Post
by marleah » Sun Aug 30, 2009 2:17 am
I just started a part-time job as a special ed paraeducator with kindergarten, first grade, and a couple of second grade students. I know, I'm not a teacher, but I'm in that environment every day. Funny thing is, I don't have a background in education - it's in psychology. But that works well when I'm working with kids with autism, that kind of thing.
ANYway ... there are ALWAYS treats in the lounge! It seems very excessive to me, but that's me. I bring my lunch, and I always just eat what is in my lunchbox. Some of the teachers have commented that I always have such a healthy lunch (the entree, an apple, carrots, and tomatoes - pretty standard).
One day one of the teachers offered to get a piece of cake for me from the other end of the table, and I just told her that I didn't have treats during the week, just on the weekends. She seemed so surprised, what a novel approach!
I agree, the lunch period that I have is quite rushed - I like to drink water in between bites to slow down my eating and feel more full, but I don't have time to do that! I have to eat in about 20 minutes, which is do-able, but it doesn't leave time for messing around. One thing I am thinking about doing - I usually bring leftovers, which means I have to warm them up in the microwave. Well, that takes valuable time, so I am thinking about bringing sandwiches more often (sunbutter and jelly - no peanut butter allowed in the school!), since I wouldn't have to warm them up. So maybe that is an idea - something that requires less prep?
I haven't had to deal with the holiday thing yet, so I'm not sure how I will handle that. The good thing is that I leave at 2 pm, and usually parties and that kind of thing in the classroom are more at the very end of the day. I don't know if parents are required to bring "healthy" treats for the kids or what.
Sorry this is so long - just lots of things I've been noticing as well. The stress thing - yeah, I've had lots of stress lately - new job, starting new master's program, trying to finish old master's program - but I think no-S has really given me a handle on reacting to stress by eating. As for handling the stress in general - I'm still working on that!
- vegan grad student -
- 5'2" starting at 140-145 in March 2009 -
- S-Days Saturday and Sunday -