A little tip for parents with children in school (or for children in school to show their parents)
My mom gave me and my sister two days every semester that she called “mental health days.”
Those were days, that for ANY reason, and without having to tell my mom the reason, we could skip the day of school. We’d just tell her we were taking a mental health day and she’d call the school and let them know we were not coming in.
#1 This helped keep our grades up by lowering our stress levels. I never got a C in any grade school class. The majority of my classes I received A’s. I also took 4 AP classes and they were not weighted. Trust me, it made a difference.
#2 I never felt the need to skip school. I knew if I ever wanted to or needed to my mom would help me.
Your kids are young and need time to recover. They need some days where they can do nothing but stay in bed for no reason. They need their own space where their privacy is respected. It will make a huge difference.
Will do this when I have kids
I would like to add something to this for the teachers too! (I may have already told this story on tumblr but OH WELL I’m telling it again)
One of my math teachers in high school had a policy called The Red Beanbags of Don’t Bother Me. He kept a pile of red beanbags on his desk, and at any time of the day you could go over and take one. From that point on, as long as you were in his classroom with a beanbag on your desk, no one could bother you. He wouldn’t call on you to answer problems, no students were allowed to talk to you, and perhaps most importantly, no one could ask why you took a bean bag that day. The only caveat was that if you used the beanbag more than three times in a semester you had to go talk to the school counselor about it.
I only used the beanbag a handful of times during those 4 years, but it was a godsend when I needed it. I knew people who would camp in his classroom during lunch (or even skip class and stay there all day) under the protection of the beanbag. As a teacher there’s not always a lot you can do for a student suffering mental illness/emotional abuse/ other struggles, but giving them some space and privacy in your class can make a HUGE difference.
SO INSTEAD OF TELLING YOU WHO TO VOTE FOR, I’M GOING TO TELL YOU HOW TO VOTE BECAUSE NOBODY EVER SEEMS TO DO THAT.
Remember that the 2016 presidential election does not just take place in 2016. The primaries are just as important because they decide who gets to run for president in the national election in November.
Please spread this. While it wasn’t the best place to make this reference, he wasn’t trying to be an asshole.
okay, explaining the joke doesn’t make it okay. especially when the joke is punchline about a man dressing in feminine clothing on a tv show and comparing it to a woman transitioning and coming out to the world. it’s tasteless and ignorant. you know what makes it okay?
drake apologized. he clearly states he was in the wrong and that he doesn’t mean any harm to the trans community. spread this instead because i certainly haven’t seen this on tumblr yet.
to give you an idea on not only how hot it is in the uk, but also just how heat-intolerant we are as a country, i went upstairs to close my blind and stop the sun coming into my room and i started to get dizzy after a few minutes. i didnt sleep last night because of the weather.
is not just that its hot, its that we as a country are built for rain and sleet and hail and howling gales. we dont need AC because its pointless and a waste of space and money if the average temperature is barely above 20 degrees. we live in boxes of insulation. our foods are heavy and hearty and warm for getting us through the cold. we live in almost constant cloud cover so we’re not used to the sun.
my mother and i are constantly panicking over my 9 week old baby sister because she could very easily overheat and die.
heatwaves in the uk are not a fucking joke.
This morning I got out of bed, stood up, and it was so hot I got dizzy, my vision went black and I fell over.
All of our windows are open, there is nothing for us to do. I am lying naked on the bathroom floor because that is the coolest place.
As someone who has lived with the unbearable combo of humidity + no AC (Louisiana after a hurricane is fucking awful) cold wash cloths are your best friend. Put some in the fridge and switch them out putting them on the back of your neck, wear as few clothes as possible, NEVER take a hot shower, avoid stimulants like caffeine, nicotine, and any medication that is not necessary because they can not only raise your temp but most of them make you pee more and will dehydrate you faster. Any type of electric fan, literally anything that gets the air moving is your friend, make sure babies get a cool wipe down often and left in only diapers as often as possible, also pedialite or a knock off of it (it’s like Gatorade for babies without all the sugars and helps keep them hydrated when they’re sick). Fuck capsaicin just don’t touch it I know curry is delicious but DO NOT FUCK WITH SPICY FOODS your systems probably aren’t adapted to handle that plus the weather. Keep your pets well watered and calm. Seriously guys any questions feel free to ask because Louisiana has humidity equivalent to a rainforest in our driest months and I will gladly help keep y'all safe.
^hero.
Also don’t forget that you can put plastic water bottles in the freezer overnight! Fill them about 4/5 to the top (ice takes up more space than water, so if you overfill the bottle will burst) and when you take them out the next morning you will have a bottle-sized ice cube which will melt easily in the heat. The water inside will stay cold because 1. hello, bottle-sized ice cube and 2. it’s literally only just melted. This method works way better than regular sized ice cubes because the water starts out cold.
That said, guys, don’t drink only water. It’s true that caffeine etc will dehydrate you faster, but when you sweat you lose salts and minerals that your body needs and if you only drink water then you won’t replace them. Drink mostly water but be sure to have at least 500ml of something else - orange juice and Sprite work well. And enjoy some guilt-free crisps. Right now, you need that extra salt.
Regarding sleeping, I know a lot of people can’t sleep with wet hair but if you are one of the lucky few, and especially if your hair is long or thick enough that it takes a while to dry even in this weather, try it. It’ll keep your body temperature down, and it beats sleeping in wet pyjamas.
Get a metal bucket or bowl, fill it with ice & set it in front of a fan = cheap A/C.
Regarding babies, playtime in a cool bathtub works great & they love splashing around. :) Make sure wherever they sleep is kept DARK DARK DARK & have a fan blowing NEAR but not ON them. You can totally use the bucket trick in their room, too.
Get as low as you can, too. Sleep on the floor of the lowest level of your house. That’s where it will be coolest. Heat rises, so don’t even try to go upstairs. :P
If you have a basement, move everyone there until the heat wave breaks.
We have window unit A/Cs in America (Idk about overseas) & a small one can be as cheap as $50. Even if it only cools one room, you can keep that room closed off & use it as a cooling station/makeshift bedroom.
I’m going to keep saying this on every post because it’s not being mentioned:
IF YOU HAVE PETS MAKE SURE THEY HAVE PLENTY OF SHADE AND WATER. Make sure their water is out of the sun. IF you can bring them inside. If not shade and water.
You can also directly add salt to your water (like a pinch) and do that to like every third cup of water you drink and that will help keep your salt up.
If you have a spray water bottle that will help too.
Also not only washcloths but bandannas can be wet and kept cold (or frozen). Put them where your skin is the thinnest (back of neck, wrists, ankles, etc) and it will help keep you cool.
If you have to wear a hat for some reason, soak the hat in water first (especially if you’re outside with it). If you can not only soak in water but put in fridge to keep it cool before you have to wear it.
If you start feeling dizzy, SIT DOWN and drink water.
I don’t know about UK aquariums but I know here in So Cal (where we are a hot and dry desert) our aquariums though slightly pricey are moderately cool because the water creatures need to not be boiling. So that’s an idea.
Also, so much yes to the bucket of ice in front of a fan. I do that occasionally in my bedroom (because it’s aluminium and isn’t able to be hooked up to my house’s a/c).
If you don’t like being naked (which is honestly the best thing for you when it gets really hot to keep cool) wear the minimum amount of clothes possible and the lightest clothes possible.
And I know some of you with pets want to cuddle them. Your pet’s body temperature runs hotter than yours. I’d very much advise NOT cuddling them to keep cool.
Blackout curtains (if you can find them) work wonders at keeping places a little cooler. Or aluminium foil on your windows to help reflect the sunlight away from your windows.
The frozen water bottle thing? You can do that for your pets too as something they can lick to help cool off. Or you can put ice cubes/chips into a bowl for them to either eat or lick and wait to melt so they can drink the leftover water.
Good luck to UK people and please stay cool.
I don’t know how blasphemous this is, but you might start googling some sweet/iced tea recipes to cool off. The reason why it’s such a big thing in the American south is because it gets so ludicrously hot and humid here.
When our AC was busted, one fast cooldown tactic we’d use before bed, when it was often too hot to get comfortable, was to run our wrists under a cold tap for 30 seconds each. This cools the area and blood flows from there to the rest of the body.
since the accident at the parade Nomi hates going to hospitals, so whenever she has to go, will, sun and wolfgang tag along, bc if anyone even tries to talk to her w/out her consent they will fuck shit up
as soon as kala learns about capheus’ mom, she starts sending him medicine every month, bc they are cheaper for her bc of her job, he insists on paying her back, and she says that it’s not necessary bc she just wants to help him
whenever one of them need to take a plane, they always call capheus, bc no matter how many times he has been on a plane, he always loves it so much
when sun is lonely she will call capheus, sometimes they watch movies, sometimes he will take her to his favorite places on town, and sometimes she’ll just tag along when he’s driving, bc his positive vibe is always good for her
lito teases will about that time they had sex every single time they see each other
kala shows capheus all her favorite bollywood movies (he loves them all)
kala teaches sun how to dance since she is so good at martial arts
riley makes them cheesy playlists when she’s bored (each sensate already has about 15)
wolfgang teaches lito how to punch things bc “its not that hard man u cant just fake punch people forever”
