Wow, what a school year it has been! In our first week alone, we taught in all three structures of education (in person, hybrid & remote) due to a water boil order that forced us to go remote for two days and then our School Board voted to go Hybrid on our first Friday. It was a whiplash unlike anything I have ever experienced.

Since that first week of school in August, we have learned SO much, overcome SO many technological hurdles & experienced SO much with our students. I am incredibly thankful for the in-person time we’ve had with them to build community, relationship, routines and expectations. Despite wearing a mask for 8 hours/day in addition to a shield for 4 hours/day, I know that I am in the right field and I’m increasingly thankful for the ability to teach photography & music during the school year and photograph wonderful friends/clients in the summer months.

That being said, some are asking us, “How are you guys doing?” I thought a blog post might be helpful because sometimes, there are harder days where all I can say is, “It’s really heavy.” This blog can expand on it & what we’re doing to ease the strain & stay healthy. Maybe these ideas can help another teacher? I have noticed that trying to do all the “self care” things can be overwhelming, so I can’t make it a huge priority or else it becomes just another item on the To Do List. And the To Do List is quite long these days! The best advice I can give is: Listen to your body & it will take some investigation to know what self care task will actually address the need of your body to release the stress. Be patient & gracious with yourself as you find what works for you.

outdoor Yoga opportunities through PowerLife were so wonderful while the weather was good!

Probiotic powder “MightyPro” from Young Living-this has 8 billion cultures in it & the kids love the taste. When I was doing my detox through LiveWell Clinic, they had me try a probiotic that had 20 billion cultures. It went right through in me in less than an hour-it was too much. 8 billion is just fine & I’ve not reacted in a negative way to the MightyPro. I put it in my first water bottle of the day and in each of the kids’ water bottles they take to school.
Epsom Salt Baths once every week or two. I light a tea candle & diffuse eucalyptus oil. It’s as close to a spa experience as I will probably ever get.
Yoga through PowerLife Yoga studio-they offered Outdoor classes through October and that is all I’ve attended (save two indoor classes in July that were socially distanced. I remained masked the entire class). PowerLife is also sponsoring sunrise yoga at Rose Farm at 7:30am on Saturdays this fall as long as weather allows. It was a lovely way to kick off the weekend! I am continuing their online classes 4-5 times a week on their YouTube channel-there is truly something there for everyone.
dry brushing-a little detoxing habit that I learned through my cycle of care at LiveWell Clinic. In the winter dry months, this is going to feel heavenly when my skin is super dry.
gluten & dairy free eating. This was something we dove into while I was with LiveWell. Trying to overhaul your diet & find new things at the grocery store while in a pandemic blew our minds and Gerard was way more calm about it than I. I was the one eating the new things, Gerard was finding & baking yeast-free, gluten-free bread. Gerard has joined me in eating less gluten & dairy, though he has his cheat moments. Gluten & dairy cause inflammation in your body & it affects me more strongly than him. That inflammation can reduce your body’s immune response to illness-for me, that inflammation causes more headache days & more painful menstrual cramps. (sorry, if that’s TMI!)
Primally Pure Plumping Serum with this roller that I keep in the fridge so it’s nice & cold to help soothe inflammation from wearing a mask & shield all day teaching. Often, the roller gets left on my bed side table and it’s plenty cold just laying there-no fridgeration needed!
Reading my Bible & journaling. My anxiety levels have fluctuated from “high”, to “really high”, to “paralyzing”. Around the election, I took a fast from news & social media and I found my head was in a much better space. God has truly taken a lot of the things that I read away to only leave the Bible as a safe thing to even look at that won’t cause panic or anxiety!
Cleaning & organizing-my mother would be so proud. I never thought I would say this, but cleaning & organizing my house, regardless of how tired I may be, mentally or physically, helps clear the mental clutter & lighten the load on my shoulders. Nothing speaks CALM to me like a wiped down & clear countertop!
Power Nap-sometimes a 30min space of time to get a cat-nap in has become a 2hour marathon. I don’t set an alarm on the weekends to mark when a nap should end. I give my body what it wants in terms of sleep, guilt-free.
Get Outside anytime the weather allows! I’ve taken the kids to Ledge’s so Gerard could get work done. Gerard has taken the kids for walks with Ella so I could get in a quiet yoga class or grading done. We’re trying to plan for a personal day so we can take it together, and we have a day in mind, but we also don’t know if we’ll be in-person teaching that day or not. Time will tell!

While we try to get our plan for the week done before Sunday to keep Sunday a day free of work, it doesn’t always happen. Saturdays are full of laundry catch-up, deep clean the kitchen & bathrooms, school work & rest. Sundays are usually devotional in the morning, church online, lunch, quiet time for the kids (so we can get any other school work/laundry/housework done), play outside, dinner & Community Group Zoom call before bed.

Because we’re teachers and we don’t want to risk the need to quarantine and thus put a burden on our already-overworked-colleagues, we have stripped away everything that used to happen outside of our home. We go to work/school, Laidy has gymnastics (masked) once a week & that is it. We wear masks to grocery shop & any other errand we may need to take. We do church online (since March 1st), Community Group via Zoom, Facetime calls with family & lots of group text threads with extended family. Do our hearts yearn for in-person fellowship? Of course! There have been tears over decisions we’ve had to make, sacrificing Thanksgiving travel plans & most likely Christmas too. But, what is right isn’t always easy. We know too many people in the medical & education fields to risk stressing them & their systems more than they already are. To us, this is about safety & the well being of our neighbors.

The Greatest Commandment
28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’There is no commandment greater than these.”

“How can we help?” I’ve gotten that question as a follow up to the first.

Mask up.
Socially gather online instead of in person.
Every other CDC-offered idea (wash hands, stay home when not feeling well)
send a teacher or a medical professional a gift certificate to a restaurant that offers take out/curb-side pick up. Not needing to worry about what’s for dinner would be amazing. Our brains are already fried with the 10,000 other decisions we make to run a school day/work a 12hr shift.
send a teacher or medical professional a note of gratitude. Somehow, teachers are getting lots of flak online & it’s hurtful. We can’t defend ourselves on a social media thread-it doesn’t get anyone anywhere. As if my perfectionist tendencies weren’t already strong, the feeling of not being allowed to make a mistake for risk of getting excoriated by a parent….it’s scary. And my counselor & I are working on it!
Defend the educational & medical fields in the public square. If you hear something, SAY SOMETHING. if you read something, SAY SOMETHING. Every educator & medical professional I know is working their tails off & doing everything within their power to keep the plane in the air, meet every student’s needs & not let a single student fall through the cracks. We know in-person education is better than online. If you want to keep schools open, hear my plea: MASK UP.
PRAY. A lot. For strength, marriages, health (both mental & physical), stamina, good ideas/breakthroughs, peace & calm. One recent breakthrough I had as a teacher? The ability to have Spanish captions on my homeroom’s Google Hangout so I could finally communicate with a Spanish-only speaking student! I’m fairly certain colleagues heard my shrieks of joy down the hall!! It’s those kinds of good ideas I’m continuing to pray for.

Overall? Our home is safe, our little people are healthy (while Laidy deeply misses friends, she was ecstatic to have a FaceTime date with one yesterday, so there are bright spots!), Gerard & I are doing well. We’re figuring things out for our classrooms. It’s daunting, but we can do it with prayer & support.

We love you & miss seeing you in person!

Carrie

A Family of Two Teachers