I know that I have the biggest softball tournament of the year coming up in about a week and I still have a bad ankle, but when my friend asked me to sub for him and teach swimming lessons, I couldn't refuse.
In the facility I work in, there's a rule that states teachers have to leave their work sheets at the pool in case an emergency comes up and you can't make it in, someone can cover your shift and know what to teach the kids.
My friend doesn't leave his stuff there, everyone knows it but it's not really been a problem until recently.
Awhile back ago, I had to write his report cards for him because he didn't leave his stuff at the facility and no one could get ahold of him to see if he did them or not.
I stayed back to do them, an good thing I did because he never did them.
I got a text from him today asking if I could sub for him today, and as I mentioned before, I agreed.
I asked him what the classes were and where the worksheets/lesson plans were, but I didn't get all the information.
He told me the levels that I were to teach in order and the names (or the majority of the names) of the kids in each class, but I didn't have an lesson plans.
I would've gone over to his house to pick them up, but I couldn't because he was out of town by the time he asked me to sub for him.
I understand that it's not necessarily his fault that I couldn't get the lesson plans, maybe some last minute emergency came up and he couldn't make it into work today, but it's not my responsibility to write some up, for someone else's classes, either.
If there's a rule that says leave them in the work place, leave them in the work place and make it easier for someone who will cover a shift for you.
Either way, I went in early and made up some lesson plans before the classes.
I felt as though the classes I taught weren't well done because I was constantly saying "Um..", reading the lesson plan that I wrote in a rush to have one for each class, and I just wasn't confident in what I was saying.
Had I had lesson plans that were already made, I could've studied them and know what I was doing better, but I didn't have lesson plans and I didn't feel confident in what I was teaching.
When I got home, I have no other way to explain it other than I wasn't feeling all that great and it was because of my teaching shift.
You could say that I felt down about it, but I was also tired and frustrated, so overall I wasn't in a good mood.
It was as if I was disappointed in myself.
Something I realized today is that it's alright to be in a foul mood once you finish something or once you get home.
It's okay to go take a bath and relax, it's okay to stay in your bedroom alone, it's okay to listen to music so loud that you can't hear anything else, anything you want to do that can either distract you it help you relax from whatever event could've taken place.
When I get in a foul mood, I usually don't want to talk to anyone, and you don't have to. However, I would recommend for someone else's sake that if you don't want to talk to anyone yet you get a phone all or a text, tell them something along the lines of "Hey, I'm not feeling all that great at the moment, can I get back to you later?"
That way, you aren't hurting anyone, you aren't making others think that you're ignoring them and its a really polite way to say that you need some space for awhile.
You don't owe anyone anything and you don't have to pretend to be all cheerful when you're honestly in a foul mood, everyone gets that way at times.
Take whatever time you need to just breathe and relax because you owe that to yourself.
i've said this many times before, but your own health comes first, so don't feel as though you have to entertain for other people because you don't.
Take a moment for yourself, and make that moment however long you need it to be.
One More Girl, no longer online
Sunday, 16 August 2015
Thursday, 13 August 2015
Play Smart
I know it's Thursday, but I promise that I have a good excuse as to why I didn't post yesterday like I normally do.
I sprained my ankle pretty badly.
Let me go back to Monday night; I was playing a softball game and I was running to home plate from third and I had to slide, but the catcher blocked the plate so I slid right into her leg gear.
I'm not quite sure as to what exactly happened because it all happened so fast, but I think that I slid with my foot extended, so when I hit her leg, my ankle rolled over itself.
I never actually touched the plate though, so I flipped over to be on all fours and I touched the plate with my hand, but after that I took a minute of the field.
I couldn't get up because it hurt too bad, so I waiting a few minutes, took a few deep breathes and got up with the help of my coach and dad, then I hobbled off the field.
I iced it at the field, elevated it and all, but my mom ended up taking me to the Emergency Room not too long after.
I spent the majority of my evening in the Emergency Room, got X-rays, was told that it wasn't broken and that I can leave.
When I got home, I started icing it and doing everything I could to start the healing process.
I couldn't sleep well at all because I was in pain, so every night I wouldn't sleep much at all, only a few hours, therefore I spent most of Tuesday and Wednesday napping during the days.
I was exhausted by Wednesday, so I didn't have the energy to write and I was asleep for most of the day.
That's why I couldn't post on Wednesday, so my apologies that this is late.
With that story of how I got this injury, I want to go off a little bit more from my posts Injuries and Recoveries, and Being Conscious of Injuries.
In those posts, I wrote about how you shouldn't be ashamed or embarrassed for whatever you need to recover from an injury or illness and you shouldn't be ashamed or embarrassed of it because you know it's helping you heal; and also how you should know your limits and be concious of your pain level and movement.
I'm not ashamed or embarrassed to have physio tape on, an ankle brace and crutches, but I am worried.
I'm worried because I'm supposed to be going to the biggest softball tournament of the year in a week and a half from today.
I'm worried that I won't heal in time and that I either make it worse while playing or that I make it worse while playing in the tournament.
It's a hard situation where I'm in a time limit, but I know that healing is the priority.
When it comes to an injury where you have to be better pretty quickly, then there's only one thing you can do:
Hold back.
Don't do anything strenuous, don't try to jump into something to quickly and don't be afraid to sit something out.
I'm actually currently writing this from a laser tag place, I'm not playing, but I came here to be with the group I was coming with.
I hate not being able to play, but I know healing is the main priority and that I have to hold back on this.
I'm still with the group, I'm still having fun, but I know that I can't do everything that they are, and that's okay
I didn't feel like a loser while waiting for them, I don't feel as though I was wasting my time because I did enjoy myself even though I had limits that others didn't.
I knew that I had to be careful and take care of myself, so that's what I did.
There's absolutely no shame in taking care of yourself and backing out of activities.If anything, it says a lot about yourself and proves how much you will take your recovery into your own hands.
One More Girl, no longer online
I sprained my ankle pretty badly.
Let me go back to Monday night; I was playing a softball game and I was running to home plate from third and I had to slide, but the catcher blocked the plate so I slid right into her leg gear.
I'm not quite sure as to what exactly happened because it all happened so fast, but I think that I slid with my foot extended, so when I hit her leg, my ankle rolled over itself.
I never actually touched the plate though, so I flipped over to be on all fours and I touched the plate with my hand, but after that I took a minute of the field.
I couldn't get up because it hurt too bad, so I waiting a few minutes, took a few deep breathes and got up with the help of my coach and dad, then I hobbled off the field.
I iced it at the field, elevated it and all, but my mom ended up taking me to the Emergency Room not too long after.
I spent the majority of my evening in the Emergency Room, got X-rays, was told that it wasn't broken and that I can leave.
When I got home, I started icing it and doing everything I could to start the healing process.
I couldn't sleep well at all because I was in pain, so every night I wouldn't sleep much at all, only a few hours, therefore I spent most of Tuesday and Wednesday napping during the days.
I was exhausted by Wednesday, so I didn't have the energy to write and I was asleep for most of the day.
That's why I couldn't post on Wednesday, so my apologies that this is late.
With that story of how I got this injury, I want to go off a little bit more from my posts Injuries and Recoveries, and Being Conscious of Injuries.
In those posts, I wrote about how you shouldn't be ashamed or embarrassed for whatever you need to recover from an injury or illness and you shouldn't be ashamed or embarrassed of it because you know it's helping you heal; and also how you should know your limits and be concious of your pain level and movement.
I'm not ashamed or embarrassed to have physio tape on, an ankle brace and crutches, but I am worried.
I'm worried because I'm supposed to be going to the biggest softball tournament of the year in a week and a half from today.
I'm worried that I won't heal in time and that I either make it worse while playing or that I make it worse while playing in the tournament.
It's a hard situation where I'm in a time limit, but I know that healing is the priority.
When it comes to an injury where you have to be better pretty quickly, then there's only one thing you can do:
Hold back.
Don't do anything strenuous, don't try to jump into something to quickly and don't be afraid to sit something out.
I'm actually currently writing this from a laser tag place, I'm not playing, but I came here to be with the group I was coming with.
I hate not being able to play, but I know healing is the main priority and that I have to hold back on this.
I'm still with the group, I'm still having fun, but I know that I can't do everything that they are, and that's okay
I didn't feel like a loser while waiting for them, I don't feel as though I was wasting my time because I did enjoy myself even though I had limits that others didn't.
I knew that I had to be careful and take care of myself, so that's what I did.
There's absolutely no shame in taking care of yourself and backing out of activities.If anything, it says a lot about yourself and proves how much you will take your recovery into your own hands.
One More Girl, no longer online
Sunday, 9 August 2015
Silent Battles
As some of you may know, I volunteer at an immigration museum, but I haven't been having steady shifts because my schedule is all over the place at the moment, however I was finally able to go in today.
My shift had a quiet start, I started in two of the hands-on stations; one where you can take a little citizenship quiz and another where you can colour a suitcase.The colouring of the suitcase station is mainly for younger kids while parents look around, but sometimes we have teens and parents that join in!
I met some lovely people while at the citizenship table and I also met this family with three adorable little boys of the ages four, two and a half and a baby that I say might've been six/seven/eight months or so.
I'm not one to usually go out of my way to talk to a stranger as you all know, but it's different in a work environment. I'm not sure why I find myself more outgoing there, but maybe it's because people are interested in what you're saying and are curious.
I'm not sure what it is, but I love talking to the people who come through the museum because people are visiting the museum from every corner of the world.
Seeing as it's an immigration museum, we have visitors that have actually immigrated through, what's now known to be, the museum. They love to stop and chat about their experience and where they came from and it's honestly such an amazing thing to hear their stories.
Anyway, after those stations I was then at the information booth alongside a co worker.
The co worker I was with is actually an immigrant herself (not through the museum, however) and today I got to ask her about her learning experience.
Where she grew up, she would learn things and the teachers would go on about how "This is the Belgian way to say it...This is the French way to say it...This is the Canadian way to say it.." so she ended up learning how to say specific things in many different languages and that blew my mind.
I was amazed by that and she went on to teach me how to say a few numbers the Belgic way when she told me that she was tired.
I asked if she was going home after her shift and it's what she told me next that made me admire her even more.
She told me that she never went home after her shift at the museum because she had to go work at one of her other jobs out of three.
She told me what she did and what her hours were and I was...shocked.
She's working three jobs to pay off her appartment and to put herself through a university course here.
She told me how she wanted to find a cheaper apartment because her current one was starting to be too much for her alone, and she also told me how her current landlords won't do anything for her.
She explained to me that she had a broken window since this winter and they won't come by to fix it and that she's struggling with a rat problem. She's tried many things to get rid of the rats, but it's not working.
She told that sometimes it got to be too much.
I know that I said "She told me.." many times, but I wasn't quite sure how else to word it besides "She went on.." and to me, that sounds almost negative, but I wanted to listen to her story.
I wanted to listen to her story because I didn't know it.
I didn't know her story and I probably never would've been able to guess it because she always has a smile on her face.
She told me that she was tired yet she kept smiling, she was happy, she was kind, she was energetic, she was friendly, approachable, caring and overall amazing.
I've only known this woman for a little bit, but she has been smiley, happy, kind, energetic, friendly, approachable and caring since the day I met her. I can't imagine how long she's been that way and will continue to be that way.
I never knew that she was struggling with any of that, but she reminded me of something really important.
Everyday, people everywhere are struggling with their own silent battles. We don't know what position the people around us are in, so we should always be kind and not try to make things worse for other people.
If someone needs a reason to be kind, there it is.
You honestly have no clue about other people's battles until they tell you it themselves.
Although it was sad to hear her story, I have nothing but respect for her. She's just incredible and amazing. I can only hope that someday I'll be as strong as she is.
Silent battles are the ones that take up the most energy and strength, but no one else is aware. It's almost like struggling to swim while all the people around you are holding on to a flotation device but you can't ask for one; maybe because your mouth is underwater or maybe because you don't know if that person needs that flotation device more than you.
In the end, silent battles are the strongest fought battles. You can never know who fought one or who is currently fighting one.
Either way, being kind to someone might make the battle a little easier for them.
One More Girl, no longer online
My shift had a quiet start, I started in two of the hands-on stations; one where you can take a little citizenship quiz and another where you can colour a suitcase.The colouring of the suitcase station is mainly for younger kids while parents look around, but sometimes we have teens and parents that join in!
I met some lovely people while at the citizenship table and I also met this family with three adorable little boys of the ages four, two and a half and a baby that I say might've been six/seven/eight months or so.
I'm not one to usually go out of my way to talk to a stranger as you all know, but it's different in a work environment. I'm not sure why I find myself more outgoing there, but maybe it's because people are interested in what you're saying and are curious.
I'm not sure what it is, but I love talking to the people who come through the museum because people are visiting the museum from every corner of the world.
Seeing as it's an immigration museum, we have visitors that have actually immigrated through, what's now known to be, the museum. They love to stop and chat about their experience and where they came from and it's honestly such an amazing thing to hear their stories.
Anyway, after those stations I was then at the information booth alongside a co worker.
The co worker I was with is actually an immigrant herself (not through the museum, however) and today I got to ask her about her learning experience.
Where she grew up, she would learn things and the teachers would go on about how "This is the Belgian way to say it...This is the French way to say it...This is the Canadian way to say it.." so she ended up learning how to say specific things in many different languages and that blew my mind.
I was amazed by that and she went on to teach me how to say a few numbers the Belgic way when she told me that she was tired.
I asked if she was going home after her shift and it's what she told me next that made me admire her even more.
She told me that she never went home after her shift at the museum because she had to go work at one of her other jobs out of three.
She told me what she did and what her hours were and I was...shocked.
She's working three jobs to pay off her appartment and to put herself through a university course here.
She told me how she wanted to find a cheaper apartment because her current one was starting to be too much for her alone, and she also told me how her current landlords won't do anything for her.
She explained to me that she had a broken window since this winter and they won't come by to fix it and that she's struggling with a rat problem. She's tried many things to get rid of the rats, but it's not working.
She told that sometimes it got to be too much.
I know that I said "She told me.." many times, but I wasn't quite sure how else to word it besides "She went on.." and to me, that sounds almost negative, but I wanted to listen to her story.
I wanted to listen to her story because I didn't know it.
I didn't know her story and I probably never would've been able to guess it because she always has a smile on her face.
She told me that she was tired yet she kept smiling, she was happy, she was kind, she was energetic, she was friendly, approachable, caring and overall amazing.
I've only known this woman for a little bit, but she has been smiley, happy, kind, energetic, friendly, approachable and caring since the day I met her. I can't imagine how long she's been that way and will continue to be that way.
I never knew that she was struggling with any of that, but she reminded me of something really important.
Everyday, people everywhere are struggling with their own silent battles. We don't know what position the people around us are in, so we should always be kind and not try to make things worse for other people.
If someone needs a reason to be kind, there it is.
You honestly have no clue about other people's battles until they tell you it themselves.
Although it was sad to hear her story, I have nothing but respect for her. She's just incredible and amazing. I can only hope that someday I'll be as strong as she is.
Silent battles are the ones that take up the most energy and strength, but no one else is aware. It's almost like struggling to swim while all the people around you are holding on to a flotation device but you can't ask for one; maybe because your mouth is underwater or maybe because you don't know if that person needs that flotation device more than you.
In the end, silent battles are the strongest fought battles. You can never know who fought one or who is currently fighting one.
Either way, being kind to someone might make the battle a little easier for them.
One More Girl, no longer online
Wednesday, 5 August 2015
Changing For The Better
Well I did as I said I would on my last post, Compliments At The Beach & Understanding Friends, and it feels pretty great to make someone else's day!
Giving compliments is something big for me, not because I don't want to give them, but because I'm too shy to give them to people most of the time.
Just like big projects, I'm working myself up.
When I was at the museum on Sunday, I gave out a few small compliments such as "I love your hair," or "I really like your shirt."
Nothing major yet, but someday I'll be able to go up to someone and tell them that I think they're pretty.
It might not be soon, but it will happen.
Apart from that, I haven't done much today.
I got a few more shifts at the museum, I worked out my schedule a little more in the morning, but in the afternoon I went to the beach with my friends who are in town visiting.
I didn't really feel like going in today, I don't have a specific reason as to why and they understood that this time around and I'm really grateful for that.
They were understanding and didn't make me feel bad for not wanting to go in and I love them for that.
As you can see, this hasn't been a very long post, but I still think it's s really good post because I'm improving.
I'm improving on my social skills with strangers and I now know that I have two, very understanding friends that won't pressure me into things if I say "No," or even "I'm not too sure about this one,"
I was really lucky to have all of this happen in a very short amount of time, so if you're in a similar situation but it's not going as fast, don't worry about it, the change will come when you're ready to.
Although I've been feeling on a low for what seems the longest time now, things seem to be changing and going up.
I'm excited for when they do.
One More Girl, no longer online
Giving compliments is something big for me, not because I don't want to give them, but because I'm too shy to give them to people most of the time.
Just like big projects, I'm working myself up.
When I was at the museum on Sunday, I gave out a few small compliments such as "I love your hair," or "I really like your shirt."
Nothing major yet, but someday I'll be able to go up to someone and tell them that I think they're pretty.
It might not be soon, but it will happen.
Apart from that, I haven't done much today.
I got a few more shifts at the museum, I worked out my schedule a little more in the morning, but in the afternoon I went to the beach with my friends who are in town visiting.
I didn't really feel like going in today, I don't have a specific reason as to why and they understood that this time around and I'm really grateful for that.
They were understanding and didn't make me feel bad for not wanting to go in and I love them for that.
As you can see, this hasn't been a very long post, but I still think it's s really good post because I'm improving.
I'm improving on my social skills with strangers and I now know that I have two, very understanding friends that won't pressure me into things if I say "No," or even "I'm not too sure about this one,"
I was really lucky to have all of this happen in a very short amount of time, so if you're in a similar situation but it's not going as fast, don't worry about it, the change will come when you're ready to.
Although I've been feeling on a low for what seems the longest time now, things seem to be changing and going up.
I'm excited for when they do.
One More Girl, no longer online
Sunday, 2 August 2015
Compliments At The Beach & Understanding Friends
I met up with some friends that I only see once a or twice a year and it was nice to be able to see them again.
My parents and I drive down to their summer cottage, and from there we walked down to the beach.
I walked down to the beach with my two friends alone, our parents were a few minutes behind us, and we picked out a spot to set up at.
My friends kind of dropped their stuff in a spot before running in to go swim because the water was really nice, but I decided to sit back for a bit, sunscreen up and enjoy the sun.
I was just setting my bad down, moving a few things over so things weren't thrown all over our little spot in the beach and getting stuff out of my bag when this teen/early 20's girl came over to me.
At first, I thought "Oh no, we did something wrong. Maybe we're too close to where she and her boyfriend are set up, maybe we disturbed them, I don't know, I just hope everything's okay."
She came up to me and said "Hi, I just want to say that I think you're really pretty."
I only had the time to muster up a thank you before she went back to where she was set up with her boyfriend.
I honestly think that that was the first time ever that someone actually came up to me to say that they think that I'm pretty.
It definitely made me feel good, but I also felt a little more confident after that. It was really sweet of her to come up and say that to me.
Having a few jobs, I see a lot of people and I'm constantly meeting new people. A lot of these people are are pretty, nice, have a nice shirt or anything along those lines, but I would never have the courage to go up to someone and tell them that I like their shirt or that I think they're pretty.
I want to change that about me.
I'm working tomorrow and if I see someone wearing a nice shirt or someone who I find pretty, I want to tell them.
It's sweet when your friends compliment you, but there's something different about when it's someone you don't know who compliments you.
It feels more genuine in that way.
Either way, I'm going to try and take a step out of my comfort zone for a positive reason.
Shortly following that, our parents met up with us and we spent the day swimming, relaxing on the beach and just catching up with each other.
After that, we headed back up to their cottage, watched a baseball game on the small TV and had supper.
When we finished supper, my friends wanted me to go on the paddleboat with them. I told them that I would be fine sitting on the shore and watching them, plus I had to leave soon, but they insisted that I go out with them.
They didn't know that I deal with anxiety though.
I'm a very good swimmer; I swam for many years of my life and I'm even a swim teacher now! I'm really comfortable around the water, it's just that this was a black bottom lake meaning that I couldn't see the bottom.
I didn't want to disappoint them so I got in the boat and we started to go out.
I felt really uncomfortable and anxious. The boat was so close to the water and I couldn't see the bottom of the lake and it freaked me out. I started to feel as though I was going to be sick and my breathing changed a little bit.
One of my friends noticed and told the other one to head back in to shore. They asked me what was wrong but I didn't feel as though I could answer without being sick or crying a bit.
When we got to shore, they didn't pressure me into telling them anything and I was thankful for that.
I did tell them, though, because I felt like they deserved to know. I've been friends with them for years and I knew that I could trust them.
Either way, no matter what the scenario is, you should never feel pressured into doing something. Especially when your friends are involved.
If they insist you do something, say that you don't want to do it with a little more authority in your voice and maybe they'll understand.
If they don't forget it. If you don't feel safe or comfortable, do whatever it takes to make you feel so. Real friends shouldn't put you in that position.
If you're like me and afraid to disappoint your friends, remember to not disappoint yourself above all.
It was really nice to spend the day with them, like I mentioned I don't see them often and I really enjoyed the day except for that little paddleboat incident.
However, even with that, I still had a nice day.
One More Girl, no longer online
My parents and I drive down to their summer cottage, and from there we walked down to the beach.
I walked down to the beach with my two friends alone, our parents were a few minutes behind us, and we picked out a spot to set up at.
My friends kind of dropped their stuff in a spot before running in to go swim because the water was really nice, but I decided to sit back for a bit, sunscreen up and enjoy the sun.
I was just setting my bad down, moving a few things over so things weren't thrown all over our little spot in the beach and getting stuff out of my bag when this teen/early 20's girl came over to me.
At first, I thought "Oh no, we did something wrong. Maybe we're too close to where she and her boyfriend are set up, maybe we disturbed them, I don't know, I just hope everything's okay."
She came up to me and said "Hi, I just want to say that I think you're really pretty."
I only had the time to muster up a thank you before she went back to where she was set up with her boyfriend.
I honestly think that that was the first time ever that someone actually came up to me to say that they think that I'm pretty.
It definitely made me feel good, but I also felt a little more confident after that. It was really sweet of her to come up and say that to me.
Having a few jobs, I see a lot of people and I'm constantly meeting new people. A lot of these people are are pretty, nice, have a nice shirt or anything along those lines, but I would never have the courage to go up to someone and tell them that I like their shirt or that I think they're pretty.
I want to change that about me.
I'm working tomorrow and if I see someone wearing a nice shirt or someone who I find pretty, I want to tell them.
It's sweet when your friends compliment you, but there's something different about when it's someone you don't know who compliments you.
It feels more genuine in that way.
Either way, I'm going to try and take a step out of my comfort zone for a positive reason.
Shortly following that, our parents met up with us and we spent the day swimming, relaxing on the beach and just catching up with each other.
After that, we headed back up to their cottage, watched a baseball game on the small TV and had supper.
When we finished supper, my friends wanted me to go on the paddleboat with them. I told them that I would be fine sitting on the shore and watching them, plus I had to leave soon, but they insisted that I go out with them.
They didn't know that I deal with anxiety though.
I'm a very good swimmer; I swam for many years of my life and I'm even a swim teacher now! I'm really comfortable around the water, it's just that this was a black bottom lake meaning that I couldn't see the bottom.
I didn't want to disappoint them so I got in the boat and we started to go out.
I felt really uncomfortable and anxious. The boat was so close to the water and I couldn't see the bottom of the lake and it freaked me out. I started to feel as though I was going to be sick and my breathing changed a little bit.
One of my friends noticed and told the other one to head back in to shore. They asked me what was wrong but I didn't feel as though I could answer without being sick or crying a bit.
When we got to shore, they didn't pressure me into telling them anything and I was thankful for that.
I did tell them, though, because I felt like they deserved to know. I've been friends with them for years and I knew that I could trust them.
Either way, no matter what the scenario is, you should never feel pressured into doing something. Especially when your friends are involved.
If they insist you do something, say that you don't want to do it with a little more authority in your voice and maybe they'll understand.
If they don't forget it. If you don't feel safe or comfortable, do whatever it takes to make you feel so. Real friends shouldn't put you in that position.
If you're like me and afraid to disappoint your friends, remember to not disappoint yourself above all.
It was really nice to spend the day with them, like I mentioned I don't see them often and I really enjoyed the day except for that little paddleboat incident.
However, even with that, I still had a nice day.
One More Girl, no longer online
Thursday, 30 July 2015
Becoming More Reponsible
They say that you have more and more responsibilities as you get older and that you become more responsible, but that's not the case for everyone.
I've heard many stories of kids who grow up too fast, and that's another way to say that they received too many responsibilities at once and had to mature faster than they probably should've.
I can't say that I have a case like that, but I've definitely have matured quite a bit in just a little over a week.
Now that I'm a swim teacher, I'm currently trying to balance a total of four jobs. As I mentioned, I'm a swim teacher, I dog walk, I volunteer at a museum and I babysit.
That's a lot to balance alone, but you also have to throw in my softball schedule and gym schedule in there.
This is my first year being a swim teacher and volunteering at the museum, so I'm still trying to figure all of that out.
My schedule is crazy now. My softball team has missed about eleven or so games due to weather, so their constantly being pushed back and that affects everything else in my schedule.
It's becoming complicated to take shifts at the museum and take possible subbing shifts at the pool when I never know when I'm playing anymore.
This has caused me to become more responsible.
I went out the other day to buy a monthly calendar to be able to see my schedule for the whole month and not overbook myself.
Of course there are many phones out there that have calendars, and I do in fact have one on my phone, but it's a lot easier to have everything written down and be able to see everything at the same time.
When school starts up again, I feel like things will be okay.
I will still be working, volunteering and babysitting, but softball would be off the table and that's good because my schedule will be straightforward.
No delays, no cancellations, no makeup games, my schedule will be more regular.
In the end, it's good to be organized.
It might be a bit scary to have all of these responsibilities all of a sudden, but you figure out your own way to manage your schedule and your responsibilities.
My way is to have a calendar while to someone else, it could be having a schedule that doesn't change at all.
Either way, become more responsible is a challenge at first, but you learn.
I thought that I was going to be terrified with having so many responsibilities, but I found a balance that worked for me, so that's good!
Now I do know that this post is one day late and that I'm talking about responsibilities, but the reason for that is that I'm still trying to figure out my schedule for blogging.
I wanted to post this last night, but I only got home at around 11:30, and by then I was too drained to write a post.
In the end, I'm learning balance and how to become responsible and it shouldn't be something to be afraid of. It's an adjustment that we all make.
One More Girl, no longer online
I've heard many stories of kids who grow up too fast, and that's another way to say that they received too many responsibilities at once and had to mature faster than they probably should've.
I can't say that I have a case like that, but I've definitely have matured quite a bit in just a little over a week.
Now that I'm a swim teacher, I'm currently trying to balance a total of four jobs. As I mentioned, I'm a swim teacher, I dog walk, I volunteer at a museum and I babysit.
That's a lot to balance alone, but you also have to throw in my softball schedule and gym schedule in there.
This is my first year being a swim teacher and volunteering at the museum, so I'm still trying to figure all of that out.
My schedule is crazy now. My softball team has missed about eleven or so games due to weather, so their constantly being pushed back and that affects everything else in my schedule.
It's becoming complicated to take shifts at the museum and take possible subbing shifts at the pool when I never know when I'm playing anymore.
This has caused me to become more responsible.
I went out the other day to buy a monthly calendar to be able to see my schedule for the whole month and not overbook myself.
Of course there are many phones out there that have calendars, and I do in fact have one on my phone, but it's a lot easier to have everything written down and be able to see everything at the same time.
When school starts up again, I feel like things will be okay.
I will still be working, volunteering and babysitting, but softball would be off the table and that's good because my schedule will be straightforward.
No delays, no cancellations, no makeup games, my schedule will be more regular.
In the end, it's good to be organized.
It might be a bit scary to have all of these responsibilities all of a sudden, but you figure out your own way to manage your schedule and your responsibilities.
My way is to have a calendar while to someone else, it could be having a schedule that doesn't change at all.
Either way, become more responsible is a challenge at first, but you learn.
I thought that I was going to be terrified with having so many responsibilities, but I found a balance that worked for me, so that's good!
Now I do know that this post is one day late and that I'm talking about responsibilities, but the reason for that is that I'm still trying to figure out my schedule for blogging.
I wanted to post this last night, but I only got home at around 11:30, and by then I was too drained to write a post.
In the end, I'm learning balance and how to become responsible and it shouldn't be something to be afraid of. It's an adjustment that we all make.
One More Girl, no longer online
Sunday, 26 July 2015
My First Ever Work Shift
Oh my goodness.
Today, I had my first ever proper job shift.
As some of you know, I'm a certified swim teacher and as I was lounging around my house this afternoon, I had a family friend text me to say that he was sick and he needed a sub tonight to cover his classes and he asked me if I could.
I figured that this would be a good way to ease myself into teaching on my own rather than to have my own classes for a first time experience.
I was pretty nervous before I started. Me being me, my mind automatically raced to all the possibilities of things going wrong. Easy enough to say, I psyched myself out.
However, a pool supervisor told me that he would be in the pool with all of the classes today, so if I needed a hand I could call him over to help. That helped me relaxed a bit.
My first class was with an older level, but there was only one girl out of two who showed up.
Honestly, only having one girl to teach boosted my confidence.
I didn't have to jump into a class with six, three years old, kids where half of them didn't listen. I had to teach one girl who was ready to learn, liked to swim and I slowly gained confidence during that first class.
I had a total of five classes in the three hours of my shift, and that's not bad at all.
I was worried that I wouldn't have enough things to do with all the students, but I ended up having plenty to do with almost all of the classes.
When it came to my last lesson, it was a private lesson for a little boy in one, I started to run out of things to do, but he was pretty interested in the bottom of the pool, so for the last two minutes a let him see the bottom of the pool in between two last floats.
I was impressed by most of the kids attention. Of course, it's harder with the younger kids, but all of the older kids were great!
I had a younger group with a little boy and a little girl in the group, but the little boy's aunt and grandmother were also at the pool. Usually that's no problem, but his aunt came over to talk to him during the lesson and that completely derailed and distracted him and he wouldn't listen to me anymore.
I couldn't tell the aunt that I need her to leave in fear of seeming rude, so I said "Hey, hop back in, bud! The lesson isn't over yet!" and the aunt understood that she had to step back for a little while longer and she understood that.
My only other troubled time was when I had six students from the ages of three to five. One of them was not listening to me at all, he didn't want to participate in the class and do what everyone else was doing and the supervisor saw me struggling a little bit, so he came over to help me out with him.
I taught the other five kids while he dealt with that one student.
Overall, I think I had a pretty good first shift.
I was nervous about so many things, but I got over those as more lessons went by and there was other staff around if I needed any help.
Your first shift is always the one you get the most worked up about whether it's with nerves or anxiety, but as soon as you get it over and done with, you realize that it isn't nearly as bad as you thought it could be.
I'm really happy that I took this shift, I feel more comfortable teaching in the water (granted I haven't made any of my own lesson plans) and I feel as though this is a job that I can do well.
One More Girl, no longer online
Today, I had my first ever proper job shift.
As some of you know, I'm a certified swim teacher and as I was lounging around my house this afternoon, I had a family friend text me to say that he was sick and he needed a sub tonight to cover his classes and he asked me if I could.
I figured that this would be a good way to ease myself into teaching on my own rather than to have my own classes for a first time experience.
I was pretty nervous before I started. Me being me, my mind automatically raced to all the possibilities of things going wrong. Easy enough to say, I psyched myself out.
However, a pool supervisor told me that he would be in the pool with all of the classes today, so if I needed a hand I could call him over to help. That helped me relaxed a bit.
My first class was with an older level, but there was only one girl out of two who showed up.
Honestly, only having one girl to teach boosted my confidence.
I didn't have to jump into a class with six, three years old, kids where half of them didn't listen. I had to teach one girl who was ready to learn, liked to swim and I slowly gained confidence during that first class.
I had a total of five classes in the three hours of my shift, and that's not bad at all.
I was worried that I wouldn't have enough things to do with all the students, but I ended up having plenty to do with almost all of the classes.
When it came to my last lesson, it was a private lesson for a little boy in one, I started to run out of things to do, but he was pretty interested in the bottom of the pool, so for the last two minutes a let him see the bottom of the pool in between two last floats.
I was impressed by most of the kids attention. Of course, it's harder with the younger kids, but all of the older kids were great!
I had a younger group with a little boy and a little girl in the group, but the little boy's aunt and grandmother were also at the pool. Usually that's no problem, but his aunt came over to talk to him during the lesson and that completely derailed and distracted him and he wouldn't listen to me anymore.
I couldn't tell the aunt that I need her to leave in fear of seeming rude, so I said "Hey, hop back in, bud! The lesson isn't over yet!" and the aunt understood that she had to step back for a little while longer and she understood that.
My only other troubled time was when I had six students from the ages of three to five. One of them was not listening to me at all, he didn't want to participate in the class and do what everyone else was doing and the supervisor saw me struggling a little bit, so he came over to help me out with him.
I taught the other five kids while he dealt with that one student.
Overall, I think I had a pretty good first shift.
I was nervous about so many things, but I got over those as more lessons went by and there was other staff around if I needed any help.
Your first shift is always the one you get the most worked up about whether it's with nerves or anxiety, but as soon as you get it over and done with, you realize that it isn't nearly as bad as you thought it could be.
I'm really happy that I took this shift, I feel more comfortable teaching in the water (granted I haven't made any of my own lesson plans) and I feel as though this is a job that I can do well.
One More Girl, no longer online
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