Dear cherished readers:
My semester is wrapping up, and as much as I want to post and discuss throughout the summer, I think it is time to take a break.
As those who have been reading regularly will know, my husband and I have just bought a new home. The next few months will be consumed by packing, moving, hiring contractors, painting, and so forth. I could probably fit some blogging in around that, but I’ve decided not to, for a couple of reasons.
The first is that, as I discovered the summer we were planning our wedding, big projects are a lot less stressful if they are the whole focus of your life. If the ONLY thing you have to do is settle into your new home, then settling into your new home will probably be pretty fun, regardless of the frustrations it brings with it.
Also, I am going to try an experiment. Since I was old enough to use language, I have invested an awful lot of time and energy in my brain, and not nearly enough in my body. This summer will require me to use my body to move, paint, build, walk around a new neighbourhood, and maybe even garden. So I’m thinking I’d like to give my brain a break. Read a few mystery novels, sure. Have long conversations with friends. Otherwise, I’m going to lift and stretch and run and dig and jump, and let my brain take long naps.
I hope by giving myself this break, I will return to you in August refreshed, full of new ideas, and ready to reply more reliably to your comments. And you never know: I may poke my head up time to time during the summer months if something inspires or outrages me.
Thank you all for your insightful, dedicated, articulate responses to post after post. I love keeping this blog because I love your contributions. I will be back in early August, if not before, and will be looking forward to hearing about your summer adventures and your plans for the coming year! In the meantime, I hope that you will browse the archives when you are feeling the need for teacherly conversation, and I will certainly respond to your comments on old posts whenever I can.
Have a wonderful summer! Good luck, good health, and keep in touch.
Classroom as Microcosm 
I hope you have a wonderfully restful summer, and I look forward to reading more in the fall!
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Thanks Clix! I hope you have a great summer too.
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I agree Siobhan. Summer is a time to take a break and focus on other things. Education can be all consuming, and it’s good for the mind, body and soul to be able to step out of that role and do something else. For me? I am starting on my doctorate degree, so I will be taking on the role of student, and I’m excited about it.
Have a great summer, and enjoy your new home!
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Oooh, happy doctorate! I will do that too one of these days. Have a great summer yourself, Unheardof!
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I hope you have a lovely break and settle well into your new home. I recently set up home with my husband and it is exhausting.
Looking forward to hearing from your when you return to the blog…
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I hope you have a wonderful summer and that the move into your new home goes well. See you in August!
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Enjoy the summer, the new home and all the exercise! And finally one of the analects of Confucius, “It is not that a being has too many books, rather that they have too few shelves.”
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I think part of the reason we become teachers, paraeducators or some other employee of the educational system is so we can get summers off. I mean, aside from being home after school with my sons, this was the biggest selling point for me.
I despise moving, but making a house into my own personal home is a joy. I hope all of your projects go smoothly and don’t add to your stress. My husband generally takes twice as long as he says on any project and spends three times as much money. Good grief! After 23 years, I’m used to it and just automatically do the math. “Oh he says two week, so it’ll be done in a month. Yep, $1,000 so it’s going to cost $3,000.” He really enjoys building things and doing home improvement projects, so I would never suggest hiring a contractor (for the same money in less time) and steal his joy.
My biggest gripe with the advent of your summer break is that I have another six weeks of students before I get mine.
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Have a wonderful summer Siobhan!… I look forward to your very interesting posts when you begin again. Even physical work and doing new things requires brain power – so there’s no getting away from it!!!
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Will miss your thoughtful writing terribly. And I completely support your decision! Looking forward to August.
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Ahh! I’ll miss the good posts for the next two months! Well, I can wander around the archives until then. The best part I find of your blog is getting a beautiful if not across-the-board outline of our teachers’ predicaments and savoir-faire which is totally appreciative.
Hearty congratulations for your new home; I wish you a wonderful summer. Eagerly awaiting your next post.
Take care! 🙂
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Moving into a new home and getting it just right is a perfect example of mission creep: We really need to paint the kitchen…and while we are at it we need new floor tile. That stove isn’t going to last much longer so we better replace it now. I’ve always wanted a dishwasher, and while we are doing that the sinks are kind of stained so…
Have fun and come back refreshed.
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Sounds familiar.. when renovating starts, in never finishes!
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Good for you!
Have a great break!
=)
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Have a great summer and thanks for the inspiration for my “tools” post.
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This is a wonderful idea, Siobhan! I am planning to take 2 weeks off my blogging and social media this summer and am honestly a little nervous about it. I know that sounds ridiculous–what, are my ideas so incredibly important and fascinating that the edublogosphere cannot live without me for 2 weeks? But I have put so much energy into writing throughout the year that it will be strange not to for awhile. Strange, and good. Thanks for sharing that you, too, are living life for awhile and not just writing about it. 🙂
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