Well I don't know about you, but I welcomed back to school with arms as open wide as I ever have. I actually had a little adrenaline rush the first day the kids left on the bus.
We decided to send our children back to in-class learning for several reasons.
1-they're in French Immersion, and while Gordon and I speak French fluently it's a whole other mindset trying to speak it in our every day conversations (although we're trying more to sneak in sentences here and there).
2- because they're in a special program their class sizes were already smaller pre-pandemic
3-we don't frequently see any family or close friends who are elderly or immuno-compromised
4-Mia was absolutely determined to go back.
5-Isaac was not. However, he was very difficult to motivate when we switched to at home learning, and I didn't want to be battling with him every day to get motivated. Plus he hated his video chat class sessions, which only amounted to 30 mins, twice a week. Those would bump up to daily and for longer, if we chose distance learning.
6-My baby girls need mom time too. It was a really big struggle trying to balance supporting our older kids in their schoolwork, with the younger girls need for my time and attention.
So for all those reason, we felt in-class learning was the best choice for us. And after the first two weeks we had no regrets. Everyone has been much happier, I've felt. Much less complaints about boredom, much less petty arguments and bickering, much more time for mom to just enjoy quality time with all her kids and less time refereeing and cleaning.
Enter last Sunday's rude awakening when I got a phone call from public health. It said Alberta Health Services so I assumed it was work related, until they asked for the parent of Isaac and Mia. Immediately I knew what it must be about. A student on their bus, but not from their school, tested positive for COVID and they would now need to be isolated 14 days from their last "contact", which was the previous Tuesday. No school, no gymnastics, no leaving the yard. My brain went into panic mode as I mentally listed all the emails I needed to send, all the schedules to rearrange, all the things that now were not going to be on my to do list for the week-replaced by homeschooling.
Isaac celebrated being able to sleep in, but Mia had a much more somber attitude (much like me who just wanted to burst into tears again). I reminded myself I did this for 3.5 months, so really 10 more days was nothing, and only 7 of those were school days. It still felt so daunting, and so not what I wanted to be doing this week.
By the end of the day their principal and both teachers had made contact with me to ask after the kids, and tell me how they would post classwork so the kids could stay caught up. I have been so so appreciative of their teachers and the double duty they did. Mia's teacher posted a daily list of what they were working on, and Isaac's teacher posted a powerpoint with videos and worksheets.
However, even with the assignments prepared already, it was still a slog motivating them, explaining things to them, guiding them... on top of dealing with typical battles for attention, dishes, cooking, laundry, working... And thank goodness I had work two evenings, because after day 1 I was like a caged animal wanting to escape. I'm also battling with tendonitis in my foot after my 10k run a week and
a half ago. I was only expecting to get through 3k, 5 at best, after 7
weeks off, and didn't wear my long distance shoes, so now I'm paying for
that mistake. But the week with everyone home didn't do anything to
increase the resting of my foot, plus working, and by the weekend I was
dragging my foot along the ground with the help of socks to avoid
putting weight on it. But hobbling around everywhere in discomfort did nothing to lighten my mood.
I felt like a bad mom all week. Literally all week. The baby girls were not getting the attention they needed, my tolerance for everything seemed non existent, and I repented for impatience and losing my temper multiple times a day. Hell. It was a lonely hell.
On Friday I decided to just let go. Let go of the narrow expectations. Let go of the control. I wrote the kids to do lists in their agendas, like every day, and told them they had until 4pm to complete their work. Then after all their work was done and handed in, we would eat supper and have a movie and popcorn. By some miracle they managed to get their work done, even though they spent most of the time playing outside in the back yard. I cleaned both bathrooms, did two loads of laundry, and made cookies. I'm actually amazed that everything managed to get done without me micromanaging everything. I mean it took until 4 pm but it was done.
Even though the kids COVID swabs were negative they still have to stay home until the 14 days are up (which is Wednesday). And I sure as heck hope we don't have to do this again anytime soon. Right now at 11am, I'm resting with my foot up. Isaac has done math and Mia has done nothing. They know there's no lunch until at least 2 subjects are done and they've had 20 mins of exercise, but I suppose this is how one teaches the natural consequences of procrastination (or maybe I'm letting them slack too much-who knows?). All I know is only two more days until freedom. Stay away runny noses and fall coughs. My kiddos need to be in school for everyone's sanity.
