There’s No Tired Like Teacher Tired

Hello, and happy Wednesday! Depending on your area of the world, you may or may not be preparing to celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow. For me and my family, that means an AH-MAZING homemade meal with lots of family at my parents’ house on Thursday and then snuggling in for a nice, long, food-induced nap that afternoon. I’m not a traditional Black Friday shopper and instead choose to catch the online deals and avoid the craziness of the crowded stores while sipping my coffee in my pajamas. I’m sure I’m not alone in this statement, especially when the holidays are right around the corner — there’s no tired like teacher tired!

The phrase, “you can’t pour from an empty cup,” resonates with me on a daily basis, as I, like all of you, attempt to juggle and balance my family, career, and finding “me time.” In addition to being a full-time high school Social Studies teacher, I’m also an adjunct instructor of educational technology and history/political science (9 hours a semester), blogger, author, presenter, and most importantly, a mommy and a wife. My daughters are involved in 7 dance classes between them, and my oldest plays on two basketball teams right now (most of the time, we also throw in a traveling soccer team) and takes piano lessons. I’m so thankful that we’re able to provide these opportunities for our daughters, but at the same time, I typically feel like pulling out my hair by Tuesday afternoon.

As you can see, we have a few things going on in the Petty household. Sprinkle on top of those responsibilities the extremely important calling of teaching my students, and you have a recipe for a very tired teacher. While I’m tempted to spend my Thanksgiving break and other upcoming vacations from my classroom to get up early, catch up on grading, tackle the growing pile of laundry, go through my daughters’ drawers and take out what they’re rapidly outgrowing, clean my house, and other productive things, it’s also important for me to remember to relax during my break. Here are a few things I do to “just chill” while we’re off!

EXERCISE 
Yes, I love exercising! I’m almost done with a new workout program called LIIFT4, which, as its name implies, requires weight-lifting, with some high-intensity interval training, and core work, 4 days a week. I find that when I’m “in” a workout program and/or running on a regular basis, I’m more focused, have more energy (I need as much of that as I can get!), and generally feel better. What do you do to get your body moving?

FAVORITE SHOWS, BOOKS, AND MOVIES
While I’m a huge fan of exercising, I’m also a huge fan of binge-watching my favorite shows. I’m currently hooked on Outlander (holy moly) and also love Once Upon a Time. Fortunately, we also have almost all of the Harry Potter movies recorded on our DVR – #RavenclawForLife – as well as the Ultimate Guide to the Presidents from the History Channel (I can’t help it, I’m a nerd). I’m also excited to read a bit more of The Fiery Cross during our few days off (the fifth book in the Outlander series <– I may be obsessed). What other shows should I add to my “must-watch” list?

NAPS 
While one of the reasons I love working out is because of the energy boost it gives me, I also love a good nap. When I say nap, I don’t mean a 20-minute power nap. I mean a NAP. Like 2 hours snuggled under my favorite blanket, on my couch. You know, one of those naps you take and you wake up not sure if it’s morning or night, or even what day it is? Ya, those are my kind of naps, and I’ll DEFINITELY be taking one after Thanksgiving dinner 🙂

And yes, I’ll probably throw in grading a few assignments and getting ready for the week ahead, but I’m making a concerted effort to R-E-L-A-X a bit during our break. How do you find some “me time” and re-filling your cup during breaks?

Thanks for reading 🙂