It has been <gasp> more than 2-1/2 years since my last blog post. My only excuse is life gets in the way and all that nonsense. We are currently on day 38 of our stay-in-place isolation at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and now there is more time for projects and for blogging.
For those people who are reading this in the distant future and have no idea what we possibly could have been doing during “quarantine,” I will state here that we have been watching webinars, video conferencing with work/family/friends, playing video games, doing homework, and binge-ing a lot of Netflix, HBO, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and Disney+. Personally, I have been working on pastimes like reading books, art projects, cleaning around the house, and trying to stay somewhat fit with some exercise. What sent me to the computer today was an exchange I have been having with one of my volunteer groups at my son’s high school. Because of the virus, in-person school has been canceled for the rest of the school year, so all volunteer group meetings for which I volunteer are also canceled.
In any other year, I think I would just say, “See you next year” and leave it at that. This year is unique for me because I will no longer have a child in public school after this year; 22 years of volunteering, making friends with other parents, and supporting my children’s schools with my time. All of a sudden, I am at a loss of how to cope with the end of my kids’ time in primary education. I say “all of a sudden” because the expectation of having closure and wrapping up my relationships through volunteering was meant to happen gradually, with fun and photos and tears. This is all on top of the stress and uncertainty surrounding the realization that my son won’t experience the last month of school like his older sisters did. Even the graduation ceremony has been altered, although thankfully the school district has pledged to have an in-person graduation over the summer.
Don’t get me wrong; I know how important it is that we are doing our part to protect the public health. This will change our lives, especially my son’s, who will be going off to college in a changed world. Kind of surreal, isn’t it?
Check out some of my previous posts over the years. I wrote a few about how quickly childhood flies by. Here is the most recent one – https://rachelgators.wordpress.com/2015/05/27/another-year-gone/
My Hands and Feet are Freezing 