I’m at my son’s swim lesson again. It was my husband’s turn this week, but our son was home sick on Thursday and my husband stayed home with him. For this I was very grateful, and it felt like the least I could do was take him to swimming today.
Plus, I could grade quizzes while I was there. I could get some of my own stuff done, while giving my husband some time.
Then I left those quizzes at home. Sigh.
This is yet another weekend that will require hours of work from me. My free reading program is coming to a close and we’re filming our final video skits in the last two classes. Both require a fair amount of work from me.
I’ve been thinking hard about how to change things so I’m not working so much next year. The problem is that these two giant time sucks are the aspects of my program I am most proud of. Especially the free reading program, which is the result of many years of development and tweaking. It gives the kids’ choice, and incentivizes them to read more than what is required. Reading comprehensible texts is a powerful language acquisition tool, especially at this level, and I know it’s valuable. The thought of getting rid of this program breaks my heart. So I’m trying to find ways to scale it down or otherwise make it more manageable. So far I haven’t come up with anything.
The video skits are easier to par down. We could just do two in each class instead of three. There are probably other ways I could make them easier for myself. I’ll definitely be considering that, as I don’t feel they are as effective a language acquisition tool. Of course, they are a student favorite. Everyone on campus talks about it when we’re filming our video skits. It’s kind of a big deal. And it could still be a big deal when we do two, instead of three.
The reality is, I don’t mind working some at home, even on the weekends, IF I have the time to do it. This weekend feels very full, and I’m having to make time when it feels like there are absolutely no margins. Right now I’m on the elliptical because I needed to get some work done on the computer. I’m using my last ten minutes to finish up this post.
Tonight I’m seeing friends, which I desperately need to do. I worked about twice as long last night as I intended to, so I could not work tonight (the plans were made last minute last night).
Tomorrow is Mother’s Day and I am so fortunate to get to see my own mother and spend much of the day with her. My plan is to work before we meet up for brunch and then to work while the family is watching Galaxy Quest (at my request).
It’s not ideal, but it is what it is. Next weekend should be my last big push, and I’ll be asking for students to turn in their pages throughout the week so hopefully I won’t have too much to do over the weekend.
I hope everyone reading this has an okay day tomorrow. I know there are lots of reasons to feel stress, anxiety and sadness on this day. I have a complicated relationship with it myself. So I hope you all find a way to take care of yourself tomorrow, and that you feel meaningfully seen and appreciated by someone you love, regardless of your maternal status.
What a lovely acknowledgement of the complexities of Mother’s Day which also applies to Father’s Day. Glad you are able to see and be with your mother and also your children. For the record, I think you are an impressive mother.
Two not 3 skits sounds smart. Believe you will think of ways to streamline the reading program and reduce your workload with it. Sending best wishes on this and let the process ferment in your brain while you get to the last week of school. It hopefully will become clearer that way.
Thank you, happy mother’s day to you. Happy to hear you got to see your mom. You are one hell of a mom, I mean it!
Happy Mother’s Day! Glad you got to spend it with your mom and have at least a little of what you wanted. “Not ideal but good enough” feels very representative of motherhood to me!
It was a complicated day for me. My mom’s long gone, I’m especially feeling Sera’s 🐶 absence since I’d normally want to take her on a family walk in morning and it was really hard to push past that grief to articulate what I needed as second best. We ended up having a small exploration and that was also not ideal but good enough. ❤️