Hello and welcome to a dreary, good-grief-less-than-two-weeks-to-Christmas Saturday here at the Wannaskan Almanac. Today is December 12th.
Anyone else feeling stressed?
All things considered, we had a pretty good week with distance learning. (Week 4 of the 2020-21 school year, by the way.) The holiday season can be both joyful and stressful. Add a dollop of pandemic on top of that banana split and we get an extra serving of crazy.
Fortunately, I have a good friend who is really into self-care. Wannaska country resident Kathy Magnusson of Roseau is an education consultant and owner of Wildewood Learning. Kathy has been really busy helping educators these past few weeks navigate the complex reality of distance learning. In her staff development workshops, she offers up "soul snacks", i.e. activities that feed the soul. Kathy was kind enough to share her list with me and all of you!
Here are some ways that I have been sneaking soul snacks into my family's body as well as my own.
Physical Activity - Okay, so you know how I went through a cake (and doughnut) phase? Yeah, well, like they say, "A moment on the lips. A lifetime on the hips." It was high time I got my heart rate up so I started going outside with the Kindergartner. While we waited for the yellow school bus to drop off the lunch, I ran laps in the driveway, did jumping jacks, push-ups, and other various calisthenics. I even pulled out my bike and did a couple loops around the neighborhood. The WAKWIR* and the littles invented an outdoor game called "Dizzy Monster" which is played at night and frightens the pants off the littles. But they love it, so....whatever works!
Breathing - Understanding how important it is to keep my cool while everyone clicks through their assignments on Kami or hops on to yet another Google Meet, I'm doing a LOT of deep breathing. I've been learning breathing techniques from the book My Grandmother's Hands by Resmaa Menakem. When I sense my body tensing and feel the red stuff rising in the crabby-mom-eter, I set both feet on the ground and take a deeeeeeeep breath in and slowly exhale. I do this several times until I feel my throat loosening and the air traveling all the way down to my belly.
Positive Social Interaction - Okay, I know that Zoom fatigue is a real thing so I try to be cognizant of overuse. But, as an extrovert, my dirty secret is that I absolutely love Zoom. You can talk and see your Zoom counterparts! At least once a week, I try to spend some time socializing with gal pals over Zoom. On Fridays, for example, we co-work over Zoom. (This means working "together" in the same virtual space.) Wine is usually involved. I have a regular Thursday night date with a group of women - part book club, part weekly check-in. (Wine welcome here, too) My local book club just recently made the transition to virtual meetings (wine required), whereas our local Star of the North Toastmasters club has been meeting twice a month since last spring. We spruce things up by encouraging costumes and fun backgrounds (and toasts with faux wine or otherwise). On Sundays, I occasionally join a weekly mom-writers group to work on my novel. (Too early for wine.)
Laughter - If a day has been particularly stressful, I will put on a CD, burst out in song, and bust out some dance moves in the kitchen. Sometimes someone will say a word or phrase which will trigger a song memory. This has led to an impromptu crash course for the kids on '80s and '90s rock-n-roll. Kid tunes from Sandra Boynton are tried and true and always a big winner. The Older Kids put me on to FailArmy and Sarcasm Therapy on SnapChat. Admittedly the humor can be sometimes dark, but, hey, dark times call for desperate measures.
Affection - When the kids are driving me cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs and I am ready to tear my hair out or pack my bags and risk the Covid for a cross-country road trip break, I know that's when I need to hug them. Kathy says 20-second hugs work wonders. I think she's right. Sleeping babes are still a delight, and even though I spend most of my day with the Kindergartener, I still never tire of his nighttime snuggles.
BOG (Big Old Cry) - While I have yet to break down in tears myself, just yesterday the Kindergartener and the Third Grader used this self-care strategy. When I told the Kindergartener we had just one more day of school before the weekend, the poor kid just burst into tears. Thanks to Kathy, I knew just to sit with him, rub his back, and let him cry. Sure enough, after a few minutes, he wiped away the tears, decided for fun that he'd work backward through Friday's to-do list, and got everything done by noon. The Third Grader's moment came in the afternoon over math. Usually, when her anxiety ratchets up, I try to console her with logic - that energy put into crying sucks all the brain cells away from learning. This time, I just waited and let the tears drip splashy splotches on her homework. The paper didn't even have to dry before she was ready to try composing her own comparison story problems again. While BOG isn't an exact acronym, it's easy to remember and I love it anyway.
Creative Expression - In moments of particular desperation, I will pick up the pen (or my laptop) and just write about the crazy. Ten minutes usually does the trick. And some of it even makes it on here!
So, grab yourself and your family a few soul snacks and send me an email or comment below and let me know what feeds your soul!
Happy Holidays!
On This Day
Remembering You
Kim
*Wannaskan Almanac Kid Writer-in-Residence
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