Both of my children are back in school, kind of. My youngest went back in-person on Tuesday. She was super pumped about it. She picked out her clothes for the week. The night before she packed her lunch. She made a sandwich on a baguette and make sure her new pencils were packed. I was just sitting on the couch drinking wine confused.
That's my new default state. hahaha.
The next morning she got up early and got dressed. She looked so pretty. I told her that I would take her to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. It's her favorite. We were leaving the neighborhood and she was like, "I'm going to put on some music to get me in a good mood," she said. She put on "Daydream Believer." She was belting it out. "How many kids in high school know this song?" I asked. She shrugged. "Probably no one." She's like 55. Love her so much. She got a Boston creme doughnut and a frozen hot chocolate. We picked up her friends and off we went.
As I approached the high school, I felt some kind of way. I was definitely in the Twilight Zone. There was a line of students outside, all in masks waiting to get their temperature taken to get into the school. I enjoyed watching the kids walk up in their masks. They look like badass ninjas. It was exactly 6 months since school has been out. My daughter and her friends put their masks on, climbed out of the car and joined the throngs of teenagers on the sidewalk. I watched my daughter for a moment before driving off. Then, I sobbed like a little bitch. Because I was happy and devastated and conflicted all at once.
When I picked her up in the afternoon, she walked me through her day. It was very different than school had ever been. There were fewer kids than she thought there were going to be. Her yearbook class only has 3 other students. They truly are socially distanced so talking in class isn't really a thing. They can only walk one way in the hallways. Even though she has classes next door to each other, she has to go all the way around. The cafeteria has marked spots. There was a girl who was in the marching band with her last year that she has been having lunch with. They can't really sit in groups. She was disappointed on the first day. "High school kids don't really eat lunch, so I didn't eat either." She was so excited about her baguette sandwich. I gave her a speech about how you need to eat and drink water throughout the day and fuck what everyone else does. "Why don't you just eat and then maybe other people will eat?"
My oldest was like that sometimes too. She'd bring home a whole packed lunch with two bites taken out of it. I don't understand teenagers. They don't want to eat, or wear a coat when it's cold, or do basic things that are healthy and literally keep them alive. It makes me crazy. She did eat the next few days.
She likes being back at school. It has been good for her soul. It is some semblance of normalcy. It's good for us because we don't feel guilty having to work and feeling like she has nothing to do.
My oldest is virtual until January at least. We are making the most of it but she is not a fan. She doesn't have that many classes left to graduate, so when we picked her classes, she only had 2 left to take senior year. There was some issue with Spanish 2 schedule. So all of her classes are through the school and Spanish through the state's virtual platform. Which is more self-guided, a completely different platform. This also means that IF she goes on campus she would still need to finish that class virtually. I was not keen on it. But we did it anyway. It's been an absolute nightmare. She had Spanish 1 TWO years ago with not the most rigorous Spanish teacher.
So, she's doing this class the past 2 weeks and the platform is not really compatible with ipads which is the device the school issued her and they assigned her orientation work when there was supposed to be other work and it was a clusterfuck. My kid cannot teach herself Spanish virtually. Sure, she can get it out of the way but if it is potentially harmful to her GPA, which is the point. I'm not blaming the school or the teacher, but learning a foreign language online is just not-it-chief. I'm breaking out in hives just thinking about it.
I decided we needed to have a talk about it. I was worried about it because I didn't want to give her the impression that I thought she couldn't do it. She can do it but it will be a battle week in and week out. So I said, "Look, you have two options. I can hire a Spanish teacher to come once a week and teach you and work through your lessons or I can request that you drop it and you can take it in-person next year. So you'll have 3 classes senior year instead of two." She thought very carefully. "Honestly, I feel like it would be so much better for me to just take it in-person." I was like
Then, she has to submit some assignments through Schoolology and there were showing as submitted but blank on the teacher side so we've been working with technology.
I don't like virtual school. I mean, we are making the best of it because there are no other options but it's just not ideal for certain kids. The schools are trying so hard. The teachers are so sweet and noble. "The children are going to get a robust virtual experience. It's going to be great!" I'm like:
Just give it to me straight. "It's going to be shitty. You'll need a lot of wine. Try not to jump off a bridge. It will be over someday....."
She's supposed to go for a 2-week residency in November. My fingers are crossed. Every day I wake up I'm like, another day has passed. One day close to.....something. I am wishing my life away but I don't feel bad about it anymore because honestly, it's trash. Shit life right now, bro.
We've made it to September. Half of my kids are back at school. Things are getting better-ish. I think.
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