Simplifying My Life

Today I went to a Pampered Chef party. I will be hosting a party because I do want a few things that I know will be used in my kitchen. It's also a good way to support another teacher in direct sales (: I was given a dessert recipe book as a reward for hosting, but I know I'll never use it! I barely know how to cook! Haha! I was proactive and gave it to my friend's mom who loves to bake. I'm just so glad I gave it away before it could stay unused in my home for years. I'm glad I know myself and am accepting that I'm not going to become a baker overnight. Perhaps when my cooking improves, I will move on to that. But even then, I'm glad I didn't keep it to hold onto in case I'll need it "one day." The old me would've also kept it simply because it was free. Yay for one small victory of beating clutter in my home! Minimalism really makes you think about what you actually use before you bring it into your life and home. You start ...

I'm still pretty emotional about returning to work. There are bits in the day when I am reminded why I love my job. It usually involves a kid being funny, or when the students are engaged in a lesson. Then there are times when my hearts hurts. Like the time I saw a picture update from my daughter's school with her teacher holding her during story time. It made me very sad and I couldn't help but think, that should be ME holding her during the day ),: That one stung and has still left me feeling pretty depressed. At the end of the month we will pay off credit card number two, leaving us with one more card and the car. After that we will be debt free of all except for the house. That gives me a little push to keep going, to hang in there. I'm hoping that mentally I can make it until December, much less May. My house life is back to suffering in that my house is a mess. I can only imagine how much worse it would be if I hadn't decluttered over the year. I hard...

I know we all want to be like those teachers you see in the movies, the ones the kids love and create a special bond with. While it is important to create bonds with your students, just know that you can't win them all. Already this year (well every year for that matter) I have two kids that have made it apparent that they couldn't care less about my class, and there's not much respect present in the way they interact with me. I think the only difference in this year and the years past is that I used to get upset about it. I would revert back to middle school status and think, what's wrong with me that you don't like my class?! Or me?! Am I not a great teacher? Do I need to try harder? Work harder? This year something I would try to convince myself of in years past has finally settled in: not every student is going to like you or your class. And that is absolutely fine. Just like the notion that every person won't like you (this also took me many years to a...

As a teacher it's so hard not to grade at home. I know I won't be able to avoid it 100%, but this year I have made a promise to myself and family to leave work at work. I am completing my grading at school so far. I am getting behind by a week and may have to break the promise I made a bit, but so far I have improved greatly in the time I used to spend grading. In the past, I would grade every. single. assignment. Why?! I worry so much about classroom management that I would grade everything: classwork and homework. Some teachers would have about eight assignments per six weeks grading period. I would have like 20+ (I would also include daily participation). By the end of the semester, I would have so many grades entered in. Since I took a year off of work for maternity leave, I now see that this was absolutely maddening. I am also not going to check my email while I'm not at work. I cannot allow myself to check it because it does affect my mental health. The anxiet...

I am contemplating as to whether I should sign up for Joshua Becker's Uncluttered Course. I've tried two other decluttering courses before. The first one I tried, I ended up asking for a refund within an hour. I listened to the whole course, but it just wasn't for me. It mentioned what should be thrown away, but didn't cover much of the emotional aspect of getting rid of things, which is what I struggle the most with. It's not that I need to be given suggestions of what to give away, I need to work through the emotional attachment and fear I have of giving away of things that are deemed important to me. The next course I took was in written format, and did cover the emotional aspect a bit more, so it was a bit more helpful. But again, I feel like for my own needs I need to really work through that part a bit more. The deadline for the fall course ends tomorrow night I believe, so I will have to decide by then. 😶We have donated over 20 bags within the past ye...