Hey there.If you are an teacher, you know exactly what time of year it is. You can feel it in the air, and you can definitely feel it in your body. The back-to-school season is here.
Can I be honest with you? I know those days leading up to a new school year as a special needs teacher. There was always this very specific, very confusing knot in my stomach. On one hand, I was genuinely excited. I loved setting up my classroom, I loved the fresh start, and I deeply loved the kids.
But on the other hand? There was dread. The kind of heavy, exhausting dread that comes from knowing exactly how much energy you are about to expend. The early mornings, the endless meetings, the emotional labor of holding space for so many little humans.
If you are sitting right now feeling a mix of both—excited for the potential of a new year, but already tired just thinking about it—I need you to hear this: you are completely normal.
We have this weird expectation that we are supposed to feel only one thing at a time. If we are excited, we shouldn’t be dreading the alarm clock. If we are dreading the workload, we must not be passionate about teaching anymore. And honey, that is a lie.
You are allowed to love your job and still dread the exhaustion that comes with it. You are allowed to be passionate about your students and still mourn the loss of your slow summer mornings. Two things can be true at once.
This is where radical grace comes in. When that wave of dread hits you in the middle of Target while looking at school supplies, don’t beat yourself up for it. Don’t tell yourself you should be more grateful. Just notice it. Say, “Yep, this is a lot, and it’s okay that I feel overwhelmed.”
As we head into this new season, I want to challenge you to protect your energy baseline. You know the spikes are coming—the sudden schedule changes, the difficult parent emails. So where are your shields?
Maybe your shield is not checking email after 5:00 PM. Maybe it’s sitting in your car in silence for five minutes before you walk into your house. Maybe it’s just letting go of the expectation that your classroom has to look Pinterest-perfect on day one.
You don’t have to be a superwoman to be an incredible educator. You just have to be human.
Take a deep breath. We’ve got this. Together.
