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Apparently, the shining exuberance generated from a restful spring break has faded to a lackluster flickering light. A few posts ago, I talked about how a well-rested employee is a happy employee. I came down with a little something this week and have been trudging through this week like my feet are in molasses. I did everyone a favor by self-quarantining myself in my office away from potentially infecting others with my sniffle because I’m nice like that. Only now at the end of the week I realized I was doing the opposite of the very same thing I was proselytizing to others to do in my last post: to take care of yourself.
SO I would like to acknowledge how difficult it is to stop the hurried rush to meet deadlines, test students, write reports, do counseling, meet with that parent, do the survey with the teacher, meet the supervisor for the evaluation meeting, go to the new charter school and do an observation, call the hospital to see if a kid has been discharged, call the parent and butcher the Spanish language in the name of a obscenely overdue triennial assessment (e.g. “I have terminated the assessment of your child. Oh, and to you I give the paper of the many questions? You to me bring that paper of the many questions?*) Etc etc.
In retrospect, a day off in the beginning of the week would have made the end of my week less painful. I know I’m feeling run down because of the conversation I had with a colleague Friday. She is retiring at the end of this year. I ran into her and asked her for tips on the state retirement fund because it is so hard to think that far down the road, but I know I should:
Me: Congrats on your retirement! Only a few more months left. Any advice?
Colleague: I would advise going on the state retirement website and putting in how many years of service you have and what age you plan to retire. So you would put in 25 years more of service and…are you okay?
Me: Um, I just threw up in my throat a little thinking about doing this for another 25 years.
Colleague: Rough week?
Me: You could say that I'm running on empty.
Colleague: Please go home now.
And I did. And here’s to resting up this weekend! Sniff, sniff.
*If anyone knows how to say "Rating Scale" or "Behavioral Survey" in Spanish, do let me know!