It’s the beginning of the end. A few days ago, we received notice from our daughter’s school that kids in grades 3 to 6, will be going back to in-person school. After being home for 50 weeks. 50 weeks! They are going back. Part time. But still. They are going back!!! Woohoo!!!
When schools first shut down for “two weeks” last March I had a sneaking suspicion we were looking at something closer to a two-month closure. But I never could have imagined that we would be homeschooling for a full year. Or that the way we work would be forever changed by a scary virus. That’s the sort of doomsday stuff movies are made of. Not real life. But, we managed. And, in many ways we thrived.
We got to know our neighbours, who, as it turns out are a wonderful, eclectic bunch of super interesting people with whom we otherwise might never have gone past the hello waves and nods. We now get together for socially distant cocktails three to five times a week and have shared and helped each other through this crazy roller coaster experience of social isolation, political turmoil and financial upheaval. We laughed, we cried, we debated and we celebrated together and I am so thankful for my “Six O’Clock Crew.”
Our daughter, who until the global pandemic, was rather envious of those of her friends who live in “real houses” and missed the idea of living in Canada, came to appreciate living in a condo complex in southern California where there is a posse of kids her age with whom she can swim, skateboard, and simply hang out outside (safely) 365 days a year while many of her so-called “lucky” friends with stand-alone homes suffered from loneliness or froze their butts off outdoors. She went to surf camp, had dance classes in a local park, got her very own at home workstation, and inherited my old laptop, iPad, and iPhone.
We learned how to use Zoom and Microsoft Teams, how to speak and light ourselves properly for online meetings, enjoyed not having to wear pants to go to work anymore and we played board games, cards, Roblox and Adventure Academy. We bought (I don’t sew) dozens of colorful masks to go with all of our outfits and we embraced our new normal. We also found excuses to get dressed up at night, started having almost daily dance parties and we stopped cutting (or even brushing) our hair. Seriously.
And then we grew our family with a couple of furry critters. Last July we got a hamster and a month ago, we adopted a dog (both rescues) and our little trio is now a family of five!
Of course, once the initial happy dance at the thought of cheerfully dropping off my offspring at school a few times a week subsided, worry set in. Should we send her back while there are still so many cases? What if she gets Covid-19 and brings it home? What if we get sick and one or both of us gets seriously ill and – god forbid – dies? Should we wait a while longer? We’ve lasted a year, we could probably last a while longer. Could we? It would be truly horrible (and could have been completely preventable) if we get Covid-19 now that there’s a vaccine in sight and that we’re in the home stretch. On the other hand, if our daughter doesn’t go back to school soon, I think I’m going to lose my mind. So, when I have to make a difficult decision and that it’s keeping me up at night, I make a list of pros and cons.
These are the things I LIKE about homeschooling:
- Not having to run out the door and brave rush hour traffic to get my daughter to school on time
- Not having to pack lunches that inevitably come home uneaten
- Listening in on her classes. What can I say? I’m a control freak and I like knowing what my child is learning
- And, most importantly, keeping her safe and healthy
What I definitely do NOT like about homeschooling:
- Having to supervise my daughter while she’s in class so she doesn’t eat all the cookies in the pantry, do cartwheels, play with the dog, play Roblox, watch TV, chat with her friends or generally goof off instead of paying attention to her teachers
- Insisting she finish her homework “now” so I can scan and submit it
- Working in the same space as my daughter e-v-e-r-y single day
- Working and writing to the sound of her teachers. I feel like Charlie Brown with the teacher who ‘wawas’ in the background.
- Having to tiptoe around and wait until everyone is offline to do laundry, vacuum (okay, maybe not the vacuuming. I hate vacuuming. But still…) and generally avoid making any sound whatsoever between 8:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. every week day
- Never, ever, getting any alone time
Ultimately, we decided to send her back to school. I’ve never seen a child, certainly not mine anyway, more excited and happy at the thought of finally getting to walk through those gates and meet some of her classmates in person for the first time ever. She’s a strong, healthy child. We are strong healthy adults, and most importantly, her school has gone to great lengths to keep the children safe. Desks are six feet apart and surrounded by plexiglass, children wear masks all day long, wash their hands thoroughly several times a day, hospital grade ventilators purify the air in every class room, schedules are staggered so they never cross paths with any other kids but the ones in their homeroom and so on.
Did I sleep well last night? Not really. I worried. Do I think we made the right decision? When I saw her smiling from ear to ear, beaming with joy as she jumped out of our car this morning excited to spend the day at school IN PERSON, I knew I’d made the right decision for our family. But, every family is different. And we fully understand and respect those parents who decided to keep their kids at home for a couple more months.
Are your children going back to in-person school? Is the thought of sending them back keeping you up at night? Drop me a line. I’d love to know.