Latest / Teacher Approved: Elementary Teacher Tips & Strategies / 294. Use Your Teacher Skills to Simplify the Holidays

Transcript

294. Use Your Teacher Skills to Simplify the Holidays · Teacher Approved: Elementary Teacher Tips & Strategies

• 0:01
  Heidi: This is episode 294 of Teacher Approved.
• 0:06
  You're listening to Teacher Approved, the podcast helping
• 0:09
  educators elevate what matters and simplify the rest. I'm
• 0:12
  Heidi.
• 0:13
  Emily: And I'm Emily. We're the creators behind Second Story
• 0:16
  Window, where we give research-based and
• 0:19
  teacher-approved strategies that make teaching less stressful and
• 0:22
  more effective. You can check out the show notes and resources
• 0:25
  from each episode at SecondStoryWindow.net.
• 0:28
  Heidi: We're so glad you're tuning in today. Let's get to
• 0:31
  the show.
• 0:35
  Emily: Hey there! Thanks for joining us today. Last week we
• 0:38
  got your classroom ready for all that the holiday ramp up brings
• 0:42
  with it, today we're tackling the other half of your to-do
• 0:45
  list, which is everything waiting for you at home.
• 0:47
  Heidi: But first, let's start with a try it tomorrow, where we
• 0:50
  share a quick win that you can try in your classroom right
• 0:52
  away. Emily, what's our suggestion for this week?
• 0:55
  Emily: Since we're talking about home tasks this week, our try it
• 0:59
  tomorrow is to send a confirming text. So pick an upcoming plan
• 1:03
  that involves other people and nail down a detail like who's
• 1:06
  bringing what to dinner or what time someone's flight lands.
• 1:10
  Heidi: Or you could flip this around and send out the details
• 1:12
  that someone else is waiting on from you. The people that you're
• 1:15
  coordinating with will be very grateful not to have to hound
• 1:19
  you for that information.
• 1:21
  Emily: If you like this idea or anything else we share today,
• 1:23
  could you do us a favor and share this episode with a
• 1:26
  teacher friend? Every time we share the show, it helps more
• 1:29
  teachers find us.
• 1:31
  Heidi: So last week we got you back on the bike after flying
• 1:33
  over the handlebars at school, but school isn't the only place
• 1:36
  that the holiday ramp up throws a stick into your spokes. Right
• 1:40
  on top of everything happening with school this time of year
• 1:42
  comes a quadruple to-do list in your personal life.
• 1:46
  Emily: You know how it goes. There are gifts and gatherings
• 1:49
  and the cookie exchange that you signed up for in a moment of
• 1:51
  weakness, plus all the regular stuff that demands attention no
• 1:55
  matter what month it is, like dinner and laundry and walking
• 1:58
  the dog.
• 2:00
  Heidi: If you are like a lot of teachers, the only thing keeping
• 2:02
  you going right now is the sweet promise of winter break, and all
• 2:06
  of the things that you will finally have time to do.
• 2:09
  Emily: Of course, my favorite part of the break isn't what I
• 2:11
  do; it's what I don't have to do. There is nothing better than
• 2:16
  turning those alarms off for a few days.
• 2:20
  Heidi: That honestly gives me such a thrill. That just made me
• 2:25
  think of the Good Place. I love that show so much.
• 2:28
  Emily: It's so good.
• 2:29
  Heidi: And if you haven't seen it in The Good Place, there is a
• 2:31
  massive menu of frozen yogurt flavors with things like cherry
• 2:35
  and pumpkin pie. But they also offer some more unique flavors,
• 2:39
  like the cool side of your pillow, and a new line opens up
• 2:43
  at airport security. But I think they definitely need to add
• 2:47
  getting to turn off your alarms. I would like a big bowl of that,
• 2:50
  please, with sprinkles.
• 2:52
  Emily: Oh yes, it is the best. Not to mention the time to take
• 2:56
  life a little bit slower for a few days is also a thrill. But
• 3:00
  unfortunately, by the time break finally gets here, a lot of
• 3:04
  teachers are just too wiped to enjoy it, or they spend the
• 3:07
  whole break with a knot in their stomach because they're thinking
• 3:10
  about everything they have to do when they get back to school in
• 3:12
  January.
• 3:13
  Heidi: It's so unfair because you should not have to choose
• 3:16
  between taking care of your responsibilities and enjoying
• 3:19
  your time off. So let's fix that problem by revisiting something
• 3:23
  that's probably not on your radar right now: the first day
• 3:26
  of school.
• 3:27
  Emily: I know. Stay with us. Life in December and life at
• 3:30
  back to school are more similar than they may seem. Think about
• 3:33
  everything that goes into launching a school year. You
• 3:36
  plan around a calendar full of dates that you can't control.
• 3:39
  You write out detailed plans. You prioritize and strategize
• 3:43
  and organize hundreds of little details.
• 3:45
  Heidi: And wouldn't you know it, the skills it takes to manage
• 3:49
  all of that are the same skills you need to navigate December's
• 3:52
  obligations. Even if you don't celebrate Christmas, your month
• 3:55
  is probably packed with extras like concerts and travel on top
• 4:00
  of trying to get ahead on work, so today we've got three ways to
• 4:03
  apply those teacher skills at home, so you reach the end of
• 4:07
  December with enough left in the tank to enjoy your break.
• 4:10
  Emily: Our first tip is to prepare your home to run on
• 4:13
  autopilot, and we're kicking things off with a reality check.
• 4:17
  Don't plan December as if you'll have the same time and energy
• 4:20
  that you have in a normal month, because spoiler alert, you will
• 4:24
  not.
• 4:24
  Heidi: I know that feels like a bucket of cold water on all of
• 4:27
  our pretty ideas, but December can wear you out even when it's
• 4:31
  full of things you love. And when you run low, the everyday
• 4:35
  stuff that keeps life afloat is the first thing that slides.
• 4:38
  Emily: Which is how you end up eating breakfast for dinner
• 4:41
  three days in a row.
• 4:43
  Heidi: No hate to brinner. I love eggs and toast for dinner,
• 4:46
  but that can only last so long. So let's make some of it easier
• 4:50
  now. And one thing that helps me a ton is freezer meals in
• 4:53
  December.
• 4:54
  Emily: Oh, it's so lovely to you've got something warm and
• 4:58
  tasty waiting for you at the end of a long day. But I really
• 5:01
  struggle with the overwhelm. To get around that, I remind myself
• 5:04
  that this is not a lifestyle change. I only have to figure
• 5:07
  out freezer meals for a few weeks, not for the rest of my
• 5:10
  life. Although, if you're one of those people that like takes
• 5:13
  this on and becomes like a meal prepper, like all the power to
• 5:16
  you. I think it's amazing.
• 5:18
  Heidi: And then you can share all your tips and tricks with
• 5:20
  us.
• 5:21
  Emily: Yes, please.
• 5:22
  Heidi: But for me, it's more helpful to kind of think of it
• 5:25
  like bringing dinner to a friend after surgery. There's an
• 5:28
  expiration date to this task. I just have to manage it until my
• 5:31
  friend is better.
• 5:33
  Emily: Except in this case, the friend in need is December You,
• 5:36
  who does not have the bandwidth for cooking dinner or dirtying
• 5:39
  the kitchen. The easiest way that I have found for doing
• 5:41
  freezer meals is just to double the meal that I'm already making
• 5:45
  and freeze the second portion. But you could also set aside a
• 5:48
  weekend and prep several recipes at once. There are a lot of
• 5:51
  plans online for how to do this efficiently so that you're using
• 5:55
  similar ingredients for multiple meals.
• 5:57
  Heidi: Once you've got the meals under control, think of the
• 6:00
  other household supplies that will probably need a restock
• 6:02
  between now and January. Refill medications as early as you can.
• 6:07
  Stock up on tissues and toilet paper and foil and paper plates
• 6:09
  and all of that stuff.
• 6:11
  Emily: If you can afford it, you can grab all your restocks
• 6:13
  during one grocery trip. But if not, create a list of what
• 6:16
  you'll need and buy a couple extras each week. That will save
• 6:19
  you a trip to the store on December 23.
• 6:22
  Heidi: And that's probably about my least favorite time to be at
• 6:24
  the store.
• 6:25
  Emily: Oh, it's chaos! And we have a lot of experience of
• 6:27
  being at the store on december 23 with our dad, who saved all
• 6:31
  his shopping until december 23, and then would make us go out
• 6:33
  with him to do the shopping. So we know it's crazy out there.
• 6:36
  You don't want to be out there.
• 6:39
  Heidi: And let's just extend this same idea to any of your
• 6:41
  household routines. Consider what's non-negotiable, what can
• 6:45
  be simplified, and what can wait. Feeding the pet,
• 6:48
  non-negotiable. You're going to have to do that every day.
• 6:51
  Mopping the floor, that's something you can simplify. Mop
• 6:54
  the high traffic areas and the guest bath, but skip mopping the
• 6:57
  laundry room. That can totally wait till January.
• 7:00
  Emily: If you want a step by step way to do that, episode 13
• 7:03
  of our Holiday Head Start podcast, hey, remember that?
• 7:06
  That episode walks you through building a minimum upkeep plan,
• 7:10
  and we will put a link to that episode in the show notes, along
• 7:13
  with a link to our Holiday Head Start playbook, which has pages
• 7:17
  to help you plan everything you need for the holidays.
• 7:21
  Heidi: And probably then some, but just be aware that we have
• 7:25
  not made any new Holiday Head Start episodes in a while. I
• 7:28
  think this whole year, yes, but we are hoping to get back to it
• 7:31
  soon. We really miss it, but the episodes that are there are just
• 7:35
  top notch.
• 7:36
  Emily: They're so good.
• 7:37
  Heidi: They are full of great tips to help you get through
• 7:39
  December in one piece.
• 7:41
  Emily: If you already have a system for putting regular life
• 7:43
  on autopilot for a few weeks during back to school, just dust
• 7:47
  it off and put it back into commission for December.
• 7:51
  Heidi: And if you don't have that kind of system yet,
• 7:53
  consider this December your dry run for next summer. Sometimes
• 7:56
  it feels more worthwhile to give attention to something when you
• 7:59
  realize that you can get multiple uses out of it.
• 8:02
  Emily: Okay, so our first tip for preparing your home for
• 8:05
  December is to put your home on autopilot for a few weeks. Now
• 8:09
  let's look at our second tip, which is to decide what matters
• 8:12
  most before everyone else decides for you.
• 8:16
  Heidi: The thing I love most about this time of year is the
• 8:19
  unique experiences it offers. We can't load the kids up with
• 8:23
  cocoa and drive around looking at lights in February. And I
• 8:26
  don't have a list of movies that I love to watch in June.
• 8:29
  Although maybe I should. We just have this tiny window to enjoy
• 8:34
  whatever makes this season feel special. And if we miss it, it's
• 8:37
  gone for another year.
• 8:39
  Emily: We probably all know that feeling so well. You wanted to
• 8:42
  decorate cookies. You even bought some cute sprinkles, but
• 8:45
  you were too busy to make the cookies. And now it's january 4,
• 8:47
  and it just seems silly to make cookies with Christmas
• 8:49
  sprinkles.
• 8:50
  Heidi: Yeah, I mean, technically, you could decorate
• 8:52
  cookies at any time, mix up some green frosting, and listen to
• 8:56
  Irish jigs while you decorate shamrocks in March. But you
• 8:59
  know, it just doesn't have quite the same feeling.
• 9:02
  Emily: So let's make sure there's time for what you want
• 9:04
  to do this year. Unless you really love the idea of St.
• 9:07
  Patrick's Day cookies, then you should totally do that. Start by
• 9:10
  listing everything that you enjoy doing this season. Then
• 9:14
  pick your top three. If you get stuck between two things, ask
• 9:16
  yourself: If I could only do one of these, which would I choose?
• 9:20
  Heidi: Now don't panic. Just because we are ranking
• 9:22
  activities doesn't mean you have to skip everything but your top
• 9:26
  three. This list just tells you where to put your time and
• 9:28
  energy and money first, and then anything you can fit in after
• 9:32
  that as the bonus.
• 9:34
  Emily: Then for each priority, set a minimum standard of
• 9:36
  success. That will be your finish line, the point where you
• 9:39
  can call it done.
• 9:41
  Heidi: If you think back to August, we said that the minimum
• 9:44
  standard of success for the first week of school is that
• 9:47
  every student feels safe, seen, and needed. If you hit those,
• 9:50
  you know your week was exactly what it needed to be, even if
• 9:54
  nothing else got done.
• 9:55
  Emily: And we can totally apply that to our December tasks. So
• 9:59
  maybe for December at school, that means you end the month
• 10:03
  with your math lessons on schedule or with all your
• 10:05
  grading caught up.
• 10:07
  Heidi: Having a minimum standard of success probably means some
• 10:10
  things won't get done. Some years, my minimum standard for
• 10:13
  decorating has been just getting the tree up, even if it doesn't
• 10:17
  have a single ornament. Now that is far from my ideal, but it
• 10:21
  honored the capacity that I had that season, and that made it
• 10:25
  enough. Plus, I probably could not have enjoyed a perfectly
• 10:29
  decorated tree if I had pushed myself too hard on that task,
• 10:33
  and that meant I had to drop something that was more
• 10:34
  important to me.
• 10:36
  Emily: Time and energy are finite, so we have to manage
• 10:39
  them well, and that sets us up for our third tip. So far, we've
• 10:43
  set up home to run on autopilot and decided what matters most.
• 10:46
  Now it's time to put your well-being ahead of busyness.
• 10:50
  Heidi: December has a way of making busy feel like the goal.
• 10:54
  If you are running from one thing to the next, it feels like
• 10:56
  you're doing the season right. But a full calendar doesn't mean
• 11:00
  that you are necessarily enjoying any of it.
• 11:03
  Emily: Yeah, you ever get to January and feel like you missed
• 11:05
  all of December? It's probably because you packed too much into
• 11:08
  your schedule.
• 11:09
  Heidi: And you already know this from back to school. Those first
• 11:12
  few weeks feel like running a marathon. Now, I have never been
• 11:16
  so foolish as to actually run a marathon, but I assume that if
• 11:21
  you leap off that starting line running as fast as you can,
• 11:24
  you're not going to have enough left in your tank to make it to
• 11:26
  the finish line. And if you give everything you've got in August,
• 11:30
  you won't have anything to sustain you at school in
• 11:32
  September.
• 11:33
  Emily: Doing this probably means making some painful cutbacks.
• 11:37
  Maybe you skip book club in August so you can get to bed
• 11:39
  early, or you set aside a favorite hobby for a couple
• 11:42
  weeks. You do what you can to honor your capacity in that
• 11:45
  season.
• 11:47
  Heidi: And December is the same kind of race, just with more
• 11:49
  glitter and jingle bells. And the easiest way to protect your
• 11:53
  energy is to decide ahead of time what you're not going to
• 11:56
  do. And that's why we love a let go list.
• 11:59
  Emily: This is one of my favorite lists to make because
• 12:02
  there is nothing to do once it's written. You're just writing
• 12:04
  down what you're choosing not to do this year. It might be
• 12:07
  matching pajamas or homemade cookies or the third holiday
• 12:11
  party in one week.
• 12:13
  Heidi: But of course, watching The Holiday is not going on that
• 12:15
  list.
• 12:16
  Emily: No, you will always make time for festive Jude Law
• 12:19
  because he is the superior Jude Law, and now The Holiday is
• 12:22
  going to be back in theaters this year because it's been 20
• 12:25
  years. Can you believe that?
• 12:26
  Heidi: Oh, I don't like that.
• 12:28
  Emily: I had the realization that for us as kids, it would
• 12:30
  have been like watching a movie from 1977 in the 90s and being
• 12:35
  like, "Ah, this movie's the best. I watch it every year."
• 12:40
  Heidi: Nope.
• 12:41
  Emily: But Jude Law aside, simplifying something doesn't
• 12:43
  mean you don't care about it. You're just trading it for
• 12:46
  something you need more, like a quiet evening at home or a few
• 12:50
  extra dollars in your bank account.
• 12:52
  Heidi: I did this one year in my notes app. I set up a note
• 12:55
  called "Things I'm Proud of." I wrote the things that I
• 12:58
  remembered to do, which I was proud of, but I also included
• 13:01
  the stuff that I let go of, like baking cookies. I bought them
• 13:05
  instead, and guess what? They worked just fine.
• 13:08
  Emily: Something I let go of is a show that we skipped, even
• 13:11
  though we had already bought tickets the day of the show in
• 13:14
  December. It was so stressful, and once we talked about how
• 13:18
  much time and energy it would take to get there, and how much
• 13:21
  happier we'd be not going, it made the decision a lot easier.
• 13:25
  Heidi: Yeah, the money was already gone by that point, but
• 13:27
  we don't have to add to the cost of spending our time and energy
• 13:30
  on it too. Those are a lot harder to get back.
• 13:34
  Emily: Besides deciding what to let go, you can prioritize your
• 13:36
  well-being by adding downtime to the calendar. In episode 209, we
• 13:41
  suggested you could preserve your capacity by scheduling
• 13:44
  nothing nights during the first few weeks of school. But
• 13:47
  December needs those nothing nights just as much.
• 13:51
  Heidi: The scheduling part here is key. Write them in like an
• 13:54
  appointment. If rest only gets whatever time is left over,
• 13:58
  guess what? There's not gonna be any left over, and you want to
• 14:01
  enjoy your December, not just survive it.
• 14:03
  Emily: So, as your November and December calendars start filling
• 14:06
  with obligations, take a minute to decide what you want from
• 14:09
  this time. How can you prepare your home? How can you protect
• 14:12
  what matters? And how can you prioritize your well-being?
• 14:16
  Heidi: Having those things taken care of will help you get to
• 14:18
  winter break and enjoy your time off instead of just collapsing
• 14:21
  on the couch for a week.
• 14:22
  Emily: Well, you can enjoy your break if you take care of the
• 14:25
  school tasks as well, and that's the main thing we're here to
• 14:28
  help you with. This year, we're hosting a free four-day
• 14:31
  challenge: Reclaim Your Winter Break. That'll be happening
• 14:34
  November 15th through 18th.
• 14:36
  Heidi: One of our best tips for back to school is to plan the
• 14:39
  second day of school at the same time as you plan the first, so
• 14:42
  that you can leave on time after that exhausting first day. Our
• 14:46
  Reclaim Your Winter Break Challenge does that same thing,
• 14:48
  but on a larger scale. We will help you figure out how to wrap
• 14:51
  up December and get your first days back in January already
• 14:55
  before you walk out the door.
• 14:57
  Emily: By the end, you'll have a finished plan for tackling all
• 14:59
  the tasks that stand between you and a work-free winter break.
• 15:03
  Sign up free at secondstorywindow.net/winterbreak.
• 15:08
  Now for our teacher-approved tip of the week, where we share an
• 15:11
  actionable tip to help you elevate what matters and
• 15:14
  simplify the rest. This week's tip is to plan like you're
• 15:17
  Jennifer Lopez. So please do tell us about this, Heidi.
• 15:22
  Heidi: Well, let's start off by talking about one of our
• 15:24
  favorite topics: rom coms.
• 15:27
  Emily: This isn't even the first rom com we've mentioned in this
• 15:29
  episode.
• 15:31
  Heidi: We have a brand. What can we say? Now, we are assuming
• 15:34
  that everyone has seen the Wedding Planner, and if you've
• 15:36
  somehow missed that one, here's a little preview. At the
• 15:39
  beginning of the movie, Jennifer Lopez is pulling together all of
• 15:42
  the last-minute details of a wedding. She's soothing cold
• 15:45
  feet, fixing dresses, and tracking down the missing father
• 15:48
  of the bride. And of course, she handles all of it because she
• 15:52
  has planned everything down to the minute.
• 15:54
  Emily: She also has a headset, a whole team, a tool belt with a
• 15:58
  sewing kit in it, and Judy Greer as her assistant, and
• 16:01
  unfortunately, we don't get any of that.
• 16:03
  Heidi: Although maybe you could figure out the tool belt if you
• 16:05
  really thought about it. I don't know if that's worth the time.
• 16:09
  It's fine. We are teachers, and we are used to making do. And
• 16:12
  the next best thing to a sewing kit tool belt is a script.
• 16:16
  Emily: Or since we're talking about wedding planning, maybe we
• 16:18
  call this a run of show document. The idea is to do all
• 16:22
  your thinking before the big day, so you can concentrate on
• 16:25
  what's unfolding in front of you.
• 16:27
  Heidi: We talk a lot about scripts during back to school. I
• 16:29
  think episode 276 was the most recent time we discussed it, but
• 16:34
  in this case, the script or a run of show document is a minute
• 16:38
  by minute outline of how a big day needs to unfold, and what is
• 16:42
  the biggest day on the teaching calendar? The first day of
• 16:45
  school.
• 16:46
  Emily: Yeah, that day is less of a day and more of an event.
• 16:48
  December has a few of those kind of days too. Any day when your
• 16:52
  schedule is full of interruptions is a day when you
• 16:54
  can't rely on your routine to carry you, and that is when a
• 16:57
  script can be very helpful.
• 16:59
  Heidi: Of course, these December scripts don't need nearly the
• 17:02
  level of detail that you need for the first day, but you're
• 17:05
  still going to be so glad you have it when your math lesson
• 17:07
  gets moved to the morning, lunch is 15 minutes late, and the
• 17:10
  winter program practice runs into your planning time.
• 17:13
  Emily: But scripts aren't limited to school schedules;
• 17:15
  they can help you create a timeline for any big day. If
• 17:19
  you've ever forgotten to preheat the oven or left the salad you
• 17:22
  were supposed to bring sitting in the fridge, you could use a
• 17:25
  script. The plan holds the details, so your brain doesn't
• 17:28
  have to.
• 17:30
  Heidi: I do a script for Thanksgiving Day and Christmas
• 17:32
  Eve, which are the two big events that I host. And there's
• 17:36
  always a moment when I'm preparing, and I think I know
• 17:38
  what's coming next. I don't need to check, but then they look at
• 17:42
  my script only to realize I was overlooking a key step. So it's
• 17:46
  always a good thing that I wrote it down.
• 17:48
  Emily: To make a script for any event at school or at home,
• 17:51
  start with the timeline. Then look at each event and figure
• 17:54
  out what has to happen before and after. If you're heading out
• 17:58
  to see the lights, the kids need to eat early and get bundled up.
• 18:02
  Afterward, maybe you're stopping for hot chocolate and dropping
• 18:05
  Aunt Denise off on the way home. Once you block out time for
• 18:08
  those pieces, suddenly you know exactly when to start dinner and
• 18:11
  round up everyone's blankets and any stuffies that are going to
• 18:14
  come along for the ride.
• 18:16
  Heidi: Yeah, those kids and their stuffies. It's also
• 18:19
  helpful to include a column on your script for supplies. So
• 18:22
  when we drive to see the lights, I like to make little treat
• 18:25
  boxes for the kids. But then I also need to remember water
• 18:28
  bottles, a garbage bag for candy wrappers, and then extra baggies
• 18:32
  so the kids can take their leftover treats home and they
• 18:35
  don't take my cute snack holders because I don't trust that I
• 18:37
  will get them back. So all of that goes on my script.
• 18:41
  Emily: Getting all of that out of your head takes some time the
• 18:43
  first year, but the script is reusable. Next year, you pull it
• 18:47
  out, adjust a few things, and you're ready.
• 18:49
  Heidi: It also gives you a place to write down what works, so
• 18:51
  that you're not trusting yourself to remember. You won't
• 18:54
  remember.
• 18:55
  Emily: And best of all, it frees you up to enjoy the day instead
• 18:58
  of writing a checklist in your head the whole time.
• 19:01
  Heidi: All right. To wrap up the show, we are sharing what we're
• 19:03
  giving extra credit to this week. Emily, what gets your
• 19:05
  extra credit?
• 19:06
  Emily: Well, since we're talking about the holidays, I wanted to
• 19:09
  give extra credit to something we have talked about on the
• 19:12
  holiday Head Start, but I've never given extra credit to
• 19:14
  here. That is having a Christmas morning caddy if you celebrate
• 19:18
  Christmas. So, in this caddy, I like to keep scissors because
• 19:21
  you know you're going to need those to cut off the parts of
• 19:24
  the little toy that the kids just opened. But you'll also
• 19:28
  want other things in there, like batteries for said toy and
• 19:32
  sharpies in case you need to label who's of the identical
• 19:36
  things they just got. Who, which one belongs to who. What other
• 19:40
  things do you like to put in yours, Heidi?
• 19:43
  Heidi: I think trash bags are a must because you're gonna have a
• 19:45
  lot of wrapping paper. Unless you like having that all in your
• 19:48
  pictures, which is totally valid.
• 19:50
  Emily: Oh, screwdrivers, so that if you need to open up a battery
• 19:53
  compartment that has a teeny tiny little screw in it, you
• 19:56
  know how those are.
• 19:57
  Heidi: Yeah, so the little mini screwdrivers, not the big one
• 20:00
  that you would use for assembling IKEA.
• 20:02
  Emily: I also like to keep a little list in there where I can
• 20:05
  mark down who gave my children what, so that we can write thank
• 20:09
  you notes later. You might want post-it notes in there, or an
• 20:13
  extra memory card for your camera, a phone battery backup,
• 20:16
  or a charger with a long cord that will reach the outlet from
• 20:20
  where you sit during present opening. This is just such a
• 20:24
  good way to plan ahead for a moment that can be overwhelming,
• 20:29
  and then have the joy of being like, I have everything I need
• 20:32
  right here. Oh, you can't get that battery compartment open?
• 20:37
  Let me get out my little screwdrivers. It's very
• 20:40
  satisfying.
• 20:41
  Heidi: And the postits can come in handy, right? If someone's
• 20:44
  opening something and it's a duplicate gift or it doesn't
• 20:47
  fit, you could just like mark, put the post it on it, but like
• 20:50
  mark it as a return, set it in a pile so it doesn't get mixed in,
• 20:54
  and then you forget to return and it's too late. All that.
• 20:56
  There's so many pieces moving at that moment, and you're probably
• 21:00
  tired because you probably stayed up way too late. So just
• 21:03
  just make it easy on yourself.
• 21:05
  Emily: Yeah. So you definitely want to get your own Christmas
• 21:08
  morning caddy together. What are you giving extra credit to,
• 21:11
  Heidi?
• 21:12
  Heidi: Well, since I used our Christmas light drive as an
• 21:14
  example, I'm going to give extra credit to cute snack containers.
• 21:18
  So the ones I use are little Christmas tree shapes with
• 21:21
  divided sections inside, and I like them because they're just
• 21:25
  big enough to hold a couple pieces of candy. So it's a
• 21:27
  treat, but it's not a full candy feast. And I did look around
• 21:32
  online to try and find a link to the ones I have, and I could not
• 21:35
  find any. But I did see some people talking online that maybe
• 21:38
  Dollar Tree has some this year, so maybe you want to check that
• 21:40
  out, but I found some cute little boxes on Amazon. They're
• 21:44
  just square, like more bento box shaped, but they come in red and
• 21:47
  green, which you might want this year. But they had a ton of
• 21:50
  other color palettes. I was like, oh, what could we use
• 21:53
  these for? And these also look sturdier than the flimsy plastic
• 21:57
  tree ones I have. And the nice thing is that the plastic
• 22:01
  divider between sections in this case isn't removable, and if
• 22:05
  you've got little kids, you don't want them to be tearing
• 22:08
  things apart because if they can pull out the little middle part,
• 22:10
  they're going to end up all over your car and you'll never find
• 22:12
  them again.
• 22:12
  Emily: True story.
• 22:15
  Heidi: And of course, you don't need themed snack boxes to enjoy
• 22:17
  a light drive, but as the auntie, I'm kind of obligated to
• 22:20
  provide that, so I'm just fulfilling my duty.
• 22:23
  Emily: It's true. So if you're an auntie out there, this is
• 22:25
  definitely for you. Although if you're a mom that's more put
• 22:28
  together than me, this also could be for you. But I could
• 22:31
  never pull this off. It's it's a delight that Heidi brings to the
• 22:35
  occasion that luckily I do not have to provide.
• 22:38
  Heidi: And then I have the delight of leaving you with the
• 22:40
  children and going into my quiet house.
• 22:42
  Emily: Yeah, I bring the noise and the mess home with me.
• 22:46
  Heidi: Well, that is it for today's episode. As we head into
• 22:49
  the thick of holiday ramp up season, remember to prepare your
• 22:52
  home, protect what matters, and prioritize your well being. And
• 22:56
  if you would like help preparing for the holiday ramp up in your
• 22:58
  classroom, join our free four day challenge: Reclaim Your
• 23:01
  Winter Break, November 15 through the 18th, and you can
• 23:04
  sign up free at secondstorywindow.net/winterbreak.
• 23:10
  We hope you enjoyed this episode of Teacher Approved. I'm Heidi.
• 23:14
  Emily: And I'm Emily. Thank you for listening. Be sure to follow
• 23:17
  or subscribe in your podcast app so that you never miss an
• 23:20
  episode.
• 23:21
  Heidi: You can connect with us and other teachers in the
• 23:23
  Teacher Approved Facebook group. We'll see you here next week.
• 23:26
  Bye for now.
• 23:27
  Emily: Bye.