12/22/2025
i’ll always say it with my chest that i think attendance certificates are stupid. let’s reward children for “perfect” attendance + send home newsletters about the importance of attendance… but never talk about mental health (or god forbid.. add it into the curriculum… 😮).
two things can be true; our teachers are literal heroes, + we also need to change the school system as a whole. we should be teaching our kids to be humans first. teaching them emotion regulation, coping skills, + real world skills above anything. memorizing the periodic table is 0% helpful unless you work in that field, but naming emotions, grounding + reframing? 100% helpful, all of the time.
one thing i am passionate about is not waiting until kids are sick or so burnt out/overwhelmed that they need to stay home from school physically ill. 💡so we give our kids “mental health days”. we decide on a specific number of days per school year that they’ll get to cash in, no questions asked. their days are as long as ours, often with constant direction + little autonomy. as adults, with decades of experience in being human, we still need days off sometimes, why wouldn’t our kids?
on these days, they’ll do things that fill their cup; things they know / love + things we adults know will support their wellness. it could be a mix of outdoor time to move their bodies, a couch movie snuggle sesh, a mermaid bubble bath, a drive to their favorite bakery for a cupcake, arts + crafts, making dinner for friends with handwritten notes.. moments of intent, meaning, gratitude, intentional relaxation + letting kids be kids.
+ you know what? since implementing this, they haven’t once asked to skip school or complained about going.
🏁 kids are born with all of the emotions + none of the skills… it’s up to us. my hope for the future is that our kids feel empowered to listen/take care of their brains + bodies, even when society says showing up for themselves comes second to “attendance” elsewhere.🖤✨