Scarlet Writes

Covid-19 has yet again locked us inside our homes and as much as we may want to, it is hard to picture life going back to what was once so normal. It’s been five months and I feel like I have already forgotten how we used to spend our weekends. In this new reality, there are no boundaries between work hours and family time….weekdays and weekends seem to have blended well together. Days turn into evenings while all we do is stare at the screen and if you have a kid who demands all your attention, you might be feeling like you’re losing it all. Despite all the craziness, there’s no denying the fact that we have made some positive changes in our lifestyle and we are truly committed to continuing with it once the lockdown is lifted and (although the end is not in sight) pandemic is over. As we look forward to brighter, sunnier and better days ahead, I want to take a moment to be in the present and reflect on all the little blessings of my life and in a hope to connect with you all through ...

Recently I had an opportunity to participate in an online workshop series conducted by Empowerment Academy which was a wonderful opportunity for me to learn,connect with other fellow teachers and grow as an educator. As the workshop came to an end this week, I thought it was a good idea to compile my reflections of 3 sessions that I attended in the last 3 weeks. This is for me to keep as something to look back at when I feel like  and also I thought it could be useful for other teachers who are with me in this journey of teaching online.  Please feel free to message me if you want to know/ learn more about any particular activity that I have discussed in these journals.  Day 1 Reflection I enrolled in this workshop because I was struggling a lot finding ways to design activities that require students to work in collaboration with each other and that can promote critical thinking. I just couldn’t go beyond breakout rooms and think and share (without the pair). I w...

I just spent the last one hour trying to decide if I should start reading a new book or finish reading the newspaper or continue chatting with my cousins or get some sleep since I couldn’t complete my usual 8 hours’ of beauty sleep last night (not because my 1 year old son kept me awake but because I was watching a silly teenage drama on Netflix until 1:30am). Arghhhh! Everyday feels like an eternity, no different than the previous day. Wake up. Clean. Feed. Do the dishes. Laundry. Eat. Play. Wait for the next nap hour. Change the diaper. Take classes. Think about snacks all day. Work on my lesson plans. Check Assignments. Walk to the fridge 100 times a day. Repeat. And in between all of that when the baby decides to sleep, I cannot decide what I want to do. That’s exactly how the past 2 months have been for me. This lockdown has created an exhausting routine especially for women both emotionally and physically. Working from home while you are working at home doing dishwashing, ...

My son was only 11 days old when we had to take him to Teaching Hospital. The doctor did few tests and we had to wait for few hours until the results came in. So were in a room with a woman and her son who was there for his appendicitis treatment. 11 days postpartum with my child in an emergency room, I already had a lot of things to worry about when this woman asked me why I wasn't breastfeeding my child. She did have a lot of other questions such as why I wasn't wearing a patuki . Why I didn't have a shawl or a scarf covering my head? I didn't care to answer all her questions or dwell on what she was saying until the senior doctor showed up and asked why I wasn't breastfeeding. I don't know why but I felt like I needed to explain to this doctor that my 11 days' old child was struggling to latch properly and although I wasn't breastfeeding, I was still giving him breast milk. The doctor didn't look convinced with my explanation and asked which ...

I reach my school late every morning and most of the days I reach right when the children start singing National Anthem which means I have to stand still for a while and it’s utterly embarrassing that the children face towards the parking lot during their morning assembly. Well, that’s how the day starts for this new working mommy. My day progresses calling home at least 2 times before lunch break. And as soon as the clock strikes 12, I rush home to feed my little one who has been unwell for the past three weeks now. First, it was cough and cold then it was vomiting and diarrhea. Why did nobody ever tell me before how sick kids get after reaching a certain age? Going home to feed chora during lunch break sometimes means this mommy has to skip meals and survive on my never ending stock of fruits and junk food that I store in my office desk J It has almost been a month since I joined a new school and the weeks have passed smoothly. I only left work in the middle of the day ...