I used to spend at least a week or so every August chasing down items on my kids’ school supply lists. There was always at least one or two things on those lists that I’d either A) never heard of, or B) didn’t realize I should have purchased two months earlier to avoid the last minute scavenger hunt. One year, I dragged my kids through Staples, Office Depot, Target, Walmart, Walgreens, and two grocery stores in search of a very specific and frankly mysterious version of a composition notebook. No luck. Then my friend Tina texted me later that same night with the news that a CVS near her house had what I was looking for, and also, a wine sale. I about tore the bumper off my car squealing into that parking lot. Crazy days. I always knew I would miss those times when my kids were grown, but I could never have guessed how nostalgic I’d be for two-pocket folders and graphing calculators in August 2020.
The school district where we live made the decision to go with full remote learning. Three legal pads and a thumb drive later – all of which we already had – and school is in session. It’s weird. It’s so weird. My body and brain, trained by now to expect piles of school paperwork to show up on the kitchen counter by late August, feels a little lost. Time in this pandemic is soggy and limp and has a bad attitude anyway, but what it’s done to August alone makes me want to punch its face. And then there are the school districts trying to follow a hybrid plan of partial classroom learning mixed with remote learning, which, from what I can tell, appears to be based on the most diabolical word problem ever:
“The Smith family has three children, grades 2, 7, and 10. If elementary grades attend class on M-T-W every other week, and middle school grades attend class every third week on W-Th-F, and high school students attend class one day per week, unless they choose Option C in which case they don’t attend in-person classes at all, unless maybe they do but no one knows if or when or how, then how are parents supposed to hold down jobs and why is mommy hiding in the bathroom and is that crying or insane laughter you hear? Show your work.”
Teachers – don’t even get me started. Only teachers and maybe Army Rangers could pull this off. I think about how, not all that terribly long ago, a teacher in a rural area might have every child for miles sitting in her one classroom. How that teacher would be tasked with educating a 6 year-old alongside a 13 year-old. How few resources there were, how much hardship had to be overcome in order for those children to learn. Of course, my daughters roll their eyes at me when I tell them that Abraham freaking Lincoln had maybe a year or so of what they would consider “real” school and look at all he accomplished. And Jane Austen had very little formal education yet went on to write some of the most extraordinary novels in the English language. Girls! I say. Buck up! School is far more than a cluster of buildings. You’ve got this! But the truth is, I miss school for them as much or more than they miss it for themselves.
And it’s weird and strange and challenging to do school at home. Not all of us are equipped to be homeschool parents – I’m definitely not. Not only am I bewildered by the math and chemistry assignments my youngest has, I’m not even good at keeping track of the time. A few days ago, I wandered into Caramia’s bedroom to check on her. One dog and three cats trailed after me, along with my other daughter, Olivia. We all plopped down on the bed for a visit. Caramia was curled up in her usual spot, a little pillow nest on the floor, We talked and laughed for about 10 minutes or so and then Caramia said, “Well, this has been fun and everything but I’m in math so maybe y’all could leave now?” Turning her laptop toward us, she gestured at the screen. Yup. We’d crashed her math class – thank God for the mute feature. Later she pointed out that Abraham Lincoln might not have gone to school very much but when he did, his mom probably didn’t show up with three cats and a barking dog. Character building! I told her. Let’s hope that’s true. And let’s all hope for the best as this unexpected and unpredictable school year begins. Good luck kids! Good luck teachers! Good luck parents! Goodnight moon – oh wait, that’s a bedtime thing. See what I mean about time? I’m so confused.
I absolutely LOVE you show!!! I listen everyday on my way to work on B106.7, Columbia, SC. I live in Sumter, SC…..Thank you for your humor and entertainment each day….ya’ll are really great!!!! And I always look forward to the People’s Movie Critic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Gee, what a difference a year makes! Last year Sheri, you were a teary mess, dreading the day your firstborn would leave your protective nest for the big, big college world. How you hated to see her leave.
But wait, a pandemic hits and your precious baby has been returned to your open, welcoming, nurturing arms! Now you get to spend 24-7 with her . . . And your baby daughter . . . And the canine and feline menagerie . . . .and your husband! (Did I miss anyone or anything? Lol).
This simply proves the biblical concept – If things are going bad, this, too, shall pass. And if things are going good, this, too, shall pass.
Sheri, you have captured this so well. My daughter is a middle school art teacher in Indiana. She has two children – one starting high school and one starting middle school. My granddaughter’s high school schedule is two days one week and three days the next. My grandson’s middle school schedule is every-other-day. My daughter has to go every day and remember which of her children is going on which day. She teaches in a classroom with little plexiglass windows between each student. Everyone is masked. She says wearing the mask is not as bad as teaching in the mask – talking all day long and having to readjust it over and over again. She gets three 30-minute breaks a day but doesn’t have time to eat lunch because she spends that time disinfecting everything in her classroom – chairs, desks, plexiglass, pens, pencils, markers, paintbrushes, etc. She had to find enough pastels for each student to have their own because they can’t share anything. Then she comes home at night and has to take attendance for all of the students who didn’t attend in-person school that day and grade those assignments, and email parents, and answer emails from parents. All that said, she was so happy to go back to school and have her kids back in school, she does it with grace and a smile. Three weeks and they have only had three positive tests and no symptomatic staff or students. I pray every day it stays that way.
Retired in 2019 after 28 years in education. I am sad, and worried, and hopeful. This will be a year like no other. My prayers are with the all the parents, students, and staff.
Sheri, I am a retired school bus driver of 13 years. Now I would only have to know what day it is but what kid has to be picked up on what day. (also a lot of kids are not dropped off at the same place they were picked up and days may be different too. Too much stress for this ole girl!
Interesting times indeed. On the up side, a close friend quit teaching after 25 years and started an online business to assist home school parents. She is creating “Pandemic Pods”. She matches 4 to 5 students and they stay together for the school year. For example: Monday Sheri’s house teaches English, the next day Todds house teaches math etc…. it is working well. She even has clients in NY. She monitors the students and makes sure they are staying on track. Hang in there. Joanne