Last week, the school said we would have a complete "School at Home Learning Plans" for our little distance learners and that they would be posted Monday night. Well, HALLELUJAH! It was like a special little birthday gift in a beautifully wrapped package. The perfectly organized table of assignments was more than I could ask for. It was put together so thoughtfully and was so concise. I can't even imagine being a teacher and having to switch gears like this without warning. Kudos to all of you because I couldn't even imagine the work you put into this thing!
Thanks to our little learning plan, the last two days have been fairly easy in regards to actually getting my son to complete the assignments. Now that the knows there will be grades attached to these, he is taking this much more seriously. But we have now run into a new problem: time.
I am fortunate enough to be able to do my job from home right now. At first it was a struggle finding a balance. I was putting in very full days, and definitely giving more of my time outside my normal workweek. I am a "doer" for lack of a better word. I like to do things for other people. I like to help others. I felt like I needed to use my job to help everyone I could through this whole COVID-19 lock-down and I put no time constraints on that. I had to reevaluate this rather quickly because after week one, I was completely burnt out. I made a promise to myself to stop answering work emails after the end of my scheduled day, and to scale back the amounts of things I was trying to do. This has helped a great deal this week. I do have extra time, but that extra time away from work is now time I must give my students, I mean kids. Giving up MY time has been hard, but obviously worth it. Moms do anything for their kids, it's kind of like an unwritten mom creed.
My toddler's preschool has jumped on the distance learning bandwagon, which has been great for my little guy. He is loving his group time with his friends and teachers. I have been putting the laptop right on the coffee table so it is at his height and then walking away so he can participate by himself. Encouraging a little independence has to be a good thing, right? This little break for me is wonderful, but even better for him! He gets to sing, dance and listen to stories. It has been a little slice of heaven! But, it also cuts into my work day because he needs the computer to login to the video chats. I am not sure families with only one computer are managing all of this. I know that our school district has been amazing with getting technology to the kids that need it, but how do I get my toddler his own Chromebook so I can work at the same time? TIME, all if this comes back to time.
I have spoken to other parents and the general consensus is that we feel like we don't have enough time. How do we change that? I think prioritization is key. I need to do my work, and my kids need to get their work done. I have flexed my schedule to where I am working from early morning until lunch, then going through assignments with my older kiddo as we eat lunch. After lunch, he goes and finishes any uncompleted work, and I take my toddler outside. Then it is nap time for him, and work time for me. Some days I don't feel like cleaning the house when I am done, or doing laundry, or cooking dinner. So I don't. Pizza is our friend, and so what if we eat it in our pajamas!
It is hard to imagine life going back to normal. That first day back at school for kids will be even better than the first day back after summer break. This is no summer break. There are no fun vacations. Heck, it hasn't even been warm enough outside to wear shorts. I can't wait for this new normal to be over, but I am thankful for all of the extra time with my kids, and all of the support from their teachers and schools. When will this be over? I guess only time will tell...