All three of my kids are back at in-person school this week for the first time this school year. Our elementary kids had a brief stint last fall before the school quickly switched back to remote, but my seventh-grader never stepped foot inside the school building until this week.
Our middle school has got a hybrid schedule going where half of the kids are in-person while the other half joins remotely on a screen. When asked what it was like, my son’s response was, “it’s really just exactly the same as remote school, except that I’m in the classroom.”
I think that’s precisely what the school was aiming for, so seems like a good start.
We moved into a new house at the beginning of the school year, so this is the first time there’ve been no kids in this house. Ever.
I never realized how seldom I had a chance to think quietly. I was preoccupied with kids or school or work, or all three while drowning out the noise with calming music in my ear buds. But now I can turn off Pandora and hear. . . the clock ticking. Did it always?
I also never realized how often my husband interrupts me during the day. Did I just not notice because I was already distracted by the kids? Or did he never come out of his office this much when the kids were here? Either way, I had to holler at him to be quiet the other day as he casually strolled through the house on a phone call ON SPEAKERPHONE while I was working on a deadline.
Already, I feel like we’re settling into the new routine. It helps that we dipped our toes into it last fall. We have shorter school days, and stricter pickup times, and lots more rules to follow. But it’s funny how quickly you can get used to something once you just accept that’s how it has to be. It’s really no different than any other of the many scheduling dilemmas we parents deal with for our kids. You determine what needs to happen, and then you figure out how to do it.
While I admit, I miss being able to hug them at any given point of the day, I’m SO GLAD my kids are back in regular school. And I’m really grateful to not be 100% responsible for their schedule for the entire stinking day, every day. Plus, they’re so much happier.
My first grader is super proud of his current art project, and my third grader exclaimed at pickup the other day, “MOM! I’m starting not to hate school so much anymore!!”
Music to my ears, buddy. Music to my ears.
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