Paying Attention

Over the past 3 years, I have had the privilege of being mentored. Part of my journey has been learning to ‘switch off’ and relax. This looks different for everyone, but for me it involves walking (without headphones) and paying attention to my surroundings. While doing this, I have begun taking photos and writing some reflections to go with them. Below is one of them. I hope that it encourages you (whatever your circumstance) to stop, look around, listen and just for a moment, one moment, breathe and take it all in. Maybe you could even encourage your children to do the same!

Oh, the Birds of the Morning

Darkness,

Stillness,

Silence,

Peace,

A magpie sings,

Then another and another.

Light slowly creeps in,

Horses graze,

Rabbits scurry,

Birds of all colours take flight.

Light infiltrates the darkness,

A flock of cockatoos launch from the sanctuary of their tree,

Screeching,

Announcing to everyone that a new day has dawned.

Cars fill the roads,

Horns beep,

Lights flash,

The day begins.

But oh, the birds of the morning!

It’s ok!

Ever had an idea and really wanted to implement it? Ever had an idea, really wanted to implement it and told a whole community of people that you would? Sound familiar? If you read last week’s newsletter article you would know that that I spoke about creating a ‘Corona Cross’ box and a ‘Joy Jar’ to help my family to express their feelings and achieve a balanced perspective. So, what happened? The weekend got away from me and I haven’t done it, yet!

Why am I sharing this you ask? Well firstly I like to be honest and accountable, but secondly because sometimes, despite our best intentions, we don’t achieve what we want to. I just want to encourage you that that’s ok!

It’s ok if you haven’t had a chance to read and reply to all of your emails this week. It’s ok if you haven’t managed to get everything done. Be kind to yourself, reach out for support if you need it and know that it’s ok!

Screen time and Sleep

Like most school-aged children, my son is having more screen time than usual. After finishing his school work, his first question is often “Can I have some IPad time please!” My usual response is, “You have been on the IPad all day.” He then replies, “but Mum, that was for school and I want to relax!” Sound familiar?

During this time, the challenge for us as parents and carers is to help our children do some ‘non screen time’ activities. This is made harder when we are working from home and some activities require us to help our children. The weather also doesn’t help!

My strategy has been to encourage my son to go outside (if it is not raining!), play a game, make something (See attached PDF for activities from the NGV), do some cooking (with supervision) or read.

I do also allow him some ‘relaxing’ screen time, but try to make sure that he is off a screen at least one hour before bed, so that he doesn’t develop poor sleep patterns (Press on this link to read more about screen time and sleep).

Flourishing Families

It has been great to see how many families have chosen to register for the ‘Flourishing Families’ workshops. I look forward to seeing you online tonight (and over the next few weeks) and will be sharing new insights gained in future articles.

Take care,

Julie Reid - Student Wellbeing Officer

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