Have you filled your bucket today?

A wise friend once asked me what do you do to fill your bucket? The idea behind this is that in order to give love, compassion, patience, kindness and are all for the children in our care and our colleagues that we work with that first we have to fill up our bucket; because we can’t give to others and help others if we are always running on empty.

As we come up to the hustle and bustle of Christmas at the end of a very uncertain year with lots of challenges, added pressures and a pandemic that has certainly changed all of our lives. I think now more then ever is the time to take stock and think, how do we look after our own well-being and ensure that we don’t run on empty. Whether, that be having a bath, going to the allotment, snuggles with the dog on the sofa, a nice relaxing walk or cooking a lovely meal. How do you give to yourself and show yourself compassion and kindness?

We currently are half way through our second lockdown (we hope) and this has been a challenging time for all of us on so many different levels. And although we know that we are doing all of these things to protect those we love and everyone, it can be incredibly hard on our well-being and mental health.

Together as a company we were very lucky to get an allotment just a few days before this lockdown, the growing together allotment for Susan and myself. Today as I pottered around the allotment on my own digging and pulling out weeds and raspberry bushes which we have in abundance. I thought how blessed I am to have this space outdoors, but also how important it is to me; this is one of the things I do to refuel and fill my own bucket up. I love being outdoors and just taking it all in, going outdoors and most importantly having that relationship and connection with nature (which most of us have lost in recent years – Richard Louv calls this a nature deficit disorder).

So, my challenge to all early year’s practitioners, teachers, professionals and parents is to fill up your bucket in the coming weeks so that you can support and give the children in your care and your colleagues all that they need from you, without causing yourself to run out and run low.

Research from Harding et al (2019) concluded that there was a strong association between student’s mental well-being and psychological distress and their teacher’s well-being and psychological distress. It is estimated that in the UK 1 in 6 people in the past week have experienced a common mental health problem (Mental Health Foundation, 2020).

If you are interested in learning more about well-being in relation to the children in your care, we offer a range of webinars that begin to explore some of this, such as:

·         Nature Connection and Well-Being in the Early Years (book on by clicking here)

·         Emotional Resilience in Early Childhood (book on by clicking here)

·         Supporting Pre-School Children’s Emotional Intelligence (book on by clicking here)

By Pauline Milsted

Director of Growing Together

(Photo credit: Jeff Kingma)