What I Learned in February 2023
tl;dr an Enneagram 1 finally watched basketball
For such a supposedly short month, February 2023 really did hold a LOT. Here are a few of the things I learned (or relearned) this month, with my pups thrown in for good cheer:
Hotel rooms with no exterior facing windows are NOT FOR ME! I spent a weekend this month at a hotel that faced into the indoor pool area and oh my goodness was that claustrophobic AND loud. I’m a highly sensitive traveler who needs daylight whenever possible. Lesson learned.
You really CAN make chocolate chip cookies with no eggs or vanilla when you forget to buy the things you’re supposed to buy at the store ~ who knew! I substituted 1/4 cup applesauce for each egg and nothing for the vanilla. The consistency is a bit different, but they’re being eaten by my people and the kid who wanted to make cookies still got to make cookies despite my shopping fail.
After attending basketball games for the past oh, 35 years, I just this month learned how refs decide who gets a jump ball (i.e. when two kids are fighting over it). JUST THIS MONTH. This is why I say I have been attending basketball games rather than watching them because obviously I never watched very closely before? Or perhaps 5th grade girls have so many damn jump balls that I finally paid attention? For anyone else who didn’t know, you can try reading this but I’m just trusting what my husband told me about the possession arrow.
I’m currently in a professional growth phase (one way of saying it) and I had an epiphany this month that I’ve never really been in a spot like this before. I’ve always been pretty good at things and received lots of praise shortly after starting endeavors, so feeling unsure of myself and receiving almost no feedback a year into this position is unsettling for me. For all of you fellow teachers out there, THIS is what happens when those kids don’t get adequately challenged and are praised too much in school ~ they turn into full grown adults who FREAK OUT when things are hard or there’s no external validation ;-) Kidding, kidding. Or am I? I’m trying to lean into being in a learning phase rather than a excelling phase ~ this Type 1 is finding it to be a bit of a challenge.