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Spidey’s Serene Sunday – Part 261 – Lurgy

01 Mar 2020 39 Comments

by Ritu in Spidey's Serene Sundays Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Ill, Mindset, Quote, Sick, Spiderman, Spidey, Spidey's Serene Sunday

“For a while, she considered being ill, but she changed her mind…”
Tove Jansson

Interesting quote there, Spidey. Have you, perchance, spotted the pile of tissues in the bin, and the cold and flu medicines stacked by my bedside?

Yup.

For the first time, in a long while, the lurgy has caught up with me.

I consider myself pretty lucky. I have been in the Early Years setting for a good few years now, and if nothing else, it has been great for building my immune system!

Little kids are notorious for spreading germs.

My class at the end of last half term was proof, with the class depleted by nearly a third, as various bugs spread through Reception class, like wildfire.

I thought that a week away would be a good thing. It would give the children time to rest and recuperate, so they arrived back in class, fit and healthy.

Instead, we had a few still off, having not fully recovered.

Then, after our wonderful weekend away in London last week, I came back home from work on Tuesday to Hubby Dearest, sitting there worried sick. Apparently two or three businesses in Canary Wharf (where we stayed) had sent employees home because someone there may have contracted the Coronavirus after travelling…

Do we worry? How much should we be concerned? We were in the centre of London for three days.

And on Thursday, I awoke to a horrible sore throat, which developed the addition of a constantly dripping nose…

Great.

The lurgy.

But I can’t be off sick. There is too much to do at school!

And we had our class photos on the Friday.

And, I had to be better for yesterday, as we had a planned trip to London (again) to celebrate the 50th birthday of one of my dearest cousin sister in laws.

So I decided – mindset change. I will beat this lurgy.

I got up, dosed myself up for two days, and drank plenty of fluids. Stayed out of the cold, wrapped up warm when I did go out.

And woke on Saturday, not cured, but better.

My voice is rather deep and gravelly at the moment, due to the sore throat, but other than that, I am fine. Functioning normally, and I haven’t had to use a tissue for my nose for over 24 hours result!

See.

You can battle through these things!

So… tell me, how do you deal with being ill?

Have a peaceful Sunday Peeps. And enjoy your week! ❤

Spidey’s Serene Sunday – Part 257 – Excitement

02 Feb 2020 44 Comments

by Ritu in Spidey's Serene Sundays Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Excitement, Quote, Spiderman, Spidey, Spidey's Serene Sunday

“I am excited about what the future will bring, and I think the best is yet to come.”
Alonzo Mourning

Thank you so much Spidey for finding a quote so perfect for how I am feeling right now.

Actually, my feelings are a mixture of nerves and excitement.

It is literally a WEEK until my book baby is officially published!

A WEEK!

How has nearly twenty years passed, since I first had the idea for this book and started to write words on a screen?

Did I ever think that it would really be a ‘thing’?

No.

I never thought I would be a blogger, with an award winning blog, either. I just excitedly posted all manner of stuff, and people seemed to like it, then the best thing happened. I got recognised for it!

The same goes for my work. I always put 110% into my job, and the excitement I have for working with my class is palpable. And the rewards are huge, at the end of every year. Not financially. Everyone knows a teacher’s salary is rubbish. But emotionally. Seeing a child read a word for the first time, unaided, or crack the code of how to add a number to another, independently. Priceless moments. Watching them develop into these amazing little human beings with empathy, and seeing their imaginations grow, because we have helped them to learn to access the tools they need to succeed in life. No better feeling.

And similarly, I have an excitement for my book baby. Nervous excitement, as I said. You never know what might happen, but the feedback I have received from beta readers, and some advance readers has been enough for the excited butterflies to be going crazy in my stomach for the last few weeks! I can only hope that other readers feel the same about my story, too!

Who knows?

So… tell me, what excites you at the moment?

And… have you preordered, yet? The Kindle version is available to preorder, or the paperback will be out from the 9th Feb! Check out the blog tour that starts tomorrow!

And you can pre-order here.

Have a peaceful Sunday Peeps. And enjoy your week! ❤

Spidey’s Serene Sunday – Part 251 – Festive Cheer

22 Dec 2019 46 Comments

by Ritu in Spidey's Serene Sundays Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Charles Dickens, Christmas, Quote, Spidey, Spidey's Serene Sunday

Image result for christmas spidey serene sunday

“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”
Charles Dickens

What a lovely thought, Spidey, that you found there!

Christmas, and all the feelings of ‘peace on earth, and goodwill to all men’, it’s all well and good, but why do we save it for Christmas?

Would this world not be a better place, if we had those feelings in our hearts all year round, as good old Dickens said, above?

Personally, I try to live my life with these thoughts all the time, but I am always amazed at some people I have encountered, who truly Scrooge it up the whole year round, and then flip a switch, and become this all giving, all cheery individual, just around the festive period.

Then come January, yup, you guessed it, Scrooge is back.

Bah Humbug again!

The world truly is a nicer place around this time of year. There are smiles, and so much generosity.

Seriously? Why can’t we share this giving nature around, spread it over the whole year?

So… tell me, are you more of a Scrooge, during the rest of the year, or like Will Ferrel’s Elf?

Spidey’s Serene Sunday – Part 249 – Wise Man vs. Fool

08 Dec 2019 48 Comments

by Ritu in Spidey's Serene Sundays Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Calm, Proverb, Quote, Serene, Spiderman, Spidey, Spidey's Serene Sunday

“A wise man never knows all. A fool knows everything.”
African Proverb

I do love ths proverb that Spidey, dear Spidey, managed to fish out of his collection this week.

It’s another take on last week’s entry, about never being too old to learn new things, really.

We are never at an age where we know it all, though I am sure we all know a Mr or Mrs Know-It-All!

And you are guaranteed to think that person a bit of a fool. I bet when that person starts spouting off about all they know, there is eye rolling going on around them too.

It is so important to realise that one individual really can’t know EVERYTHING.

Sure, age brings with it experience, and the wisdom to guide others through certain situations. But even as adults, we are still learning, or should be willing to admit that there will always be plenty that we don’t know how to navigate.

And with that realisation, should come that knowledge that it isn’t weakness to ask for assistance. In fact it is the wise man who will ask for help, not the fool, because, of course, the fool knows it all!

So… tell me, do you know any fools?

Spidey’s Serene Sunday – Part 236 – Early Years

08 Sep 2019 36 Comments

by Ritu in Spidey's Serene Sundays Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Bloggier, Blogging, Quote, Serene, Spiderman, Spidey, Spidey's Serene Sundays, Teaching

“It is greater work to educate a child, in a true and larger sense of the world, than to rule a state.”
Willia Ellery Channing

Profoundness today, eh Spidey!

And apt, as always, to my situation.

I have completed my first week in my new classroom, with my first very own class.

A group of 30 children who are my responsibility for the next academic year.

That’s a BIG responsibility.

Yes, they are 4-5 years-old.

No, they aren’t going to learn how to write a novel/solve complex equations/create scientific formulas this year.

But what I will have to teach them is to love learning.

How to hold a pencil
How to count
How to recognise their name and write it
How to begin to read

Simple academics, but on top of that, and more importantly, I need to teach them how to be compassionate, caring individuals. I need to show them that the world doesn’t revolve around them individually, but rather they, and their actions keep our world turning.

I must show then that asking questions is not wrong, but a way of extending their own knowledge. Every question they ask can be explored, investigated.

I have to make sure they develop confidence; conquer the fear of “I can’t do that” and convert it into “I can’t do that, yet.” and further, to “I will try that” onto “I did it!”

It’s a tough job, being an Early Years teacher. The syllabus isn’t as cut and dried as other years.

But I have the joy of (hopefully) creating a stable foundation for my class. A solid beginning to their academic career, so they move forward with an open mind and joy of learning.

So… tell me, what is the first memory you have of school?