“It must be easy being a teacher… you only work 9-4 and think of all those holidays”

I can’t count the amount of times I have heard that or similar statements. Don’t worry I’m not going to go in to a rant about how inaccurate it is, but I will say, as a teacher I am always ready for the holiday – and the children usually are as well!

Last week it was slightly different, I have been doing work at home: preparing lessons, marking work, meeting pupils online, starting to think about next year (as much as can be done) and other bits and pieces as they have come along. However… it has all been at home, I have been able to take regular breaks, my alarm has been set later, and there isn’t the regular contact with people. So in my mind although I knew it was officially half term, I also felt I could just carry on as I had been doing – without the daily meeting – after all it was no different was it?

This is where I am thankful for observant friends and family who either suggested or instructed me to take a break this week. This is also where I would be grateful for a saluting emoji!!!!!!! E,S,H, mum and husband to name a few – but possibly the most dominant especially E and S!

So, the husband has been on annual leave – I made the decision at the beginning of the week that I would do no school work Monday to Wednesday – other than a couple of NECESSARY emails this was kept to. We went for walks, watched some films generally just spent time relaxing. By Thursday I felt so much better and when I sat down at the laptop I actually got the work I needed to get done significantly quicker than usual. Similarly on Friday. This meant that I was able to not do school work today.

If I hadn’t listened to those that cared for me, and if I hadn’t made a conscious decision of when I wouldn’t do school work, I honestly don’t think I would be feeling as good mentally and physically as I do.

In my previous post I spoke about the pilgrimage that the husband and I went on. Part of that pilgrimage was talking about what we felt God was saying to us. One of the main things for me is about my relationship with God, and my understanding of in order to develop that I need to stop and spend time speaking and listening. Throughout the Bible there are so many examples of people to stop and to listen, and from there relationships grow.

It is so easy to get caught up in life and not recognising the need to break and rest. We may not always recognise it for ourselves but we need to listen to the guidance and sometimes instruction given to us by those who see us.