What are second-grade-appropriate pastimes? I ask myself this after school every day, and especially on weekends. I sometimes feel like there is absolutely no overlap between typical 23-year-old pastimes, and those pastimes which are deemed appropriate for those to teach small children on a daily basis.
It took me a while to find a couple of things I still enjoy that the parents of my students wouldn’t find utterly astounding and unacceptable. I’ve even managed to do a couple of things and find supplies for a couple of these things over the past week.
First there’s camping, even day camping. The other night my sister and her husband and I took blankets, brats, cider, and a lighter and had dinner over a fire in the woods. By the time we got there it was dark out and it took us a while to start the fire because we forgot the newspaper. Anyway, it was delightful. We made up scary (read: hilarious) stories to tell in the dark, and laughed for longer than you’d think was possible. Ian dropped his second brat in the fire and couldn’t retrieve it. So he started another, which he also dropped in the fire, but Philumina rescued it for him.
I also bought a bicycle. The tire needs to be fixed a little because the previous owner overinflated it a little, but it works just fine nonetheless. I’m excited to don a pair of jeans and an oversized sweatshirt and go on a bike ride just to look at the trees. It’s going to be absolutely magical, I can’t wait!
I’ve also recently acquired a gym membership, sports bra, and good workout clothes, so the gym-scapades are about to begin! I can’t wait to begin exercising again and being fit and healthy. I’ll sleep better, I’ll think better, I’ll get sick less often – in short I couldn’t have a better pastime for the autumn and winter. I’m proud of myself, and you should be too!
Of course, none of these wonderful teacher-appropriate pastimes will prevent me from having my crazy weekends out of town with friends. Nothing wrong with a drink here and there and a cigarette on the weekends, am I right?
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