First Day Back at School...Sort Of...

Year 2! As promised, I've stopped numbering days. At least in part because it's very clear there's going to be a definitive end to this, just a very slow and drawn out fadeout.

So a lot of conversation has happened about schools since I last wrote. Our school made a plan for returning kids to in person school and literally the same day they announced this the governor came out with a directive about in person school and it was all lovely chaos. We had 48 hours to decide if we wanted to send James back to in person school, which is...not long enough to make big decisions, but it is what it is. I'll spare you the long story but here's the upshot. James is participating in what are called "bridge weeks" this week and next week. Each grade K-3 is divided in half and half of the kids from that grade who are returning to in person learning (there is a stay all remote option, not sure how many kids are going to do that) come for a 2 hour session once per each bridge week. James's first session was today, the other half of the first grade goes Thursday afternoon. The sessions are supposed to introduce kids to each other and get them used to the new check in processes (having their temperatures taken before going with other kids, etc.) They are not being led by teachers. The district has a partnership with the YMCA, so YMCA staff are working with the kids during these two weeks and then in week three the kids will go to their full hybrid schedule. This involves two full days of school per week (it will either be Monday and Tuesday or Thursday and Friday) and then two days of ansynchronus work at home.

I can't begin to tell you how excited James was to go back to school today. He came running into my room first thing in the morning when he woke up yelling "Today's the day!" He bounced around all morning. He was talking about it during his morning Zoom class and he was talking about it with the school counselor, who meets with him on Mondays over Zoom to help him work through some of his behaviors. 

We were going to walk him up to school...I miss the walk...but the weather was chancy. About an hour or so before we left it was hailing. So we drove him up there which was nice because it meant Josh could take a ten minute break and go with us to drop him off. He had to be there at 2 and be picked up at 4. Max and I went to the library (where else?) and for some coffee and then came home and played outside (the weather was either good or horrible today, no in between) until it was time to pick him up. Max was a little stressed about James leaving the car. I tried to talk it up to him, how James was going to school and he was going to get to hang out with Mom but for Max "going to school" and "going to work" are really loose terms involving someone sitting at a computer for awhile and asking to be left alone, so until James left the car I don't think he put it together that James was actually going to leave. He got very quiet, then very whiny, then fell asleep for awhile. 

James came home in kind of a funk. I think a lot of it was coming down from the adrenaline high of being so excited all morning long. He said they "just played." I think he was hoping for more school like stuff but he liked seeing a couple of friends he knew, including a girl he's been going to school with since he was 4. He went through two masks and they had to give him a disposable. He's a very spitty child, I don't know how we're going to keep him in masks.

So yeah. First day of school ish. Real first day of school in a couple of weeks. Transition periods are always tough and my kid thrives on routine...one of many reasons why this year has been so hard for him. But it is a step towards onward and that's good.

Other things that have been going on...we got to celebrate my dad's birthday for real. Last year we had to cancel his 80th birthday party my sister was going to fly into town for and all the grandkids were coming. This was a smaller affair...us, him, his brother-in-law and brother-in-law's girlfriend, but to have even that small group inside for an actual event was huge. The kids loved playing inside at Grandpa's house and he loved getting to host a thing. We're going away with him for Easter weekend, that will be fun...if stressful. Having him fully vaccinated makes a huge difference for sure. So like I say, this isn't going to end, but we are on the very slow very long road back to normal...or forward to whatever the new normal is going to look like. Josh was just showing me pictures of trips we used to take and adventures we once had. We're never going to be those people again, we're not going back there, but there are more trips to take and more adventures to be had. My sister and her family are booking plane tickets to come here for Thanksgiving. We're thinking about how we are going to make it to Michigan this summer to see the grandparents. Baby steps. 

I know there's more to say but it's hard to put coherent thoughts together tonight. Really what I'm doing is moving a bunch of files off of this computer which has been infected by some kind of horrible virus and has to be completely wiped by my tech support husband so I'm writing these as I wait for files to transfer. This is the real world, folks :)

Media consumption: I watched a bunch of Murder She Wrote episodes on DVD from the library. It was interesting to revisit that show but it was definitely not made to be binge watched. So I with my love of all things rerun have fallen into of all things a Will & Grace rabbit hole. The 1990s...was a long time ago. Josh and I finished The Good Place (and cried) and have been watching The I.T. Crowd, which is...odd.

I've been reading a lot...mostly kids books as it is still middle grade march. I read A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat, a Newbery honor, and it was gorgeous. I don't know what to say about the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes in America except I'm trying to read and showcase more work by Asian Americans. Other reading highlights...I read a pair of poetry books celebrating poets of the Harlem Renaissance called Legacy and One Last Word, both by Nikki Grimes, and they were gorgeous. I'm currently reading the young readers version of Trevor Noah's Born a Crime, just started Some Places More than Others by Renee Watson today, it is pretty an oh so quick, and I'm listening to the final book of the Savvy trilogy by Ingrid Law on audio, they're so fun. Also this morning I finished an adorable middle grade cozy mystery called Absolutely Truly. So yeah, reading a lot. A girl I follow on Instagram is having a contest with her fiance tracking how much time they spend reading this week between Monday and Friday and she invited followers to participate so I am, or at least I was until I had to restart my phone and lost my time...at 8 p.m. on Monday. night. It's cool. I was being annoying about it and it wasn't making reading more enjoyable for me, so I'm going to gracefully bow out of that. But yeah, reading a lot. You know. As I'm able.

Today I'm thankful for books, audio books, sunshine, school support staff even those who want health forms filled out by 8 a.m. (really???), friends that let you rant over text message, old photos, in house tech support, Max hugs and helps, my James, and my new bed. I have a new bed! Well, a new mattress. Life could be worse.

Oh, I forgot a cute Max story. Josh was whining yesterday morning that he didn't know where his belt is, so he asked the kids, just kind of as a did someone take Daddy's belt sort of thing. Max immediately jumped up, yelled "I know where!" went into the back of my closet and grabbed it. I love that kid. It's the little things, man.I it really is the little things.