Read Number 6.

A few years ago I heard the phrase "self-care". 
In fact, it was a doctor who looked me square in the face and asked me "what do you do for self-care?"
I had (no joke) NEVER heard this phrase before.  NEVER.  It must have shown on my face, but she didn't even flinch and went on to ask what I did for myself.  Like without guilt to take care of myself.  I thought for a minute and listed off things like sleeping in once a week, morning showers, taking the long way home from work while listening to murder podcasts (the usual??)

These apparently are not things that count as self-care.  (I mean I guess they are a little bit, but she wanted to examples of what I was doing to better my self-worth and happiness). 

Even now that school started, I can't think of much -- actually,  sometimes I leave work early and eat my yogurt in my car and listen to my murder podcast for an extra 15 minutes.

I find that recently there has even been a push for self-care in the teaching community.  I have a teacher Instagram account and I had NO idea how huge the teacher Instagram community was!  Everyone with their Pinterest perfect classrooms, daily vlogs, lessons that "seem" to go perfectly.  I thank the universe every day that this shit wasn't around when I first started teaching because I would have gone CRAZY trying to keep up AND survive.
H O W E V E R
I have noticed a very recent trending topic in the teaching community, and that my friends is a little word called "self-care".   Yup -- teachers need this too.

Watching the Platt JV Scocer Game
on a Friday afternoon!

As teachers (like parents) take a lot of the burden of our jobs home.  Emotionally, Psychologically, Physically.  I've always had a secret rule not to bring work home with me (unless it was planning) and I am pretty good about that -- but I'm an English teacher with 120 students -- I can't grade all those essays in one 50 minute block a day.  BUT -- I use every second of my prep, I stay after school, blah blah blah..... 

I'm sure you are wondering what the point of all this is... and it's really simple.  It was a way to tell you all that today -- the 3rd week of school, with ZERO grades in my grade book for my students, and ALL the ambition to grade at home tonight, I LEFT MY folders at school!  ON ACCIDENT.  I had fully committed to listening to My Favorite Murder all night and grading all of the little assessments I've had my beautiful new group of students do, and I just plain forgot them.

And in my brain when I realized my bag was empty --  there was NOTHING.  I didn't fret, I didn't worry, I didn't even drive the 30 minutes back to work to get them (that's how big my pile is).  I just shrugged my shoulders and moved on. 

Colin taught me -- step by step -- how to draw Mat Man. 
Mine is on the left - his on the right.

Instead, do you know what I did:
1) I called one of my students parents to tell them that he did an amazing job in class on Friday
2) I tried to change Brian's flight out of CT for Kristen's wedding this weekend
3) Colin and I made dinner together
4) Colin and I ate dinner together, laughing and laughing
     (his favorite thing today was "doing Mat Man" and "practicing my coloring")
5) Letting Colin help wash the dishes -- he's actually REALLY good at it!
6) Played Paw Patrol/PJ Masks do the fights and smash each other!  I game where we take all the Paw Patrol action figures and toys we have, and we give one of the PJ Masks (the blue one??) Maui's hook, and I (and the PJ Mask guy) have to try and defend the tower of legos from the silly Paw Patrollers (Colin).
The game is completely unbalanced, and I lose every single time.  But I also laugh so hard.  Colin is so funny!  He makes jokes, he has little voices for his characters, and he really thinks about how to attack me!  We probably played like that for a good hour before we needed a snack break and to get ready for bed.  

There's something about sitting on the floor in your living room, playing silly pretend games, and watching your child's
eyes light up that just make your whole life. 

I guess I could have just told you the #6 story from the beginning, but that moment prompted me to think about why it felt so fun.  I had nothing else pulling at me.  No papers I might want to grade, I put the laundry out of my mind.  We had already done the dishes together... it was self-care for the soul.  It was a moment that Colin probably won't ever remember, but I think I will.