A Tale of Two Sister Months #SOL18


December wears sparkles and shimmers,
Deep red lips, sequins and crushed velvet.
She throws her head back in laughter
as she parties all month long.
Her laugh like the jingle of a bell. 
She drinks too much.
Eats too much, 
Spends too much. 
December throws caution to the wind,
lives in the moment,
celebrates everything.

 December's older, more responsible sister,
is January.
January wears beige and gray, and often black.
She wakes up every morning to exercise
And counts every calorie.
Nary a donut passes by January's lips. 
January thinks carefully about the cost 
And rarely spends at all. 
Watching the numbers in her bank account 
Sighing as she pays off December's debts
AGAIN.
She often doesn't feel very celebratory. 
But, that January- she's a do-er. 
When you resolve to be better at everything,
go see January. 
***

I've often thought about December and January as polar opposites. December is a time we let our hair down and relax all our rules about eating, drinking and spending in the quest to make the holidays perfect and fun-filled. January is the time to repent for all the indulgences in December- the bills come in, the scale is up, and everything that was let go to make merry is now waiting, impatiently, for your attention. As I was mulling these ideas the other day, I thought about personifying December and January as sisters, and how opposite they are, as sisters can be. 

 But then I thought, what would December be without January? And what would January be without December? We can't have our whole year filled with indulging and overdoing it, nor can we have our whole year full of restrictions without celebrations. December and January together balance us out- we let loose and then come back to our senses. But the letting loose needs to happen, just as coming back to our senses does too. 

 Now that it's January's turn at the wheel, I'm waving goodbye to December and her chocolates and butter cookies. I'm embracing healthier habits, being more fiscally sound, and looking towards their sister June's arrival. June has sun-streaked hair, wears tank tops and flip flops and ushers in a time of relaxation. June's polar opposite is September, but we aren't going to talk about her right now. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

#SOL16 Lesson From Piper

Image
Have you seen the Disney Pixar Short film Piper ?  If not, go watch...I'll wait. :) I watched this movie today with a few of my students who stay after school for "Club Success" (formerly called "tutoring" but this feels way more positive for the kids who are asked to stay). After we watched Piper , we wrote about the movie and then shared our writing. Each of the three students who wrote touched upon the idea that Piper had to learn how to get the food for herself. Some students mentioned the pride she felt after she learned how to survive the big waves and find food.  We talked about the mistakes she made and how they helped her to learn.  I think this video is a MUST WATCH for a few reasons.  1- It really makes you think about the process of learning and how uncomfortable it can feel when you move to trying something new for the first time.  2-Piper learned by her failed attempts and eventually by finding a mentor and trying his strategy. 3-When
Read more

A Working Mom's "I am" Poem #sol15 Day 16

Image
Disclaimer: I have nothing but respect for moms who "stay at home." It is the hardest job.  In my brief stints being a stay at home mom while on maternity leave and on summer vacations, I know that the days are exhausting and challenging.  This poem attempts to capture how I feel about life at the moment, being a third grade teacher and a mom to 2 kids under the age of 5. I am a Working Mom I am exhausted and never done.  I wonder how to find the elusive "work-life" balance  I hear my alarm go off at 3am and trudge downstairs to do the work I couldn't do when the kids were awake I see my work bag,bulging, begging me to finally pay it attention. I want 5 minutes to myself. I am exhausted and never done. I pretend I can do it all I feel the need to eat lots of chocolate I touch my children's soft little cheeks and hug them. I worry I am missing important moments with them. I cry when I feel like I am drowning from it all. I am exhausted and n
Read more

#SOL16 Ditch the Dojo?

Image
Last week, Dr. Mary Howard posted this on Facebook. My initial response, which I wrote as a comment, was this:    I also dislike public shaming systems but I've used Class Dojo and don't find it to be like that. I don't publicly display the points. I've tied the dojo dollars into a class economy where kids get paychecks and can purchase brain break coupons or the  right to sit in the rocking chair at reading time. Paychecks were given privately so students weren't aware of how many points the others received. I did give a certificate to the high dojo scorer of the week and many times it was a student who put forth a lot of effort, despite academic challenges. Class dojo makes it easy to be in touch with the parents and send them pictures and class happenings in real time. They also have a great video series on growth mindset that my students enjoyed and sparked good discussions. There is no public shaming in my classroom and class dojo has been a positive  wa
Read more