It’s a Miracle!

Parker finally got to go back to school!  I was definitely more excited than he was, but he was excited too. And nervous!  It’s been a HUGE ordeal getting kids back to school in our area. It’s a good thing we didn’t know the struggle would take a whole year or I would’ve jumped off a cliff long ago. Without getting into lots of politics, let’s just say that I’ve taken a very proactive role in fighting for our kids to return to school. The teachers have their union fighting for them and parents have the PTA but there is no one fighting for our kids. Thankfully some frustrated parents started The WA Alliance 4 Kids and have made a lot of headway in getting our kids back in schools. It’s maddening that it’s even an issue and shocks me more than words can express. 

He was so excited to use his backpack again!

So Parker got to go back while his brothers are still anxiously waiting for their turn and trying to not get their hopes up. 

After I filled out a daily health questionnaire reporting that Parker had no symptoms and hadn’t been exposed to anyone with Covid, we waited at the bus stop on his first day.  and waited and waited. I was sure it would come eventually and knew I’d burst into tears as he finally got to climb on the bus, but the bus never came. Finally I drove him to school and he was so late there was no one outside to take his temperature and walk him to class. Parker wasn’t too happy about being so late so the happy day was less than happy. But he made it!  Fast forward four hours and I was waiting for Parker to get dropped off at the bus stop. And I waited and waited. After thirty minutes the bus finally pulled up and Parker climbed off, sobbing. Poor kid!  The bus driver really struggled and skipped his stop. Finally, when Parker was the last kid on the bus, he walked up and told her she skipped his stop and by the time he got home, he was crying so hard he had hiccups. We hugged and hugged and I convinced him the next day would be better.  Parker said, “I like remote learning better than hybrid and I’m never going back!”  I tried to console him and reminded him he needed to hurry and eat his lunch because it was almost time to log back on to Zoom so he could finish his day remotely. Yes, remote teaching (not remote learning because there isn’t a lot of learning happening) is still a big part of our lives. But Parker left the house for several hours which is the only place he’s gone besides church in the last year. Can you imagine??  He gets to have 15 minutes of recess where the kids have to stay in designated areas and can only play with the kids in their class but it’s still so much better than staying home.  One small step towards normalcy!