We’ve (Almost) Made It
We have just 21 school days left for this year, but who's counting? I am. This year Valor never left the house to attend school. He attended Virtual Academy (VA), thank you Covid-19 pandemic. In seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, I have been reflecting on this experience and want to have it written down for memory's sake.
Last summer as we watched the infection rates climb in our area, as well as throughout the country, we decided the best decision for our family was to enroll in Virtual Academy. It seemed like the most suitable choice for protecting our family as well as not deliberately participating in the spread, specifically with Nick being a frontlines worker. I wasn’t eager to have Valor at-home learning, as I would prefer him to be with his peers in school, but I also knew that it wouldn’t be the “normal” experience with masking, 6’ social distancing, plexiglass dividers, and shortened school day to eliminate recess, PE, music, art, and lunch. But unlike many parents, I work from home and was in the position to keep Valor home. So, reluctantly, feeling like we were jumping from a cliff, that is what we chose, and prayed for a soft landing.
As the school year commenced, I felt like I was thrust into a classroom without a chance to review the lesson plan, and Valor staring at me for help. As I held the massive stack of school papers and slowly sorted through them into a filing crate, I felt totally baffled on how on earth we were going to make it through an entire school year. Along with the files full of papers, we were also provided a dreadful amount of apps, websites, and about a million usernames and passwords that we would need to accomplish this new way of schooling.
The first week of school I sat with Valor to help him learn this dissimilar rhythm. Each day he would look at me, just 30 minutes into the day, and ask if it was over yet. It was heartbreaking. But over the last eight months, he has been resilient and no longer asks me that question.
As a parent, if virtual learning isn’t a completely out-of-control hurdle already, daily I have a running list of things to do, like all the other VA parents. Managing my youngest’s play/nap schedule, client projects and calls, attempt to pick up the house to be a liveable environment, preparing all the meals and snacks, gathering and organizing the proper booklets, worksheets, and supplies ready for class, while also being Valor’s educational mentor, simultaneously while managing the logging in and out of Zoom, Google Classroom, Zearn, Raz-Kids, SeeSaw, Dreambox, Scholastic, Heggerty, etc. You get the point. It has been a teetering balance, and more often than not, it feels like the tower is falling. Most days have felt like I am a cast member of Survivor as I scan the room for a film crew. Is this really what my life is? The house looks like an atomic bomb landed (we never leave and the kids are always here creating their messes), but the kids are fed and (mostly) happy, so I call it good enough. There is always tomorrow.
I know that Valor’s teacher has worked incredibly hard this year, and we are so appreciative. However, at the end of the day, the weight of his education has fallen to my lap, which I was not prepared for. I am not a teacher, and educational methodologies have completely changed in the last 30 years (Shout out to Google: you’ve been a big help!).
Remarkably, we tick off the last few weeks of school ahead of us, a little worse for wear, I realize we somehow have (almost) made it. I became an expert Chromebook troubleshooter and Google Classroom user, a champion toddler wrangler, kept up with work and household tasks, educated and entertained my kids. I feel pretty proud, as none of this has been easy. This year has been a lesson in grace. I’ve learned to let go of the little things and just focus on the big picture — Valor has accomplished educational strides, we are all together and we are healthy. Who could ask for more?