I meant...
I started that sentence two weeks ago and never came back to finish it. I meant to come home from our first post-quarantine school day and share an update. Then I meant to come back and let you know how the first week went. And now we find ourselves three full weeks back into the "new normal" of quarantine preschool.
Once I knew that the Monkey's school would be opening up, I experienced every thought and emotion possible about this. Easily six or seven times each. Excitement that she could finally return to school, and I could finally focus on work for longer than a Paw Patrol episode; fear that going back to school was not the right thing to do; gratitude to the teachers who are there when I'm sure they've got their own emotions about teaching in a pandemic - to name a few.
The school has all of the precautions in place you've probably read about. Outside drop off, masked parents and teachers, daily temperature check and health screening, physical distance between the kids. I think she started out as one of three kids in her class (formerly of 24) and now they're up to seven. I had no idea what drop off would look like that first day back, after three months at home. But what I did not expect was for the Monk to practically run into the school without a backward glance my way. And she bounced out of school just as excited at the end of the day. Completely unprompted mid-week she told me, "I had so much fun today!" This from a kid who flatly refused to discuss the goings on of her classroom with me pre-quarantine.
And in those moments, I knew I'd made the right decision - for us. I still worry daily about the risks, but the child is positively flourishing. Whereas I never got her to write a single letter or her name while we were home (and began to doubt whether she actually could) she emerged from the first week with a "Happy Bubba Day" card that she'd written by herself for her grandfather. Cue the immense gratitude from this solo mama that they remembered our family doesn't have a dad and didn't force a Father's Day card, and the relief that yes, she does still know her letters.
I’m thrilled that she’s thriving at school, with friends, and with activities that engage her. And I am convinced it is temporary. I have always thought that this spring was just a preview of what was to come, and as cases skyrocket in the south, I fear that the fall will end up with us back under a stay-at-home order. Time to stock back up on toilet paper and craft supplies.
USA Cases 3,540,943 Deaths 139,108
Virginia Cases 72,443 Deaths 1,977
Frederick County Cases 558 Deaths 6
Gas $1.84
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