My kids are back in school. Life is back to normal, right?
Yet, this is so weird.
The “new normal” became normal. Sure, last year, my kids started going back to school on a hybrid schedule in March, which made life so, so, so much easier! Given all our divisions, the one thing we all seem to agree on is that virtual schooling is very, very hard.
So moving to a hybrid schedule was great! They’d go to school, then be home for two days. Then they’d go to school again, and be home for the weekend. They’d go away for a few hours, but largely, they were still home.
In May, they did get to go to school five days a week. But then the school year ended at the end of that month, and the kids were home all the time again. Back to normal.
This week, the first day of school was a nice break, a great reason for us all to go our (much needed) separate ways. But do you know what’s weird? They’re gone again today. And then they’ll be gone again on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday . . .
I just can’t quite wrap my head around this!
Well, no. My head understands this. It’s something deep down in my soul or my psyche or somewhere that’s waiting for the other shoe to drop. Something else will happen, and this whole “full-time school thing” will come to a screeching halt. Again.
So I’m taking each day as a gift. Each day we wake up, and all of us are thinking, “we get to go to school today!” None of this, “aw, we have to go to school.”
No, we get to go to school.
It’s still a novelty. We’re all still looking forward to it–the seventh grader, the fifth grader (maybe especially the fifth grader). The kindergartner is looking forward to each day because–well, KINDERGARTEN! But even the grumpy-pants fifth grader is waking up early and leaving the house earlier than he should, so he gets to school before the doors even open.
Maybe the beginning of every school year is like this. But thanks to moving and then COVID, this is our first “normal” first day of school since 2018. So I think this optimistic high that we’re riding will last little longer than it does with most school years.
I’m praying with every ounce that I have that this “full time school thing” will last all year. I’m also hoping that we don’t lose our enthusiasm for the opportunities that have come our way. May we continue to see full-time school as a marvelous opportunity.
Also, may our time at home after school be an equally marvelous opportunity.
May we not lose this perspective too quickly.
Backpack picture by Alex Azabache on Unsplash.com
So happy reading your brog to know they are all in school now. Max starts Monday – si Dios quiere!!! We’ll see how it goes. Here we are also waiting to see how Delta pans out.