Summer School and Struggle to Set a Post Chemo Routine has been the whole of my life in the past few days.
Summer School and Struggle for a Post Chemo Routine
This week summer school started and so began the struggle to re-establish a healthy routine with balanced time between work and the rest of my life. It has been a great challenge for me. So far, I have managed to spend an enormous amount of time at work and been consistent at the gym, but keeping up on household chores has been somewhat disastrous. Just to keep things interesting, I am having trouble getting to bed at a reasonable time and then having to roll out early the next morning because the school where I am teaching places me squarely in the middle of commute traffic. Consequently, it has seemed like the longest week! And actually, it is only the second full week I have worked since being released back to “normal” life.
But, I am enjoying teaching a new group of first grade or almost second grade students and working with a new staff. I consider this my time to work with training wheels on as I prepare to ride solo at another new school this fall. So far, things have been going well. Using training and experience from the past few years, I am having fun developing lessons with the needs of this unique group of students in mind. It has been a delightfully intriguing challenge that is yielding plentiful rewards. I am enjoying a deep joy and satisfaction in the job that I am doing and in the response of students to the lessons and activities I plan to engage them in learning.
Similarly, my students have settled into a happy routine and seem to be enjoying learning in my class. They have formed friendships with students from various schools, as this is a districtwide program and many of them had never met one another before. I am glad to see them happily engaged in learning and have once again remembered why I love teaching! I am hoping that this excitement and energy for teaching persists into the coming school year at my new school site and that I will be able to establish healthy boundaries for work that lead to a happy and healthy lifestyle that is conducive to good physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health.
Seeking Words of Wisdom
As I continue to struggle to find equilibrium in my life, I could use words of wisdom for what you have found or observed works.
Congrats on finishing two full weeks of working! That’s a big accomplishment. With any change to routines, I just take it one day at a time, and try not to do anything else out of the ordinary.
Grace, that is such good advice. Thank you for sharing your words of wisdom. I realize I tried to do too much this past week and ended up sleeping for hours this weekend. This week, I will have to be better about setting limits and not adding extra activities into my schedule.
Yes, limits are GOOD. I’ll do the same.