Heidi Allum

I would have a small office in a corner somewhere. Jams would be playing all the time from my small bluetooth speaker. I would have the lights down low, blinds up for any light possible. I would have old worn chairs spaced around. Chargers. Snacks. Paper and thin-tipped Sharpies. I would have menstrual products, extra…

Feeling just blah today and I know I shouldn’t be. I am on spring break. I can laze around. I have no expectations. Maybe that’s the problem? This swinging between rushing and schedules to just…none, is something I struggle with (I am sure many teachers do). Do I just sit in it? Do I let…

Swinging as an Adult So many metaphors when I use the words “swinging” and “adult”. We are swinging through life. I am going to come out of this swinging. But I am talking about it literally today. It’s Monday of March Break and already my kids are restless. We have no plans, it’s quiet around,…

she made the best tuna melt. no Christmas until after her birthday. gold hoop earrings and cross necklace. easy laughing that got her nowhere. full white wine glass water bottle. long empty gaze out the window. didn’t wake up today no lunch. came home and she wasn’t there. cut the mould off the bread. appreciation…

I pulled up behind your car at a stoplight. You were in a white Mercedes, dingy from the winter salt and dirt of sloshed and melting snow. You had leather interior. You had better things to do, and more important places to be. Beastie Boys were blaring in my car. The fabric in my car…

…and despite all of my best efforts to make circles about community and connectivity, there were shoulders raised. In fact, all of our circles to this point have been about checking in with one another. With sharing our thinking about what we’re learning. About favourite desserts, and what we hope for one another. Maybe, because…

…as I read beside my 10 year old. Though she won’t let me read to her, she insists I lie beside her every night and read while she reads. There we both are: faces deep in books, basically ignoring each other, but somehow connected. It is part of our nighttime ritual. I listen for her…