Bliss. If I could sum up my experience of the last two weeks, it has been bliss. My world has felt out of control for three or four years now, ever since I strapped on the weight of teaching on my shoulders. To every teacher out there that is in the trenches and powering through, I praise you. You have more strength than I do.
Or . . . more likely, the intense extroversion required to be an effective teacher wore my introverted heart out. Either way, I feel free. Weightless.
Being unemployed is less stressful than stepping into that classroom every day. Than standing at the front of the room, looking into the eyes of students who are relying on you to guide them to a successful adulthood. Than analyzing test scores with the implication that you weren’t doing your job as a teacher because one student did not score as well as the network average. Than dealing with the constant whiplash of “the right way” to teach, to manage, to discipline, to assess. Than the evaluations. Than the fact that your classroom was destroyed daily by 100 students filtering it in and out, even though you tried to organize and clean it obsessively because you’re Type A and can’t stand clutter (I’m sure parents can relate to this).
Yep. I’d rather be unemployed and move into my parents’ basement than ever be in a classroom again. And I am not a lazy person. Actually, that’s the problem. I’m such a hard-worker that I let teaching consume me. I had zero energy left for anything else. There’s a reason why some of my best recipes (and pictures) were posted during summer vacation.
But now I’m free. All year, I would cry Sunday nights at the thought of returning to the school the next morning. These days, it’s not uncommon for me to cry tears of joy. I will literally sit in a coffee shop, sipping my espresso, working on my blog or doing some other writing, and suddenly just tear up and try to memorize that feeling of bliss. I want that feeling tattooed on me. I don’t ever want Sunday gloom ever again.
And to all the students who stalked me and found my blog: do not take this personally. You know those classmates who don’t like to work with a partner? Who like to think and work on their own? That’s Ms. Smith. Ms. Smith loved to sit at her desk and design lessons; she did not enjoy standing at the front of the classroom and giving you those lessons, no matter how much she adored talking about predicate adjectives, or how brilliant your answers were, or how much she loved watching your writing skills improve throughout the year, or how much you made her smile and laugh.
Phew. I know that has nothing to do with oatmeal, but I felt the need to get all of that out. After all, many of you have been following the blog for a long time and watching my slow deterioration, and I can’t help but share this 180-turn my life has taken. Yay mental health!
So yeah, here’s a delicious recipe. With persimmon and stuff. 😉
Random Recommendations:
- [eats] SWEET EARTH BACON IS SO GOOD!!!!!!! I crumbled it up after cooking and put it in a kale salad with apples and tahini dressing.
- [stuff] You can customize your own clock with the city map of your choice–including the address that goes at the center–in the colors you want. AWESOME.
What you'll need:
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 1/4 cup water (or more coconut milk)
- 1/2 cup (or more) diced persimmon
- 1/4 cup quick cook steel cut oats (I use Country Choice Organic)
- 1/2 cup (or more) diced mango (I used frozen)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
- pinch of salt
How to make it:
- Add coconut milk and water to a medium saucepan. Add diced persimmon immediately.
- Bring liquid to a simmer or low boil and let the persimmon cook for a minute or two on its own.
- Next, add oats, and reduce heat to medium or medium low. (If you’d like to add a teaspoon of flax or chia seeds, do so now.)
- Add diced mango, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt and stir.
- When you’re pleased with the consistency of the oatmeal, transfer to a bowl. Add another splash of coconut milk, shredded coconut, and more persimmon and/or mango.
5 Responses to Mango Persimmon Oatmeal