#5SmartReads - February 8, 2022

Hitha on Joyce Abbott, what the former president actually tried to do, and how to live well

February 08, 2022

So many incredible teachers are leaving the profession because they’re burnt out, feel unsafe, and don’t have the leave and the wages they need and deserve.

I’m here to support these teachers however I can. But I also want to focus on how we can keep these amazing teachers in the profession and give them what they can.

(Hint - staying involved and voting in your local elections have a lot to do with it).

Getting to know these teachers is one way to do that. And Joyce Abbott - a Philadelphia teacher who inspired the absolutely joyful show Abbott Elementary - is one of those teachers.

I hope you take the admiration you’ll feel for Mrs. Abbott and channel it into helping our teachers in some way. Look up your local school board elections and the candidates running. Is there someone you can support? Are you willing to run? If you’re a parent, can you check in with your child’s teachers and see if they need anything?

I’m both shocked and unsurprised that this story got lost in the news cycle. That’s 2022 for you.

BUT THE FORMER PRESIDENT HAD VIOLATED THE LAW BY ATTEMPTING TO DESTROY PRESIDENTIAL RECORDS.

The same former president that has a very real chance of returning to the White House in the 2024 presidential election.

I want to remind people why Fox News was founded:

“In 1970, political consultant Roger Ailes and other Nixon aides came up with a plan to create a new TV network that would circumvent existing media and provide "pro-administration" coverage to millions. "People are lazy," the aides explained in a memo. "With television you just sit — watch — listen. The thinking is done for you." Nixon embraced the idea, saying he and his supporters needed "our own news" from a network that would lead "a brutal, vicious attack on the opposition.” (source)

Ailes started Fox News after Nixon resigned, and the rise of alternative facts and the demise of truth began. Nixon walked so Trump could run - and win.

When a sitting president attempts to break laws to protect himself and it barely registers, what matters anymore?

What Do Masks Do to Kids? (The New Republic)

As a mother, I long for the day my kids can go to school without wearing masks.

And as a mother, I will do everything I can to keep my kids, their classmates, their teachers, and the staff at their school - and their families - as safe as possible.

I know there’s a lot of rhetoric about masks impacting children’s development, but the fact is that there isn’t any evidence to back it up. This article does an excellent job of unpacking this issue.

The schools I know of have exceptions and accommodations for children with special needs, where masking does interfere with their ability to learn - and that’s how it should be.

We will not be masked up forever. We do need an off-ramp for protective measures like masking and distancing. But having lived through the Delta and Omicron waves back-to-back, the slow uptick of boosters, and the lack of vaccines for kids under 5, I do think we’re still some time away to unmask safely.

Want to be healthier? Embrace the basics, and do them every single day.

Products can help with this! Drinking my Athletic Greens every morning helps me make better nutrition choices throughout the day. My Oura ring helps me select the right workout for the day (based on my readiness) and when to go to sleep (based on my sleep score the night before). As much as people rag on Peloton, it’s the one method that got me to exercise consistently.

And moving, sleeping, and eating well every single day is what helps me maintain and improve my health.

There’s no magic pill or app or supplement or product that will magically confer wellness (though they’re certainly marketed this way).

This article is filled with the common sense advice that most of us are ignoring. But let’s stop, and let’s choose to live better.

I’m humbly submitting my own op-ed in today’s #5SmartReads, because I’m proud of it and because I firmly stand by every single word I wrote.

“These piercing headlines are part of a troubling pattern that I’ve observed regarding how the press reports on women in positions of power. There’s the buildup, with flattering interviews and gushing features filled with overwhelming positive quotes from friends, colleagues and admirers. There’s the anointment, with the magazine covers and prime-time interviews and accolades.

And then comes the tear down.”

This toxic cycle of how women are reported on is a reason I started #5SmartReads - to push back against this troubling narrative and to amplify honest reporting that captures context, presents the facts, and showcases the stories we’re not hearing nearly enough about.

I would be deeply honored if you read and shared this piece.

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