TL;DR:

• Try to enjoy every moment as much as you can. If things are difficult, know it will pass eventually. And if it’s good, savor it because it won’t last forever.
• This has been a year. This has been a season. ‘Tis the season…the sun is coming soon.

Raise your hand if you are excited it’s March. Honestly, I don’t love March because up here in the North the skies are still gray, the snow is dirty and slushy and inconsistent, and we just want spring to make a permanent appearance. We yearn to see the sun and feel it too! 

But there is one thing I love about March—shamrock shakes. Don’t judge me. I love me a Shamrock Shake and I won’t apologize for it. There are few things I look forward to each season, and when I pause to think about it, they are all food or drink related: Shamrock shakes, pumpkin spice lattes, Sam Adams Summer Ale, Rita’s Italian Ice.  

Enjoying a Sam Adams Summer Ale reminds me of the time friends came to visit after we had our first child. Throughout my pregnancy, I knew that was the first drink I would want as soon as our daughter was born. (And yes, it was as delicious as I imagined for 9 months!)

As I snuggled our brand new baby girl, our friend Chad said, “Here’s some advice. Try to enjoy every moment as much as you can. Everything from here on out is a season. So if it’s hard, know that it will pass eventually. And if it’s good, savor it because it won’t last forever.”  

When I think about it, that was the best advice I could have received as a new parent. Although he shared these words of wisdom when my daughter was 1 day old, now that my children are 11 and 12, I think of that advice almost every day. I was so grateful when the season of sleepless nights was over. But I mourn the season when my son would get lost in his imaginary world and fly his Buzz Lightyear figure in the backyard making all of the launching sounds. Now we are in the pre-teen season…understanding this is a season is all that saves my sanity some days!

If we think about it, this new parent advice could be good for us as teachers, whether this is our first year or our thirtieth. This March, we will hear things like, “One year ago we closed schools/went virtual/reimagined everything we do.”   

‘Tis the Season

This has been a year.

This has been a season. 

Let’s harness the gifts of being rational optimists. Rationally, we recognize that things continue to be challenging, exhausting, confusing, and just plain hard. Yet optimistically, we recognize that just about everything in this life is temporary. When things are good, we should savor it. When things are hard, we understand it will eventually come to an end. But either way, we will continue to grow and move on.  

It’s been a L-O-N-G season. Sometimes there are days it feels like this particular season will never end. But eventually, it will. If we can appreciate where we are in this journey, even if it’s not exactly where we want to be yet, we can learn that every season serves a purpose before the next—even this one.  

So if you like them, go grab a Shamrock Shake and enjoy every cold, refreshing sip because they are only on the menu temporarily. Then remember we are in a temporary season too. We’ll usher in a new one soon. And we’ll be better for it. 

‘Tis the season.  

Here comes the sun. 

Small Shifts, Big Gifts!

Let’s reground ourselves by recognizing and accepting that we are in a season. And like any season, there is a definite beginning and end. We are getting there. 

ABOUT SUZANNE DAILEY

Suzanne Dailey is a proud member of the Teach Better Family! She is an instructional coach in the Central Bucks School District where she has the honor and joy of working with elementary teachers and students in 15 buildings. Suzanne is Nationally Board Certified, a Fellow of the National Writing Project, and has a master’s degree in Reading. She is dedicated to nurturing and developing the whole child and teacher. Suzanne lives in Doylestown, Pennsylvania with her husband and two children.

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