Max: Yesterday, I told the substitute that I was either going to do everything I was supposed to do and have the best day ever, or I was going to need a psychologist.
Me: What did the sub say?
Max: She laughed.
Joey: I need a physicist too.
Me: A what?
Joey: A physicist.
Me: Of course… who doesn’t need a physicist?
*Once again, all kids’ names will be changed to protect the humorous…
Short of a seven day trip to Florida, if this seven-day forecast for the Boston area doesn’t make you smile, I don’t know what will. Look at all that sunshine, and temperatures over 40!
So, I was thinking today about how I have, in many ways, dropped my Happiness Project. School started again, and my project slowly dropped down the list of priorities as report cards, parent-conferences, grading, and the monotony of daily life took over. As I sit here, I’m neglecting my project once again, skipping out on my yoga class in favor of an evening in bed. It’s not that an evening in bed with a book is bad, it’s when one evening with a book becomes two evenings with a book, which slowly becomes more than a month since I’ve made it to that yoga class. I LOVE that yoga class, but the class is at 6:30 p.m. on Friday nights only, and by Friday I often feel too drained to do anything but sit in my bed with a book. I feel better when I go to class, but the days when I do are increasingly infrequent.
It struck me tonight, as my regular debate raged how much discipline happiness actually takes. My slothful self would prefer to lounge around all day everyday, but that doesn’t actually make me feel very good. I’d prefer to sleep until 10:00 every weekend, but it screws up my routine for 5/7ths of the week. I’d prefer to order take-out every night, but I feel crummy both physically and emotionally after I do. Even the sugar-free thing is a struggle, but on the days when I managed to avoid excess sugar, I had more energy, my brain processed information more effectively, and my body just felt like things were running more smoothly.
I wish happiness didn’t require discipline. The project would be so much simpler if I could just do what I felt like doing all the time, but that doesn’t result in true happiness, in fact more often than not it just results in guilt. So, we’re back to the project with a couple of goals for the week:
I spent most of yesterday at a reading conference in Williamstown, MA. It was a nice break from the ordinary, but most of all it reminded me of how passionate I am about reading. Two years ago, I started a program to become a reading specialist. I had to stop due to scheduling conflicts with my job, but the first three classes I took were absolutely fascinating. I had never realized before how complex reading is, or how quickly reading deficits turn into serious issues for kids. This conference made me want to figure out if I could somehow pursue that degree again, just one more thing to ruminate on.
In the meantime, I am psyched for the weekend. I am still not on a normal schedule after a vacation when I could sleep whenever I wanted, and wake whenever I wanted. The sleep deficit I’ve created is beginning to catch up with me. Last night, I found myself starting to fight sleep at 7:45, and finally gave in at 8:15. The importance of a sleep routine has never been more fully impressed upon me, however, the idea of waking up no later than 6:30 on the weekends has me running for the hills. Do you maintain a regular sleep/waking routine? How do you find the discipline to wake up earlier than necessary on the weekends?
74 more school days…
Have I mentioned before that I teach? I spend my working life, my 9-5 (or 8-3:15 as the case may be) with a bunch of upper elementary students, and sometimes it’s all I can do not to laugh out loud. Today was a particularly funny day and I submit this conversation to you as evidence:
Pete*: Why are you going to be out on Thursday?
Me: I have to go to a conference. Did you know that grown-ups still have to learn?
Pete: Yeah… I found that out awhile ago. It’s too bad, because I was planning on just staying home all the time when I grew up.
This conversation was followed by a conversation with the same student a few minutes later. He began by telling me how his three year old neighbors don’t ever want to get married.
Me: Well, Pete, are you planning on getting married?
Pete: Ummm… I think I need to learn some algebra before I make that kind of decision.
(*All names were changed to protect the hysterical)
I should have known that giving up sugar the week after my birthday was a plan destined to fail. I mean really, who does that kind of thing (with the possible exception of people who want to fail that is…)? I went into work all proud of myself and my black coffee with a breakfast of clementines, plain english muffin (without jam), and hard-boiled egg behind me. I had a healthy relatively sugar free lunch packed. I was ready to go.
And then… I walked into work upset because my classroom had been relatively torn apart by a photo shoot that had taken place there over the weekend. It took me most of the day to get it back to normal, and even now there’s some stuff that’s just not right. (Emotional Eating Trigger #1) I had a meeting after school on a Monday. On Mondays all I really want to do after school is nap. (Emotional Eating Trigger #2) I was feeling stressed because I hadn’t finished my lesson plans, and I’m missing a day of work this week so I need to be ahead of the game, not behind. (Emotional Eating Trigger #3)
So already, I’m more or less feeling set up to fail when I walk into the teacher’s lounge where there’s a smorgasbord of free food. Cupcakes, box lunches, fruit with whipped cream, you name it, it seemed to be there. My healthy lunch of fruit with plain yogurt, and rice pilaf no longer sounded so appealing. I managed to squeeze by with trading in my sack lunch for a box lunch of salad and a piece of bread, threw the dressing on the salad before I looked at the ingredients and then discovered, sugar was the #3 ingredient. I gave myself a free pass on that one since it’s only my first day, but it made me realize that sugar is hiding in more places than I realized, and if I’m going to do this successfully, I’m going to have to be more aware (or just eat my sack lunch).
As for the warm chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream I ate at community group tonight? Well, that was for my birthday… and it made me more aware of the fact that “special occasions” lurk around every corner, and I’d better decide what really is a special occasion before everyday becomes an excuse to pop some sugar into me.
Simply Life 