The in's and out's of teaching and parenting.

Momma's Day... sustainability... Giving thanks is assuredly necessary to maintain sustainable relations with all those we owe thanks to, and mothers are assuredly those that we owe thanks to.

I have been working all weekend on finishing up the school year. And as Jess and the girl are visiting the grand momma, I've been missing my parenting duties. A few thoughts on teaching and parenting...

I feel that sustainable parenting and sustainable teaching have everything to do with monitoring the inputs and the outputs of our mind-systems. Burnout is as real for a parent as it is for teaching; the difference is that 1 in 3 teachers quits within 5 years. Divorce has a similar rate, but you can't exactly divorce your kids. Inputs and outputs for a parent or teacher are about how much we get for how much we receive. The teacher complains about the pay and long hours; the parent, about the long hours and costs.

Those are not the only ins and outs of the system though, are they? To maintain balance of ins and outs, we need to monitor our minds; need to observe the observer. Working too hard for how much is coming in to replace it - that is close to a definition of unsustainable.

First, get better about the outs; more efficient. As a first year teacher, efficiency is what I work on the most. As a parent, I am still trying to figure out, what is efficient parenting?

Second, put good quantities of good quality in; yoga and meditation are miraculous methods for recharging the system.

SO, I am going to go do some yoga nidra while I wait for Jess to come home. Then, I have to get back to work for the next few weeks of school.

Thanks for reading - log in and leave a comment about how you monitor the ins and outs of your system

Ben