Just Do Your Next Right Thing

There is no doubt that this year has turned us all sideways and a little upside down.  The things we had taken for granted are now dreamed of.  For me... hugs.  I miss hugs.  I miss NOT feeling weird seeing two people having a normal social interaction like a handhold, handshake or high five before realizing they must live in the same space.  I am not even what some would classify as overly germ cautious, but it is just the norm now.   You know it has happened to you.  Watching TV or a movie and seeing strangers stand in crowded subways or sit on park benches together at a park and you inwardly cringe and say "oh no!  they gotta get back!".

The question is what else is becoming the norm?  All day every day, especially right now I see struggling parents and my empathetic heart is heavy and feels for them all.  The BIG topic right now... SCHOOL! 

Do I send? Do I not send? The parents struggle, the teachers struggle, the principals struggle and even the decision makers are stuck struggling in a place they never wanted to be (like or don't like the policy makers in your area, but I do not envy them at all!).  

56.6 million 

That is how many kids we have in America that are between K-12.  That does not include preschools which are in the same boat.  So, with everyone struggling we have the kids being tossed like the monkey in the middle and all they want and need is some stability, structure and solidified schedules.  Fault is like a noodle that doesn't pass the sticky test and falls off of everything no matter how many times it is thrown from wall to wall to wall.  This is just a weird, unknown year and no one, frankly, knows exactly what to do.

But, I do feel the worst for the kids and there doesn't seem to be a period coming at the end of this CoVid story any time soon.  No one has the play book, but we CAN talk to our kids and see how they feel, what they want, hear their thoughts (knowing kids one or more of them has an ingenious idea that would solve everything) and just commiserate if need be.  Disrupted schedules are hard!  Remember when a nap time was skipped when they were little and how it felt like the world was uprooted?

Always know that you are the rock of their world and if you are frustrated and up in arms they will be that much more.  They are like little mirrors, but the fun house kind because they expand and enlarge things that much more.  You know the ones. 

Are you starting or continuing a homeschool?  Virtual Learning?  At school learning?  A combination?  Something entirely different?  There is no right answer and no wrong answer.  You know your children best and whatever you think is best for them and available will be good.  There is a quote in the movie "Here on Earth" I remember that said, "as long as everyone is ok, it's a good day"... or something similar to that.  My point is that this year will pass and we will have made something beautiful or not out of it.  It is our choice.  If you have questions about how to keep a time schedule, how to create a learning space, what tools to get and how to establish guardrails than  School From Home 101  is a GREAT option for you!  Just make the best out of the year because you are exchanging your life for this time and I know when I look back I want to see that whatever I left behind was something good and I wish that for you too.

I believe in you. I believe in every good you are capable of.  I believe in these 56  million kids.  

I believe anything is WePossible.