One year ago, former President Trump had this to say about COVID:
“It’s going to disappear. One day, it’s like a miracle, it will disappear.”
At the time, there were 59 cases and 0 deaths in the US. Today there are 28.5 million cases and 510,000 deaths. That's more deaths than the population of Atlanta.
Um, so did he mean "one day," like one day five years from now?
<Sigh> Oh how we all wish it would disappear! I, for one, really want us to see my mother-in-law, watch Nug play a soccer game, have Cookie hug her first grade teacher, and look upon mask-free faces again! These news stories don't need to remind us of our daily limitations, or really, of COVID at all (when I suggested that Nug help me write this post, she said, "more covid? uggh." I took that as a hard no). We are all just chilling like we've been chilling for nearly 365 days now. I barely registered that it's been a year, except that it coincides with another anniversary: one year since my kids have gone to school.
Only four states are still closed or partially closed to in-person learning: CA, HI, DE, and NM. All other states are either ordered to be open, or no shut down order was made in the first place. I can't even write this blog post without gagging a bit in frustration. What's up California?! The nurses, doctors, grocery clerks, gas station attendants, cleaners, and a million other essential workers have been doing their thing all along. Where are the teachers? I say, go get your plastic face shield and figure it out! And anyway, how is it that we can't move school outdoors? It's California, not Iowa! We quickly figured out how to open outdoor restaurants, right?
Last week I finally received some encouraging news. A dim light at the end of the tunnel. Or maybe not quite dim, more like one of those black-colored lightbulbs, or a string of Christmas lights with missing bulbs. Anyway. I received an email from the school district with a date- April 5- to return to in-person learning. WHA?! Could it really be?! It would be a miracle if, between the logistics of the district, the demands of the teachers union, and our dismal covid case rate, I actually got to send my children to 1st and 4th grade. I am not getting my hopes up. If this does happen, the kids would have 10 to 11 weeks in school: just long enough to spike everyones anxiety, but also jog their memory on what it means to be in school: namely, wear shoes and play nicely.
I asked Nug and Cookie how they were feeling about this news. Succinctly: they don't care. Their main concern is losing play time with our neighbor pod-mates. Nug spends 95% of her life asking questions, but has not asked one thing about the whole ordeal. Oh wait, she did ask one: if it would affect play time with the neighbors! And Cookie, with her go-with-the-flow attitude and scant memory of school in the first place, is not even phased. Seriously, she wouldn't look up from her legos.
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| The pod mates in formation of "2020" |
All this to say...
1) To restore my confidence that the world will one day make sense again, I hope it happens.
2) Amidst a world that doesn't make sense, my children are still content! <gives self pat on the back> W and I must be doing something right! Even if it is only supplying playmates, tv, and a few meals.
But seriously, I'm super proud of my family. ♥️
And for a little perspective, remember this viral image? I ATE IT UP when I first saw it. Now I'm laughing at its absurdity (scroll to 2nd image for reality).
Parenting in March 2020
Parenting in March 2021
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