My family has decided that our annual Thanksgiving reunion is very low priority this year. The pandemic sidetracked our celebration for a couple of years, and this year we just couldn't get confirmation from enough people to have it. I think it's over, and I'm pretty sad about it. I do believe that we all make decisions every day on what is important to us, and what is not important. We find time for the things that are important.
One of the things I loved about our Thanksgiving reunion was that I didn't have to cook! No recipes were needed for this particular holiday, as we had it catered in a hotel ballroom in the town where we all grew up. This year, hubby and I will be hosting our daughter, son in law, and grandchildren at home.
My insomnia, aided by the helpful blog fairies, has my brain spinning this morning with recipes of all sorts: recipes for each of the upcoming holidays this year, recipes for self care, and recipes for a happy and successful classroom. I'm also in search today of ingredients for one of my biggest kitchen passions, Korean cooking. Looking for pickled white radish today for some culinary fun before turkey prep begins in earnest!
I love love love to cook! Adding that as a fun ingredient used to be an integral part of my classroom. The rise of peanut allergies and warnings about viruses put an end to that. Any good cook knows that ingredients can be subbed out and that recipes can still be shared with students and their families to be tried at home. I coauthored a book with my forever friend Fay, and we used to cook up a storm in sessions at conferences. Our lesson plan recipes combined Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Art, and Math long before anyone had ever heard of STEM, STEAM, or STREAM! Maybe you attended one of our packed sessions! It was a fun time!
Here are a few recipes to get you through the holiday season with your energy, humor, and love of family and teaching intact!
A recipe for teacher self care:
- Gather up a few hobbies or things that you just enjoy doing, and deliberately put them into your schedule. I would choose reading, Zumba, and knitting. give them a value of one hour or 30 minutes each day, and make them as important as a doctor's appointment. They ARE as important!
- Spend some time with friends. Lunch or coffee, shopping, long walks, whatever you enjoy doing together. Again, give it a spot on the schedule and honor its value.
- Add a new practice to your self-care routine: yoga, meditation, bubble baths, audiobooks or podcasts. Find a quiet, inward-facing thing that you like to do.
Some recipes to use this holiday season:
Wishing you a peaceful, calm, and fun holiday season!
For more November ideas, please check out the fabulous bloggers of Teacher Talk!
If you would also like to be a part of Teacher Talk, we are a group of teacher bloggers who share posts
that are heavy on the ideas with just a little selling of our educational materials at TeachersPayTeachers.com. For more information about joining The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative, go to https://bit.ly/3o7D1Dv. Feel free to email me at retta.london@gmail.com if you have any questions.
No comments