Keep calm and you know the rest.
And there's really no reason to panic right now.
*cough* bullshit *cough*
Yesterday a friend approached me as I worked out at the gym. She is in the process of becoming the fitness coordinator at a local gym called Anu Fitness. She asked me to come on board as one of two yoga teachers. She wants me to teach there three to four times a week, and to teach the classes I want to teach (I want to teach classes called Fusion Flow. Fun music, different every time, and a complete divergence from what every.single.yoga.teacher in gyms in our area teach, which is Baptiste flow (under the name Vinyasa Flow). They all were trained at the same studio (Power Yoga Works), and they all teach the exact same class. Which is great and many of them are wonderful amazing teachers….but you are getting the same thing day in and day out. Which, after 7 years at ACAC, I can tell you, gets boring. Anyway. This is a great opportunity. Its exactly what I want! But. But summer is coming (this is my new Mantra…..for anyone who watches Game of Thrones I feel like the Snow family mirror ~)….and with summer comes kids. Kids 24/7.
Just today I signed them up for the swim team at CVG. They are officially Dolphins. That means practice every single day M-F. Swim team clinics actually start indoors in April. Bigs are doing Junior Golf once a week. All of this probably means that we won't be doing any camp this year, and we won't be going to Cape May until August. With me teaching on Sundays and Mondays and swim meets on Tues and Thurs there won't be many long weekends at the beach. I play every Tuesday, Nate and I will play most every friday and Sunday afternoon. Currently it seems that every child in the tri state area is throwing a birthday party. I have to undergo like 72 trainings at the Y, ranging from new hire trainings to CPR to sexual abuse avoidance. Nate is in Europe for a week this month for work, and a week next month for vacation….on top of his regular work travel. wGap matches start in April. This shit is bananas. B A N A N A S. And its all great bananas, and bananas that I 'm completely 100% choosing, and taking ownership for. Yet…..yet I want to teach yoga. The problem with Anu is that they don't have childcare. So, I've come up with a plan. I'm going to try to set up a scenario in which Sue and I go in there together. I will try to get myself just a Sunday morning class between my Y class and my cross fit classes. I will get Sue in on the only openings she has, which would be Monday night or Tuesday or Thursday morning. (She currently teaches 16 classes a week). She is making me her sub for the inversion class at the Spirit of Yoga. This will get MY toe in the door there. So I scratch her back and she scratches mine….and I get through the summer. Come September I will have a lot more experience between the 3-4 classes I teach on a regular basis plus any classes I pick up subbing, and I can reevaluate. The bigs will be in school from 8:30-4 M-F. Jake will be in 4 days a week, and I have the option to do extended day, which he did one day this year and I could do more next year.
My biggest enemy is myself, in all of this. I have a tendency to…..jump in with both feet? I keep reminding myself that the BEST way to sabotage myself in all of this is to take on commitments that I can't keep. I'm already seeing what a ridiculously small little world this community is ~ everybody knows everybody ~ and the worst thing that could happen is that I get a reputation as a flake who always needs subs. So, I'm trying to basically do everything against my normal nature and take it slowly. Try places out. Be open. Be gracious with sharing opportunities. Be aware of my actual situation with a husband who travels all the time. Picture myself sitting at the pool on a gorgeous day at 5 pm……and having to bundle everyone up to rush off to teach a 6 PM class on a weeknight…..will I really want to do that? You know the answer to that, right?
In other news I volunteered for lunch duty at Lukes school yesterday for the first time. I nearly keeled over. I COULD.NOT.BELIEVE the shit that these kids were eating. Pizza, tater tots, chocolate or strawberry milk, chocolate pudding, or a chocolate and vanilla ice cream cup. There were chocolate chip cookies. And yes, there were apples and oranges and salad, but I saw those things on like 4 trays. The alternative to pizza was chicken nuggets that looked fried to perdition. My kids go to a "blue ribbon" school which gets a 10 on the "Great schools" rating system. And they are serving these kids TOTAL SHIT. Luke doesn't even have a cafeteria account, I pack his lunch every day, so I've never looked at the menus that are sent home every month. I was seriously just blown away. How on Earth do they expect kids to eat this stuff (little kids! First and second graders!) then go LEARN and sit and be quiet all afternoon?
I came home so riled up. Nate had to talk me off the ledge of "Melis you can't change the world overnight" stuff……but I seriously was just so SAD for these kids. It was gross. And so many of them were eating it. And I just had no idea. And now that I DO know, what do I do with that knowledge? Where do I even start?
Awww, look at you guys! You had such adorable babies (and now gorgeous kids). Your schedule and plans sound crazy, but you always manage to work things out and make it seem effortless. I'm sure you'll find a good balance and the yoga opportunities will still present themselves even if things don't fall into place quite like you hope.
ReplyDeleteOur school is a 10 on the Great Schools rating system as well. It's one of the top 100 schools in the state. But I would imagine their lunch is similar. I think it's a really hard spot for schools to be in. They only have limited funds. Parents would have to not only be willing to pay the higher cost for better quality food, but also enforce those good eating habits at home. Otherwise, you can put all the good food in front of kids and it will just be thrown away in favor of waiting for the fast food dinner (or whatever). Our school has a full salad/fruit bar every day, but I just doubt kids are using that to supplement the pizza and nuggets. I don't know what the answer is, but I continue to pack my kids' lunches and hope their decent eating habits continue. (Funny story, Lucas is super hooked on blood oranges right now. I think half of the reason is because he tortures the other kids by eating the oranges in front of them. None of his friends will even try a slice despite being told how good they are and that they taste like regular oranges...not selling points, I guess? He said "Mom, they just want to eat their fruit snacks for fruit." In fairness, fruit snacks as a dessert are okay...but they are not fruit by a long shot.)
Melissa, I agree with the kids eating poorly..all carbs and sugar and then how can you expect them to sit still after lunch. My friend Ketmala in WC just got asked to teach kids in some WC schools about proper nutrition. She may have some insights. She is a personal chef (the one where I leared to make the heavenly macarons you liked, albeit may not remember as you'd just broken your hip). Take a look at her website. www.ketmalaskitchen.com Her contact information is on there.
ReplyDeleteoy, with the lunches - it kills me (though I pack my kids' lunches), and what *really* kills me is for some kids that is their only dependable meal for the day. There's a lot percolating inside me about hunger right now...trying to figure out how I will help.
ReplyDeleteand that's awesome that teaching opportunities abound! I totally get it and tend to be the same way, always wanting to say yes, enthusiastically. But you are so right, you want to make sure you commit to what you can really commit to, and what you WANT to do. I've come to realize that just because I *can* teach xyz classes xyz places, doesn't mean I have to, doesn't mean I should. I too am looking forward to being able to teach more in the fall!
That schedule makes my head spin, but you have a LOT more fire in you than I do :) - good thinking to find productive ways to channel it but definitely allow for some down time too (I tend to err on the other end of the spectrum)!