Monday Musings

Good morning, guys!

It is the beginning of a new week and I am trying to find some motivation to get up and work out before my day starts. It is the last day of the month, and even though this day is usually cray-cray for us home-health girls I'm actually not too stressed. Kind of like I've done all I can do and now just have to let the chips fall where they may.

A few things I'm pondering this morning:

How true is this comic. I can literally see the horror in some patient's eyes when I try to "excitedly" introduce flash cards. Here's a tip: half of them can see past your fake enthusiasm. The other half, however buy in and I'm like, MUHAHA. You fools. You believed me! This is going to the most boring 10 minutes of your life.

I'm all out of this tea and oh so sad. I drink it every morning for the healthy caffeine and antioxidants and I suppose I could go to the store for more but...yoga pants. 

Speaking of yoga pants, these Nike ones (well I suppose they're technically sweatpants, but whatever) from Academy are my JAM. They were a birthday gift from the boyfriend and beyond comfy. 

In other news, I wanted to touch on my current love-hate relationship with Teachers Pay Teachers and the whole materials-making spree everyone and their Mom is on these days. I, too, have been attempting to make some products that are useful for not only myself but other SLPs but lately I have been completely overwhelmed by all the product sharing and giveaways I see on Facebook. 

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE all of the amazing products my fellow professionals are pumping out (that phrase is awkward and is going to bother me, I know it) but I simply do not have the printer ink as a home-based SLP to support this habit. I guess Staples is the answer? I don't know. My other issue is that I really do not use many paper-based activities with my kiddos, as most of them are under 5. My plan for future products includes mostly bilingual and lesson-plan resources that incorporate real-life objects along with visual supports. I think this will be what is most useful to me and other preschool SLPs.

If you are preschool SLP, what kinds of ready-made products would you like to see in my TpT store for download? I'd love to hear your thoughts. 

Have an amazing last day of March, everyone!

Little Bit of Real Life

"Real life" is a great thing. It's different than the imagined version of our lives we create in our minds where everything is beautiful because it's perfect. "Real life" is beautiful because of its simplicity...at least for me. The things that aren't a product of me "doing" anything. The little things. Yesterday was a little bit of real life for me. And it felt really good.

I didn't have sessions in the morning so I took my time making organic chicken/maple sausages and my Zen green tea. I enjoyed them post-folding laundry and watching re-runs of Teen Mom 2 with my kitty nearby. Oh yeah. I have a kitty. She became part of the family about two weeks ago, around Valentine's Day. Meet Ava. That's her handsome Dad, behind her. ;)

Afterwards, I turned on Spotify and ran a bubble bath (I use Fair For Life: Everday Shea Lavender Bubble Bath from Whole Foods) while I let my new hair color sink in...finally I am a dark brunnette again! I have been an auburn color for awhile now but it hasn't really felt like me. While in the tub I enjoyed the book, "The Honest Life" by Jessica Alba. Lots of great info regarding all-natural living.

Once my hair was done and I invested in a spray tan, I wrote up some therapy notes, made some phone calls and headed out to a session about 40 minutes away. I decided to stop at my parent's new home also, which is in the general area. I have been concerned that their new home won't feel like "home" to me...but I was surprised to find that all I wanted to do when I got there was lay on the couch I had never seen before and listen to my Mom unpack boxes. God really quieted my fears in that moment. There is nothing like the calmness of home.

I completed my session (which was largely focused on attention) and then went back to my parent's house where I picked up my sewing machine from my Dad (I need it to make my Etsy products). While in the process of loading it into my car, my Dad decided to try and pass off some other boxes they've been keeping for me; you know, boxes of memory items from highschool and college. I spent the next couple of hours just pouring through old journals from as early as age 8 and college acceptance letters from my Senior year of highschool. Man, if I had only known the journey I was about to embark on.

One of my favorite finds was this great work of fiction I wrote in 2001:

"A STORY ABOUT ALCOHOL" LOL. Yeah. But I got a 100 and man did I deserve it with all those colored illustrations.

After leaving my parents, I treated myself to a little birthday ice cream at Coldstone Creamery at the harbor nearby. Appropriately I chose "Birthday Cake Remix". I'm pretty sure the "remix" is that afterwards you feel like dying, on your day of birth. But it was yummy none the less.

I enjoyed my treat in front of this gorgeous fountain just soaking up the Texas sunshine. I have missed the sun SO much and it was great to feel the heat "beating" down at 75 degrees.

That was about the end of my excursions for the day. I MAY have stopped at Garden Ridge on the way home for bags of Popcorn Indiana Dark Fudge Chocolate Chip Kettlecorn...but you can't prove that, can you? CAN YOU. Haha.

Overall, it was a wonderful, relaxing day. I am about to head off to some sessions during which I will be jamming to this amazing new album by Jillian Edwards, "Daydream":

It is perfect, breezy Spring-time singer-songwriter-ness.

I hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday.

I will leave you with this embarrassing relic from my childhood.

How To Get Your Motivation Back (Therapy-Wise)

Across my adult life thus far, since graduating high school, I have struggled with continuous low-grade depression. It affects me to varying degrees daily, and often I feel like my attitude towards work and life and general can be affected by things as insignificant as whether the sun is literally shining or not. I'm working on this.

One thing I continually come back to the drawing board on is how to re-gain my motivation in regards to work. Some people may find this strange; after all, you went to the effort of getting a Master's degree in your field, you must love your job! And I do. But home health can be very isolating; you have a lot of time to yourself to think; a.k.a., ruminate on your problems. Long drives between sessions become pressure cookers for insecure thoughts. Or Britney Spears karaoke sessions. It really is either or. Anyways, this isolation and time spent driving can lead to a monotony that slowly drives you insane. I am sure there are plenty of home health therapists that travel very short distances between clients but I am not that SLP. My closest client is 8 minutes away and my furthest is an hour and fifteen minutes.

However, there are a few things that help me find the joy in what I do on days when I just don't know if I can handle another 30 minutes working on past tense verbs again with the little guy I have seen for several years straight. When 30 minutes seem like the longest 30 minutes of my life. One of them is telling myself that I'm a badass. A la Leslie Knope.

On top of that, here are some of my go-to strategies:

1) Take 10 minutes to print out a new themed cut/paste activity and make enough copies for all clients. Check out Teachers Pay Teachers and bring one new activity or toy to therapy today. 

Seriously. Stop using that same deck of Super Duper cards that only makes your kids cry and you want to hit your head against the wall. Even typing in "preschool March cut/paste" into Google can give me something quick to print out so I don't have to face the monotony of my usual go-to materials.

2) TREAT YO SELF.

Bring a new snack (aka bribe yourself with food, usually works for me) or stop at Starbucks for a midday pick-me-up. Being able to look forward to a treat or something relaxing in the midst of a busy day will help carry you through. I like to download The Jillian Michaels Show podcasts. New podcasts automatically download every Tuesday and therefore every Tuesday I actually look forward to my long drives so I can listen to this show. 

3) Emotionally re-invest in your clients.

Stop thinking about that one client as the 3-year old who's been working on past tense verbs for like forever. Instead, sit down and make a new game plan. Imagine this child finally mastering their goals and becoming functionally communicative in the way you want them to be. Remember their names. Enjoy their personalities. Think about them as if they were your own children before you scold them for scooting around the living room every second of the session. Love on them. 

4) Come up with a new game plan. 

In grad school when I was an SLPA and had only 3-4 clients, I used to come home and think through each child, their deficits, and formulate how I could use very effective activities to get them in and out of therapy fast. I had a lot more time on my hands, obviously. Regardless, consider coming up with three new activities to target goals you're just over, so you can feel more effective during therapy and break up the monotony.

5) Clean out your car. 

Home health speechies, I know you feel me on this one. Hey, who knew you had these auditory awareness dry erase worksheets in there?! It's amazing what you can forget you're lugging around after weeks of dragging toys in and out of your trunk and backseat. Pull everything out, take an inventory, make sure you're carrying only what you need, and then replace worn-out toys and activities with new and exciting ones. 

Also throw out all those Starbucks cups and fast food wrappers. That will be helpful in maintaining your sanity. 

I hope some of these ideas help shake things up for you. And when you're all alone in your car, drinking an Icee and eating another bean burrito from Taco Bell, driving an hour to your next session...know I'm here for you, girl. 

Lindsay

Sunday Feels

It is Sunday. Let me tell you how Sunday feels. 

Sunday feels like a McDonald's medium french fry and ice-cold Coke.

Sunday feels like a very heavy, scratchy grey blanket that I don't want touching me.

Sunday feels like a humid room with a barely functioning oscillating fan. 

Sunday feels like an all-too hot bath that you were dying to get into but five minutes later are dying to get out of. 

Sunday feels like a song you started writing but quit when you got to the chorus.

Sunday feels like the comforter you put in the dryer that you will purposefully forget about.

Sunday feels like the mess on the floor that is better suited for Monday's sense of purpose.

Sunday feels like an empty playground punctuated by the sound of a clanging flagpole.

Sunday feels like the ball you attempted to play with that you accidentally kicked out of reach.

Sunday feels like the tea you set aside to cool down but is now too cool and must be reheated.

Sunday feels like the excitement of wearing flip flops followed by the let-down of a chilly breeze.

Sunday feels like the shirt you want to wear so badly but never lays just right.

Sunday feels like the talk you will have with that good friend filled with long pauses. Those muffins you made, they weren't very good, were they? People are unreliable, aren't they? You don't want tomorrow to come. 

Sunday feels better in my head than it looks on paper. 

Restore to me the joy of your salvation. - psalm 51:12