#SELFCARESUMMER

Hello friend, I'm so glad that you've joined me for this post. 👋 I have a sneaking suspicion that you're here because something in the title of this post caught your attention. I don't know about you, but the end of this school year left me feeling tired and a bit frazzled. I LOVED my class for the 2017-2018 school year, and in many ways saying "good-bye" and sending them off to middle school was so hard. But, at the same time I'm ready for a BREAK. This brings me to my #SelfCareSummer. 

I had a friend ask me this last weekend what my big plans were for the summer. Typically I would answer this question by saying, "Oh I'm going to spend some time relaxing... then I'm going to work on my block plan for next school year, reorganize my classroom, make some anchor charts, and see what other fun opportunities come my way." However, when my friend asked me I without hesitation answered, "I'm going to make this my Self Care Summer." The words slipped right out of my mouth before I could really even give it much thought. But honestly I think my subconscious knew what was up. 

I always say that I'm going to spend time relaxing during the summer which I do (lounging around, watching Netflix, eating snacks) and then I go right back to work. I don't feel like any of those things are the best way to really take care of myself though. Teachers, we pour so much of our hearts and energy into our students and coworkers all year long that I think it's okay to make ourselves the priority this summer. This summer of self care will be filled with me doing things I already enjoy like reading books, going for walks/hikes, spending time catching up with friends... while also pushing myself to try new things or build new/better routines like yoga, meal planning, consistent devotional time, etc. 

I want to invite you to join me! I am no self care expert -- just a tired teacher who's trying not to perpetuate the glorification of busy-ness in our society and instead press the pause button this summer. I will still do things for school so that I feel ready to tackle the new school year, just not until August probably. Until then let's try some new things, do things that we already love, and find what brings us joy and fuels us to be healthy -- body and soul. I'll be posting my #SelfCareSummer journey on Instagram (@my_teacher_style) and I would love for you to interact with this blog post, my photos on Insta and share how your self care journey is going as well as share ideas with the Teacher Community. Let's make ourselves the priority this summer so that we can be the best version of us -- and then be ready to invest in those we love so dearly.