After a month of planning and preparation, it all gets real tomorrow. We've organized our supplies, set up our furniture and decorations (thanks, Nona!), and had one last outdoor gathering with the other families in our learning pod. We've practiced logging into the kids Chromebooks, we've attended the warm-up Zoom meetings, we've driven through the school parking lot to pick up the first packets of handouts and materials. We've set up our air purifiers, bought more tiny little kid masks, and cleaned all the high-touch surfaces. And, at last, at 8:30 tomorrow morning, it really starts. The teacher and the other kids will show up, and the school year will begin. 10 feet from my office.
I still feel like this was the best, really the only, plan for our family. I am sure once we get the kinks ironed out the logistics will work fine. I just wish we were starting the school year with the pandemic under better control in our state and our county. As will come as a surprise to no one, reopening the university has not had a salutary effect on the number of COVID-19 cases around here. So of course we are taking every precaution we can. And starting this learning pod also represents a dramatic expansion of our potential exposure to the virus. One day at a time, and fingers crossed.
I'm a little sad to see the summer end. In some ways, it has been quite long, and in others, it went by in a flash. We stayed home the entire time, saw very few other people, and did very few things. And yet, we had a lot of fun as well. It was not the summer we had planned by any stretch of the imagination, but on the other hand we all stayed healthy and Lemon now weighs an astonishing 63lb. So, all in all, I will take it.
Now it is time to buckle up for fall and winter. I wish I were more optimistic about the next couple of months, and I would love to be pleasantly surprised. Yet, I suspect, this will be a great challenge for all of us. Please be safe out there, don't lose your mind on too many Zoom meetings (your own or your kids') and we can't wait to see you in person when this is all over.
