Hybrid teaching has forced me into an uncomfortable position. Most days I leave work angry, stressed and looking for comfort. While looking for solace, I’ve become more attentive to my guilty pleasures because they provide some sort of peace. My guilty pleasures may seem like the norm to most people, but they really keep me from focusing on things I should be doing like folding clothes, completing a project for work, or planning a lesson. But we all want to feel satisfied, right? And there is no real rule to the rights and wrongs of feeling content. What are some of your guilty pleasures? Are you able to relate to any listed below?

1. Listen to read-alouds – I love reading and have always been an avid reader. However, I’ve gone from reading 10-12 books a month to 10-12 a year, if that many. Because I don’t spend as much time reading, I’ve started listening to kid’s stories. I totally enjoy listening to children’s stories and find myself thoroughly entertained.
2. We’re going to need more wine. – Oh, that was a title of Gabrielle Union’s book and clearly my new motto. If nothing else helps, drink a glass of wine. I’ve had more glasses of wine in the last year than I consumed in the previous 20 years. Not the best solution for someone trying to shed a few pounds.
3. I eat chicken wings every Wednesday. Crazy huh? I cook on Mondays and Tuesdays and my husband cooks on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Wednesdays are extremely busy days for us and instead of cooking, we typically eat takeout. My takeout is always chicken wings, flats only.
4. Scroll through people’s entire Instagram feed – I am a obsessed with fashion. When I find a person that has great fashion sense and likes color blocking, I will peruse their entire feed for inspiration.
5. Shopping for dresses – I don’t even know why I still look at dresses. I have so many dresses that I forget I have dresses. But, I am obsessed with colors and flair and dresses are easier. I don’t have to worry about coordinating pieces to complete an outfit.
6. Watching Law and Order – I will sit around and watch reruns of Law and Order for hours. I’ve seen almost every episode, I know how the story ends yet I am gratified when Law and Order is on the screen.
7. Taking pictures – I’m not a selfie type of girl but I will ask any random person to snap a picture of me. My personal photographers include my husband, my son, sisters, friends and even my students.
8. Eating ice cream after 10:00 – Why is it I never want ice cream at 7:00 or 8:00? I always desire ice cream when I should be heading to bed. And I always fill that craving even when I shouldn’t.
9. Signing up for rewards programs – I have signed up for tons of rewards programs and then I get upset when I receive 300 emails daily. The number of emails are overwhelming but I know when I need a coupon or I am looking for a specific item, I’ll find it attached to the deal of a lifetime.
10. Adding items to my Amazon cart – I add about 10 items per week to my Amazon cart and then I save it for later. LOL! At the end of the year, I go through all of my saved items and decide I’m not interested in half of the things I have saved. LOL!

I know we all have our own set of guilty pleasures. Different strokes for different folks. I would love to hear what kind of guilty pleasures you have. Maybe I can replace some of my unsatisfactory ones with some that are a little more passable.