourself. It doesn’t have to be fancy. For example, I just made myself a cup of tea and sat by the window to drink it before I went downstairs to clean.
#2. Sacred Moment
Let’s be real for a minute. At some point during the day, your kids are going to get on your last nerve. Instead of giving them a time out on their own, do it at the same time as them or do it with them. This is a great way for a teacher or parent to incorporate self care into their day.
When you do it at the same time as your kids, you are both having a time out together but in different places in your house or classroom. When you’re doing it with them, you’re both sitting together and having a time out together.
When my eldest son gets a time out, I sit down with him so that he doesn’t feel alone.
Time out tends to get a bad reputation for isolating children. Sometimes, this is absolutely necessary so please don’t take this to mean that you should avoid it all together.
When the circumstance warrants it, I prefer to also participate in the time out. I show my son that I’m also frustrated and need a break. I deep breathe with him in silence. It helps us both center ourselves and calm our minds and bodies down. It is also a great way for me to model to him how to use his time out wisely.
#3. Get Support
If you’re a teacher and you need to use the bathroom, don’t try to hold it in until the recess bell rings. See who is supporting a child 1-1 and ask if they can pop into your classroom to help you out for a moment. This is a healthier option than the alternative, especially if you do this for a few years. If you’re lesson planning, collaborate with others to cut down on the time and effort it takes to prepare for your units.
For parents, ask your partner, a family member or a friend to look after your little one(s) for an hour or two so that you can go out with friends at least once a month. You need to have some fun. Your life can’t just be about your kids or you’ll start to resent everyone for it.
#4. Be Specific
If you’re looking for specific things that you can do to care for yourself, check out the following FREE RESOURCE.
Self Care Recap:
Let’s recap really quickly. Today, we looked at the following:
- The importance of self care.
- Four simple self care ideas for teachers and parents: time block, sacred moment, get support, and be specific.
Free Resources:
If you’d like additional resources for your classroom here are the three ways you can access them: 1) Free Resource Library; 2) At my store; or 3) Systematic Plan to Super Passionate.
Next Steps:
For calm down areas on a budget, for your students who have autism, CLICK HERE.
If you found this video beneficial, would you do me a favor? Share this with your family, your friends, your loved ones, your co-workers or someone who you think could benefit from this. Thank you!
I’ll see you next Friday at 5:30pm PST.
Until I see you next time, remember to create, experience & teach from the heart.
Take care,
Charlotte
