Taking Time Off
All my teacher friends know this to be true and will be quick to agree- there are so many times it is easier to be at school than it is to prepare everything you have to prepare to take time off. This is especially true in short notice situations.
Last week my grandmother passed away. The weekend prior to her passing my brother and I made the decision that we would leave on Thursday night to go up and spend a long weekend with her. We were debating what time to head back home on Sunday (It’s a 14+ hour drive that we would be making.) and if we should take Monday off too or power through one day of being exhausted. Ultimately we decided we would take Monday off.
Unfortunately my grandmother didn’t make it to see the weekend. We kept our original plan to drive up on Thursday night and leave sometime on Sunday. My school district offers three bereavement days and I was for sure going to take Friday and Monday off for bereavement. As I was talking the plan over with my husband he said Abbey, you get three days, you need to take them. All I could think about was the sub plans I would have to write {My team and I complete our lesson plans two weeks in advance so that wasn’t really a problem.}, the copies I would have to make {My assistant makes the majority of our copies.}, the newsletter I would have to write {Seriously, the newsletter takes five minutes to create and email out each week.}, the conferences I would miss and have to reschedule {It ended up being two.}, the meetings I would miss {Also ended up only being two.}, having to find a sub {Which actually was a challenge and a huge source of worry and stress, but that ended up working out too.}, plus the million other things that I have since forgotten {Which goes to show they’re really not that important anyway.}. We continued to talk, and I continued to fight back with my list of reasons why I should only take off Friday and Monday, and my husband ended up saying (with a pretty stern tone to get my attention) if they are giving you three days, take the three days. You will need to rest and relax when you come home and you will need the time to prepare yourself of the rest of the work week, even if it is short. I knew I wasn’t in my normal, reasonable state of mind, and I deeply value my husband’s words so I gave in, told him he was right, and I took off Friday, Monday, and Tuesday. I’m so glad I did.
We arrived back home early Monday morning and I was able to sleep in and relax in bed until I was ready to get up. I took my time unpacking and putting everything away, took Weasley for a nice, slow morning walk, ate a hot breakfast, and then slowly started getting things done around the house and checking things off my to do list. In between I painted my nails, caught up on some tv, started watching Arrested Development, napped, took another walk with Weasley, and went to Five Guys for a late dinner. On Tuesday I slept in, walked two miles, ate a hot breakfast, did enough grocery shopping to get me through when I normally go at some point during the weekend, meal prepped, napped, and enjoyed a hot Pumpkin Spice Latte while I took some time to catch up on emails. Tuesday afternoon was the first time I touched my laptop or checked my email since last Thursday. I know some people (both teachers and others) would be quick to tell me I shouldn’t have touched my laptop or checked my email at all, but I know myself and I know that the feeling of being ‘caught up’ {If that even exists in the teaching world!} would be the best way for me to head back to work so I checked my email, got caught up, and had no regrets!
We all know it’s true, but you can’t fill from an empty cup. You can’t be your best you (teacher, wife, mother, sister, friend, whatever!) without taking time to take care of yourself. I know sometimes it seems easier to push through, but take the time you’re given and try to let those feelings of being overwhelmed, guilty, etc. go. I promise you will be a better teacher when you return and your kids will be just fine too!
Last week my grandmother passed away. The weekend prior to her passing my brother and I made the decision that we would leave on Thursday night to go up and spend a long weekend with her. We were debating what time to head back home on Sunday (It’s a 14+ hour drive that we would be making.) and if we should take Monday off too or power through one day of being exhausted. Ultimately we decided we would take Monday off.
Unfortunately my grandmother didn’t make it to see the weekend. We kept our original plan to drive up on Thursday night and leave sometime on Sunday. My school district offers three bereavement days and I was for sure going to take Friday and Monday off for bereavement. As I was talking the plan over with my husband he said Abbey, you get three days, you need to take them. All I could think about was the sub plans I would have to write {My team and I complete our lesson plans two weeks in advance so that wasn’t really a problem.}, the copies I would have to make {My assistant makes the majority of our copies.}, the newsletter I would have to write {Seriously, the newsletter takes five minutes to create and email out each week.}, the conferences I would miss and have to reschedule {It ended up being two.}, the meetings I would miss {Also ended up only being two.}, having to find a sub {Which actually was a challenge and a huge source of worry and stress, but that ended up working out too.}, plus the million other things that I have since forgotten {Which goes to show they’re really not that important anyway.}. We continued to talk, and I continued to fight back with my list of reasons why I should only take off Friday and Monday, and my husband ended up saying (with a pretty stern tone to get my attention) if they are giving you three days, take the three days. You will need to rest and relax when you come home and you will need the time to prepare yourself of the rest of the work week, even if it is short. I knew I wasn’t in my normal, reasonable state of mind, and I deeply value my husband’s words so I gave in, told him he was right, and I took off Friday, Monday, and Tuesday. I’m so glad I did.
We arrived back home early Monday morning and I was able to sleep in and relax in bed until I was ready to get up. I took my time unpacking and putting everything away, took Weasley for a nice, slow morning walk, ate a hot breakfast, and then slowly started getting things done around the house and checking things off my to do list. In between I painted my nails, caught up on some tv, started watching Arrested Development, napped, took another walk with Weasley, and went to Five Guys for a late dinner. On Tuesday I slept in, walked two miles, ate a hot breakfast, did enough grocery shopping to get me through when I normally go at some point during the weekend, meal prepped, napped, and enjoyed a hot Pumpkin Spice Latte while I took some time to catch up on emails. Tuesday afternoon was the first time I touched my laptop or checked my email since last Thursday. I know some people (both teachers and others) would be quick to tell me I shouldn’t have touched my laptop or checked my email at all, but I know myself and I know that the feeling of being ‘caught up’ {If that even exists in the teaching world!} would be the best way for me to head back to work so I checked my email, got caught up, and had no regrets!
We all know it’s true, but you can’t fill from an empty cup. You can’t be your best you (teacher, wife, mother, sister, friend, whatever!) without taking time to take care of yourself. I know sometimes it seems easier to push through, but take the time you’re given and try to let those feelings of being overwhelmed, guilty, etc. go. I promise you will be a better teacher when you return and your kids will be just fine too!
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