Every day I interact with my students through a screen. I make videos of myself teaching lessons, staring at my own reflection instead of into my students’ eyes. We communicate through stilted, typed comments instead of cheerful calls across the cafeteria and high-fives and the exuberant, cacophonous sounds of woodwinds, brass and percussion. I spend […]
Perspective
Days 7/8: The Spider Bite
On Monday night, my left knee started to swell up. It quickly became very painful to walk, and by Tuesday morning I was confined to the couch. My husband and I worried about how to best take care of the kids with me unable to walk. I decided it was necessary to brave going to […]
Day 2: Avoiding the Doctor’s Office (But Not Best Buy)
I had all the best intentions of getting up early today, but last night I was woken up twice by Eleanor. The first was to give her water and Tylenol– her fever was back up again. The second time her fever was down, but she wanted a hug and a snuggle. That last time was […]
Grandma’s Card Game
Hello, readers! I’m back with the February blog challenge! I’ll be starting today with a story about a card game and what it taught me about making the best of difficult times, then I’ll be posting every day until Saturday, the end of February. Let me confess: I really need this blogging challenge right now. […]
What Being Open Really Means
My word for 2020 is OPEN. If you’d asked me what that meant on January 1, I would have said it’s a state of mind that encourages me to notice and seize possibilities. OPEN prompts me to be prepared to act, and act boldly. It pushes me to take risks. On January 1, this felt […]
The Value of Quiet
I had a chaotic day yesterday. From my daughter waking up early, to a rock band rehearsal in my band room when I got to school, through a busy teaching day where there was always a lesson or rehearsal going on, to my daughter’s dance studio after school, there was a constant stream of noise […]