Day Two With Little Sleep - AKA Wednesday

I am working on less sleep than I want to have going on right now. I'm not sure why I was up so early this morning, but I was. It was the type of waking where there was no way to go back to sleep - I was not able to get back to a drowsy state.

This is the second night in a row where my sleep pattern has stopped very early - lots less than the seven hours that I like to get each night. I think that this is a combination of Talent Show nerves and non-cooling sheets and hot flashes. I am going to get a fan out of the garage and set it up in my summer bedroom to help me cool down overnight. I hope that will help with the lack of sleep going on around here - I have two more days until the Talent Show is on and over. I need sleep.

This week is a low-effort week for me. It is Country of the Month week, so we are watching videos about the music, instruments, and dances of Argentina. This allows me to have a week with limited singing and extra energy for other activities. Right now, most of my energy is being dedicated towards the talent show and the associated dramas playing out right now (so-and-so no longer wants to sing with peer 1 but wants to change again...uh, nope!). So, we are learning about instruments and using scarves to help us dance like the Argentinians (they use handkerchiefs in many of their dances - so do we!!). This works well with my lack of sleep and impending Talent Show stressors.

Low-demand session strategies are essential for use in music therapy settings. There are times when clients and therapists are unable to perform at increased energy, so a low-demand session is good to have in your pocket. Usually, for these weeks, I do a condensed version of the videos for my younger students and then do something else for the second session, but this week, I am using the entire library of videos over the two sessions per week. We are learning about the country itself a bit and then we are focusing on the instruments in the first session. The second session is focused on the traditional music, the dances, and modern music of Argentina. We're using instruments and scarves to engage our bodies while we are watching videos.

That reminds me, I need to take my Siku and bandoneon to work this morning. Oh, and my ocarina. Turns out, those instruments are part of Argentinian tradition. It's been pretty fun to learn along with my students about these instruments and traditions. They are asking great questions that I am unable to answer, so it means more learning for me.

So, in case you don't know, this is something that we do every month with a different country. I spend some time putting together information about the musical traditions, classroom teachers are supposed to use the country as a social studies focus, and the cafeteria makes a couple of the country's recipes to try out at either lunch or dinner. I'm not sure if anyone else is doing things, but at least the music therapy space and the cafeteria are involved.

I enjoy the experience of sharing a bit about other countries with my students. They often do not understand geography or country boundaries or what state they live in at the moment. I enjoy the discussions that happen in the music therapy space. Their questions help me learn more and more about other cultures and countries.

Today is my group only day - five groups during the day with a meeting after it all. I have to make two cardboard guitars, put together some sort of Frozen costume, and navigate some Talent Show drama. After I finish my full-time job, I will be going to my part-time job. When that is finished up, I will crawl back to my home and try to get some sleep. I have to get the fan set up in the downstairs bedroom and take some of the blankets off the bed. I will try just about anything for some sleep these days. 

First, though, I have to get going with my morning routine. I am going to take my shower, get dressed in something wacky (because it is Wacky Wednesday - I mean, who am I kidding? I don't have anything wacky to wear!), and then head out to work. I have some new Crocs to wear, so I should be able to walk through the forecasted rain without slipping. Not slipping is a good goal for me and my body these days...

I am so tired. Three days until I get one day without work responsibilities. One day per week. That's all that I get between now and the 26th - one day without work responsibilities each week. After that, I get one week off before we return to our extended school session. That is not enough time to rest and replenish. At least I get three day weekends during the summer session. I stop working at the church during June, July, and for part of August, so I get more time to rest. Something to look forward to, I guess...