That first, productive, week off of school, during our actual spring break, was a bit of a fluke. Once I was back to working, albeit from home, things were slightly less peaceful. The first week I was back at work the children still did not have school work. This was fine for Harper, who has been fairly content to binge watch and check in with her friends, but was less fine for Michael. While Michael is also a fan of electronic diversions, he is not as skilled at self-entertaining and spent a week being really bothered by the fact that no one was able to pay much attention to him during the day.
Last week, when there was actual school work for the children do to, was marginally better. However, as is expected, we're all getting on each others' nerves a bit. I know how fortunate we are, given these circumstances. There's plenty of space in our home, plenty to do, plenty to eat. Still, we're all feeling the sting of the things that we aren't able to do, the people we aren't able to be with, etc.
We're under "stay at home" orders until May 1st; however, I can't imagine that it won't extend beyond that. What kind of amazes me is how quickly my mindset has shifted. At first, it seemed kind of wild that our spring break was going to turn into two weeks of online learning. Now we're almost certainly not going back to school this school year. I find myself mentally working through scenarios in which none of our summer plans are happening, and accepting that there's a possibility we might not return to school on time in August. (That has not been stated as a possibility by our district or by our state leadership.) Basically I'm not taking for granted anything that was supposed to happen within the next six months. The idea that it may be months before we are "back to normal" is both horrible and fine. We're getting by. Is there any other way to take this than to get through one day at a time?
I'm also trying to keep in mind what a privilege it is to be able to stay at home to this degree. No one living in our home has to leave home to work. We have the technology to meet our work/school/entertainment needs. We have the access and means to keep our pantry/freezer/fridge stocked with minimal interactions with the outside world. We have a safe neighborhood for walking in. We are even able to worship with our church online. It is not lost on me how absolutely fortunate we are.
