Enjoy It!
With two and one half days left in the school year, inquiring minds have asked how doing school virtually for a year really was. From a parent's perspective, this is what I can tell you:
Four hundred forty. The number of days my family has been together, the four of us, working & learning under the same roof.
One thousand three hundred twenty. The number of meals that have been prepared and served. Hot breakfasts. Hot lunches. Planned dinners for the week.
Five hundred forty two. The number of times Zoom was used for virtual school in our home. The soundtrack of our home came from the doorbell ding-dong each time a student was let into a class meeting. "You're muted," was the chorus. I know my girls' teachers & classmates by voice, but probably wouldn't know if I passed them in Target or the grocery store.
Zero. The number school days missed. I never thought my kids would have a year of perfect attendance!
Undetermined. The number of times there were tears. The number of times I caught someone on YouTube during class. The number of times someone ran around the house looking for a charger because their Chromebook battery was almost dead. The number of times I heard my girls laugh. The number of times I got to see my girls excited about what they were learning. The number of times my girls supported each other. The number of times I yelled out the front door to come inside because it was time to log back in to school after lunch break. The number of times I was so proud of my girls for taking the initiative to contact their teacher for clarification or help rather than asking mom. The number of times I heard a teacher's voice say "Good morning!" or "Good to see everyone!" or "I'm glad you're here!"
What I can tell you is: I relished the way we could ease into our day. No rush getting out the door. No forgotten lunches or school supplies. No yelling (an absolute miracle) because we were running late and missed the bus. We talked during lunch. We had time for family dinner before sports practices. I got a birdseye view of what school is like for a 3rd grader and a 6th grader. I have new found empathy, respect, and awe for what my girls are capable of navigating, both academically and socially. Above all else, I got a bonus year with my growing girls that I will never get again.
I was listening to a podcast during a run the other morning. It was a short story about the narrator's grandmother. He remembered his grandmother's response to anything positive or pleasurable was saying, "I enjoyed it." The grandmother was sick and put on hospice. The narrator described how the hospice nurse arrived at the house with a guitar. He couldn't find purpose in how a guitar playing nurse could be helpful to his dying grandmother since music was not a big part of his upbringing. When the nurse began to play "Edelweiss" from Sound of Music, his grandmother who hadn't spoken in days simply said, "I enjoyed it." Those were her last words. An unexpected comfort & pleasure.
And that is what I will leave you with. How was a year of virtual learning, really? Unexpectedly, I enjoyed it.
Nikki Douglas
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