For now…
We will plan for school schedules and distance learning while we soak up the last of the summer sun. We will answer questions from little minds while drowning in questions of our own.
We will mask up, social distance, and move along with our lives.
But it’s so hard sometimes. To plan. To anticipate. To trust. There is so much time, but the time is unstructured, and it feels endless. It feels impossible to relax.
I think the main question on our minds so much of the time is: When will it end? And there is no answer—only the echo of the question and empty space.
Questions upon questions spin around on the news and social media; in our homes and in our heads. How can we continue to do our best when our best feels vastly inadequate? Perhaps it starts with a deep look inward? Setting priorities and goals despite the uncertainty and maybe even because of it. We need structure for ourselves and our children, however we can find it. And fun. Let’s not forget to schedule that!
And if you’ve decided to distance learn this fall, you are doing a great job, and you made the right decision. Or, if you are sending your kids back to school, you are doing a great job, and you made the right decision. If you have childcare that you trust coming into your house so that you can work, you are doing a great job, and you made the right decision.
We will never stop second-guessing ourselves as parents and the decisions we make. We have no choice at this pivotal time but to stand up and make a choice; to see a relative or not, to sign up for soccer or not, or to go to school or not.
Know that you are doing the absolute best you can in a time for which we have no playbook.
So, I raise a glass to you parents, whether I see you on Google Meet or in the school parking lot this month. I salute every one of you during this unprecedented time, and I stand with you.
