It’s four weeks into the New Year and already resolutions are lying unwanted by the roadside. And the one most commonly abandoned? Judging by The TES online staffroom, it is getting fit.
Squeezing exercise into a busy school day can be as difficult as getting Ann Widdecombe into a leotard, and pinky26 wants to know how teachers find the time.
Pinkflipflop has a typical teacher’s response. “Timetable it in,” she says. In her case, that means getting home from work and heading straight out again. For sensei123, workout DVDs are the answer. “I sometimes get up 10 minutes earlier in the morning and do a section before my shower,” she says.
Enchantedapril has started walking home from work. It’s only 45 minutes, but it’s a start. But for bored, it is all about the Wii Fit: “When you would normally sit down to watch a bit of TV, use the Wii Fit on free step or free jog setting which allows you to exercise whilst watching the telly!”
What could be better, after all that exercise, than a nice hot bath, often accompanied by a glass of something? For bombaysapphire, “Heaven is a bath, a good book and a glass of red.” Reading in the bath carries the risk of a soggy Dickens, but Celticqueen has the answer. “I have mastered the art of placing my elbows and toes in just the right position to keep me afloat and hold my book at the same time,” she says. But all is not plain sailing. “The problem is when I need to reach for my glass of wine ...”
For lilyofthefield baths have another advantage. “It’s the only time my boobs stay up on their own! Buoyancy rules!”
If soaking in the bath never loses its appeal, there are many other things posters in the forums will never tire of. Or of which they never tire, according to nomad, who names “correcting grammar” as an unalloyed joy. Food, books and baths feature highly, but some teachers have more specialised pleasures. Coffeekid, for example, will “never tire of my partner’s imitation of a gay Glaswegian hairdresser”.
Ilando cannot get enough of “that warm feeling at the start of every school holiday”, and kissing her cats. This particular pastime leads to another favourite occupation. “Laughing at my boyfriend when he moans about me kissing said cats,” she says. “Yes, I do know that they lick their balls and then my mouth.” Is it any surprise that kissing her boyfriend is not on her list?
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THIS WEEK’S POLL
Is it reasonable to ask teachers to increase their pension contributions?
NO 90%
YES 10%
To vote in next week’s poll visit www.tes.co.ukpoll.
