What IS Self-Care?

It is finally February Break (a weeklong phenomenon only in parts of the country), and I am so grateful. 

The Friday before, we all received an email from the technology/instructional coaches, about a professional development opportunity OVER BREAK. And, to make it worse, it was a "wellness challenge." I was swiftly filled with the fury of a million murder hornets. THIS IS BREAK! I fumed. HOW DARE YOU INFILTRATE IT WITH ONE MORE FREAKING THING TO DO IN THE NAME OF "SELF CARE!"

Well, I am glad I clicked on the link (perhaps out of rage research), because it was not at all what I thought it was. I thought it was going to be one of those horrid calendars that are about weight loss or how many planks you can do by the end of break. I thought it was going to be the sort of self-care "work" that workplaces put out to make you think they care, but actually are meant to guilt you into working yourself further into the ground (and adding to your to-do list). 

It's actually a fun scavenger hunt in the app GooseChase, where we get an hour and a half PD credit (90 hours of credit = a small bump to our base salaries, which add up over time) to accept and log challenges like "sleep in," "write the definition of hygge," "read a book and post a picture," "do a puzzle," and then weirder ones like "get a receipt or a photo of you with exactly $.11 of gas" and "find a license plate where the numbers add up to exactly 11." NONE of it is related to instruction. NONE of it is a juice cleanse or plank challenge. 

So of course, I signed up, and it's entertaining to see the challenges (I didn't think 11 cents of gas was even possible, but apparently it's .03 gallons here currently), and to get PD credit for literally relaxing and doing silly things. Some are things I've meant to do but have not had time, like "declutter an area of your house" or "spend 30 minutes doing a hobby you haven't done in a long time because you've been too busy." I'm going to get my violin out later today. Not sure why it took an app to remind me that I miss it. 

It's entertaining, and fills me with zero rage. However, I have to say that the best self care initiative was our building leadership giving us release time to work on IEPs the week before break, so that "we can truly enjoy break and not use it for work." OMG, it was wonderful. I still had 3-4 hours I had to do on Sunday, but I plowed through it and now I am doing NOTHING ELSE school-related for the rest of break. (Other than mailing said paperwork today, and dropping off my laptop at school so I hold myself accountable.) THAT is a true self-care initiative -- something that is provided by work that says you are valued, we want you to come back refreshed, and we KNOW that most special education teachers use at least half of February break for IEP writing. I'll take that any day! 

We are going to Vermont tomorrow through Saturday (and have a house sitter, so no killers) and it is going to be glorious. I will have nothing over my head. I will just bring books and maybe some mini puzzles and a notebook. Sadly, I won't be able to hike (knee nonsense), but I will sit by a fireplace and read and truly relax and melt away. Which is the best kind of self-care.