Teaching – while my son now completes the rest of his sixth grade year through online assignments.
Cooking. Every day.
Reading. Nothing has changed there.
And there’s one other thing I’m doing.
“I’m getting dressed each day. And for me, dressed doesn’t merely mean clothes. Getting dressed also includes my jewelry.”
The quote above was taken from my most recently published personal essay, “Why I’m Dressing Up While the World Is Shut Down.” You can read it on The Mightyby clicking here.
And, readers, I’d love to know how you’re handling the shutdown. Feel free to leave a comment below.
The library corner in my fourth grade classroom, September 2010. (The cozy rug hadn’t yet arrived.)
Our family’s world changed on Friday, the 13th. March 13th, when the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) announced that all schools would close for two weeks due to the spread of the COVID-19.
My son was supposed to return to school on Monday, March 30th.
Since then, LAUSD has amended its original plan and called for all schools to remain closed until May 1st. But even that date is tentative. Rumors are swirling that our children will not return to a classroom for the remainder of this school year.
In the meanwhile, teachers scramble to put together lesson plans and instructional programs that children can access online. Which means parents are now being called upon to serve in the roles previously held by the schoolteacher – taskmaster, cheerleader, supervisor, tutor, coach.
Now, many parents are taking to social media, claiming “that being with their child day-after-day helping them with assignments is giving them a taste of what it’s like to be a teacher.
“And to those parents, I want to say, ‘No it’s not.’ “
Those words begin a personal essay I wroteand that was published last week at Motherwell Magazine. You can click here to read the essay in its entirety.
“Unprecedented” is the big word in our house. It perfectly describes what our city, our state, our country, our world is going through.
As I tell my almost-twelve-year-old son, no one really knows. Everyone is making it up as we go. Trying to figure out what needs to be done to keep people healthy and safe.
I recently read Michael J. Fox’s slim memoir A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Future…
They say that sometimes books come into your lives when you most need them. Well, there was one part I most definitely needed to read. It helped me, and I share it with you this week in hopes that it will also help you during these uncertain times.
“Don’t spend a lot of time imagining the worst-case scenario. It rarely goes down as you imagine it will, and if by some fluke it does, you will have lived it twice. When things go bad, don’t run, don’t hide. Stick it out, and be scrupulous in facing every part of your fear. Try to be still. It will take time, but you’ll find that even the gravest problems are finite — and that your choices are infinite.”
Now is a time for art projects, reading, and homework. My little artist when he was just 2 years old.
It’s a difficult time in our world right now.
It’s scary. And unpredictable. And more scary.
And in the midst of all this uncertainty, all this toilet-paper-buying, all this hand-washing, I’m trying to remain calm and reassuring, both for my son and myself.
No one prepares you for difficult conversations with kids.
I remember when I was still teaching. Having to talk to my fourth graders the day after the Sandy Hook tragedy. They were scared. They wanted reassurances and promises. And I could only promise them so much. I promised them that my number one job each day is to keep them healthy and safe. And I promised them that everyone at our elementary school felt the same way.
Now I’m having to talk to my almost-twelve-year-old son about a virus I have difficulty spelling.
For my son, the coronavirus became more real when the NBA cancelled games and suspended the season. And on the same night we got that information, we found out one of our favorite actors, Tom Hanks, had contracted the illness.
Though Los Angeles schools are now shut-down for at least two weeks, our family is managing. We’re lucky. I write from home, and thankfully, we’re not reliant on the meals provided by my son’s school. We’ll get through this, because really, what other choice is there.
But what do I tell my son? What can I promise him during these unprecedented times?
The same thing I told my students. My number one job is to keep him healthy and safe.
Wishing you all health and safety and hope you surround yourselves with things that make you feel good and cozy. For us, it’s hot chocolate, good books, microwave popcorn, and the reassurance that we have plenty of toilet paper stashed away.
WendyKennar.com 