Dear Together Friends, Fans, and Family,
Is there a special name for the period between Spring Break and End-of-School-Year? If not, THERE SHOULD BE. Let’s make one together! Springapalooza? Springtastic? The Home Stretch? Ana tried to call it the Spring Scrunch! Oh, wait, wait, there IS a name: MAYCEMBER!
It is sort of like the period between Thanksgiving and the December break (PSA: that stretch is only three work weeks again this year, so gear up!), but this little spring mini-mester kind of tricks me every single year. The sun is shining (finally), the days are longer (I’m playing badminton in the backyard with the teens after dinner), the birds are chirping . . . everything about this time of year exudes an expansiveness, and a sense of renewal. AND YET. [insert dramatic suspenseful music.] What I’m hearing from every single group we meet, individuals I coach, and people I interview is, “Help me hang on until the end of the school year. . . If I can just make it. . . Let’s get through this one [gala, talent show, choir concert, theater performance, etc.].“ On a personal level, FIVE of our six family members have birthdays in this stretch, the senior teen made her college decision, and my mom is getting remarried for her 70th birthday!
Semi-Together Fam on Spring Break in SC rolling in an XL golf cart!
So, a few thoughts on making this special stretch of time a little bit easier:
- Hit the proverbial Easy Button readily and often. I don’t know what that looks like for you, but if there is a shortcut, or a lower-effort way, TAKE IT. Anne Helen Peterson recently wrote an essay on her (paywalled) Substack about what you choose to do in Hard Mode and why (be sure to check out the fascinating comments!), and I’m curious what you can do in Easy Button mode and why. For me, this looks like relying on my crockpot(s) more, grilling double amounts of food to last the whole week, building preparation time directly into team meeting agendas, and giving myself grace to skip writing a planned blog post!
- Simplify and strip the schedule. This is old school advice, of course, but per usual at Together HQ, we advocate looking ahead during this stretch and asking yourself, “Is there anything that can be downgraded at this time? Anything bumped to the summer? Any meetings shortened and consolidated? Any hard choices that can be made even if it may disappoint folks?” On a personal level, I was a no-show to book club and a neighborhood pizza night so I could get in a swim and watch Hacks quietly in my house. Did I feel perfect about those choices? I did not, but I knew I would walk into Monday exhausted if my weekend was too full.
- Keep scanning and spotting for systems. Set up some processes that will make things easier later. I have a lot of Together Travel coming up in the next four months, and I went ahead and printed all of my pacing guides, pre-packed all of my Together Treats, chose my two rotating teacher dresses, and created a “travel box” with my key pieces of technology. I know all of this will prevent a scramble later when I’m racing to Amtrak or a plane. A little time up front can often go a long way later. Planning an event? Is there a tub of materials you can repack to use for the new one? Hiring people? Do you have templates for each possible scenario?
#clogsandclipboards #togetherforever
MHM
PS Late to the party, but watching Season 1 of this, made another winner island dinner of this, and Dr. Together and I started our own book club of two for Edgar Winners (we both love detective stuff, mysteries, and procedurals), and reading this. Also, best book club hack is to have a book club with someone you already see frequently. Our last book club chat was while we were cleaning up after dinner!
PPS Two new inspiring books from authors I admire. . . Long time edu-legend John King has released a book about the power of public educators, and Tre Johnson – a wonderful TV critic and long-time fave follow of mine – has a book of essays out this summer!
The Together Twins reunited last week for The Together Leader – Denver!
I’m gonna be honest, not a lot of the internet is very inspiring right now – but in search of some uplifting news I’ve gone down an unexpected path. So, come along on my journey of feel-good animal stories.
- Do we all need therapy rabbits? I already have four cats, but this article really made me want to foster a rabbit. San Francisco folks, have you seen the rabbit Mercedes?
- Just an unexpected giraffe pregnancy! You know, there’s nothing like a SURPRISE BABY GIRAFFE! Also, I admit I know nothing about gestational periods of large mammals, but I find it odd that a six-foot baby giraffe could be a total surprise!
- Gatekeepers versus Greeters? Okay, this one is not an animal story, but as someone who has four kids across two school districts (with very different levels of ease to enroll), I found Tim’s take here While my work doesn’t directly relate to school enrollment, I did find the graphic particularly powerful.
