By mid-November my hands were already cracked and raw. No amount of lotion was helping, so I've resorted to rubber gloves.
We'll see how it works with the day-to-day mayhem of everyone painting (right now Mr. Hodes is doing most of the teaching). But if they're hurting in November/December, January/February would be ugly. It seems so old lady, though. Like, something my grandma did in 1978--wearing rubber gloves while washing the dishes. Well, maybe if I'm bringing payons back, I can also rock the rubber gloves, look?! Anyone else have some hand saving tips when washing a million paint brushes a day?
I remember reading something about health issues in education once (lots of back pain, stress related things) and I wonder what some common art teacher problems are. I find it amazing when I see an art teacher wearing head-to-toe white. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? The only white thing I own is a blouse I wore to my brother's wedding. It's never been worn in my school building. Everything I own has paint on it. Totally not kidding--every pair of shoes I have has yellow paint on them somewhere. I once dropped a tub full of [open] fingerpaint, and a giant blob of orange flew up and plopped into my hair. I spent the rest of the day with sticky blob of paint drying and flecking out of my hair. Is there real art teacherin' going on if you can wear white all day and it's still white at the end? Maybe everyone else is just neater than me. So those seem like common art teacher problems to me: paint on all articles of clothing and dry, cracked hands from paint brush cleaning . . . I'm sure there are other common things--do you have any stories to share?
I've found a tub of Bag Balm works wonders on my hands--and makes my nails grow strong! Bag Balm is lanolin-based and used by farmers who milked cows in cold, wet barns. They were putting it on the cows' udders to help with chapped, cracked skin and found it benefited their hands as well. My problem is finding the best, comfortable shoes for the hours of on-my-feet time at school.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't thought about BagBalm (we use it on our 2 year old's bottom). The smell is . . . not so great, but I'd be willing to use it when I'm desperate! Thanks for the idea!
DeleteOh yes, please keep in mind that rubber gloves (aka latex gloves) can create allergic reactions with repeated use. It also is dangerous for students who have a latex rubber allergy. Hospitals have quit using latex/rubber gloves and only use synthetic. (I have a son with a severe, life threatening allergy to latex rubber!)
ReplyDeleteOh, I hadn't thought about that! I'll double check and see if they're really latex.
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