Good morning, Prep School family,
Happy Tuesday! I hope you all had a good night’s sleep and are ready for the day ahead. It is a busy one for us all!
So, you all know that I love a Winnie the Pooh story and that I very often share the wisdom that one of the characters imparts in the stories with you through the Bulletin. Well today is no different. I know I have also shared this with you before but it was in the last lockdown and I thought it was really important to share it with you again this week whilst we are focussing on our well-being.
Pooh woke up that morning, and, for reasons that he didn’t entirely understand, couldn’t stop the tears from coming. He sat there in bed, his little body shaking, and he cried, and cried, and cried.
Amidst his sobs, the phone rang.
It was Piglet.
“Oh Piglet,” said Pooh, between sobs, in response to his friend’s gentle enquiry as to how he was doing. “I just feel so Sad. So, so, Sad, almost like I might not ever be happy again. And I know that I shouldn’t be feeling like this. I know there are so many people who have it worse off than me, and so I really have no right to be crying, with my lovely house, and my lovely garden, and the lovely woods all around me. But oh, Piglet: I am just SO Sad.”
Piglet was silent for a while, as Pooh’s ragged sobbing filled the space between them. Then, as the sobs turned to gasps, he said, kindly: “You know, it isn’t a competition.”
“What isn’t a competition?” asked a confused sounding Pooh.
“Sadness. Fear. Grief,” said Piglet. “It’s a mistake we often make, all of us. To think that, because there are people who are worse off than us, that that somehow invalidates how we are feeling. But that simply isn’t true. You have as much right to feel unhappy as the next person; and, Pooh – and this is the really important bit – you also have just as much right to get the help that you need.”
“Help? What help?” asked Pooh. “I don’t need help, Piglet.
“Do I?”
Pooh and Piglet talked for a long time, and Piglet suggested to Pooh some people that he might be able to call to talk to, because when you are feeling Sad, one of the most important things is not to let all of the Sad become trapped inside you, but instead to make sure that you have someone who can help you, who can talk through with you how the Sad is making you feeling, and some of the things that might be able to be done to support you with that.
What’s more, Piglet reminded Pooh that this support is there for absolutely everyone, that there isn’t a minimum level of Sad that you have to be feeling before you qualify to speak to someone.
Finally, Piglet asked Pooh to open his window and look up at the sky, and Pooh did so.
“You see that sky?” Piglet asked his friend. “Do you see the blues and the golds and that big fluffy cloud that looks like a sheep eating a carrot?”
Pooh looked, and he could indeed see the blues and the golds and the big fluffy cloud that looked like a sheep eating a carrot.
“You and I,” continued Piglet, “we are both under that same sky. And so, whenever the Sad comes, I want you to look up at that sky, and know that, however far apart we might be physically…we are also, at the same time, together. Perhaps, more together than we have ever been before.”
“Do you think this will ever end?” asked Pooh in a small voice.
“This too shall pass,” confirmed Piglet. “And I promise you, one day, you and I shall once again sit together, close enough to touch, sharing a little smackerel of something…under that blue gold sky.”
Believe it or not, crying is good for us. When we cry, our bodies release chemicals that reduce stress and promote well-being, sleep and calm; oxytocin and endorphins. Our natural human instinct as care-givers is often to stop children and each other from crying but it can be helpful to sit, listen and allow the tears to flow. The person then feels heard and moves on from difficult feelings rather than storing them up for later. This can be really hard to do, so I have attached a great resource form CAMHS that gives us some other things to say instead of stop crying. I hope you find it useful.
#ChildrensMentalHealthWeek #HighclarePrepSchoolfamily #Hereforyou #Hereforeachother #Expressyourself
Days of the year theme: World Play Your Ukulele Day, Tater Tot Day, Candlemas Day, Sled Dog Day, World Wetlands Day, Marmot Day, Crepe Day, Hedgehog Day and Groundhog Day.
Quote of the Day: “The best way to cheer yourself up, is to cheer someone else up” – Mark Twain
Friendly February calendar task (this month’s activities are based on friendship)
*Ask a friend how they have been feeling recently
TOP’s weekly activity: Draw yourself as a super hero – what would your powers be? What would your costume look like? What would be your strength/weakness? What would your name be?
Life skill of the day: Clean the work surfaces in the kitchen
Joke of the day:
What do cows do on a Friday night?
They go to the moo-vies!
Fact of the Day:
Mrs Rhodes’ (one of our wonderful swimming teachers) mother had the privilege of meeting AA Milne and his son Christopher Robin as a child, when they visited her school. How amazing is that?
Sleeps til Santa: 325 days!
Three things I’m looking forward to today (thanks to Mrs Hinch for the inspiration): Can you try this each day? Remember, it focuses your mind on the positive and reminds us to show gratitude for things, no matter how small!
Today I am looking forward to: listening to the radio in the car, a walk and finishing my book.
Have a great day,
Stay safe and look after each other,
Mrs Bennett
PS My photo of the day – something that makes me very happy!
