The Coffee Monologues | #16 [Quarantine Edition]

Zoom? Facetime? Skype? No worries, just grab coffee. Miss you AND ALSO ALL THE THINGS. Let’s chat. Maybe it’ll help us feel better.

Day 47 of Quarantine

There’s probably really no official count of the days we’ve been collectively in quarantine. I think most people would mark the time differently based on when they either fully understood the gravity of coronavirus on their own, or when their governor told them life as we’ve known it has been cancelled. Until further notice. 

March 8 is the last day that things were normal for me. I set my alarm early for Daylight Savings because I was leading worship at our church, and the previous year Siri chose not to participate. I’m a bit of a germaphobe so I was probably somewhat cautious of what I was touching (this is nothing new for me during flu season), but other than the team not holding hands for morning prayer, coronavirus was just a green room topic of conversation. 

And then, day-by-day the following week, like a long row of dominoes, everything we knew to be normal collapsed. Professional sports. Communal gatherings. Special events. Large church services. Finally schools, and then work.

By Sunday the 15th, it was getting real for me, but because I was scheduled to be a guest worship leader at a smaller church, I left my family at home and went – steering clear of handshakes and hugs I desperately wanted to give, but knew would not be wise. By afternoon, we knew that we couldn’t continue as we had. Directives or not, we committed to staying home. 

Monday, March 16th, was our family’s first official day in quarantine. On the 21st, the governor of Illinois made it official. Now here we are six weeks later still trying to understand how to live in this new normal.

There are days that I feel such hope moving forward, and there are days that I am literally besides myself with the loss of everything. I have spent a lot of time praying, because that’s what makes the most sense to me right now. I’ve also been watching lots of TV, making masks, zooming, and learning how to handletter.

Sometimes I feel like I could be more productive, but mostly I feel like what I’m doing means I’m surviving. And that feels like a win.

Every Family a Homeschool Family

I have some pretty amazing friends who have ALWAYS supported our family’s decision to homeschool, but coronavirus has created a new kind of camaraderie between us.

So many of them have reached out to me, calling out a deeper understanding beneath all the cheering on they’ve done for us over the years, because they get it in a different way now. And I find myself turning that encouragement around to cheer them on even harder in their right now.

Everyone may be homeschooling, but their journey here has been much more difficult than mine ever was.

• I had an entire year to adjust to the idea of homeschooling my kids. They had a weekend.
• I started with one child in kindergarten. They jumped in to multi-grade, multi-child remote learning overnight.
• I was able to quit my part-time at-home gig by the beginning of first grade to focus on a baby and schooling the older boys. They have had to figure out how to work full-time remotely, AND teach their children full-time.

Plus there is this whole pandemic to navigate.
And parents we love. 
And friends we miss. 
And jobs we worry about.
And a life that we are all grieving.

There is not a single thing easy about this for any of us. We are ALL trying to do our best in an impossible situation.

What I wish I could say to all my new fellow homeschooling parents is that even though they worry, even though it feels like it’s all going wrong, even though they don’t know how they are going to get it all done, the kiddos will be just fine.

YOU will be just fine.

And YOU are all your kiddos need right now.

Homeschool, Summer School, Kindergarten, Middle School

Even though there is a huge question mark above just about everything, we are going ahead with some new plans for schooling regarding the fall. 

For well over the last year, we felt that it was time to explore some new academic options for our oldest. With Elijah moving into 6th grade at the end of this school year, and transitioning from an elementary school to a middle school, we are planning to add Math, STEAM, and Science to the specials (Gym, Art, and Music) he has already been taking at the public school for the last two years.

Noah will continue as he always has (specials at school, and everything else at home), and Micah will be starting homeschool kindergarten (I DON’T EVEN KNOW HOW THIS IS POSSIBLE).

It feels ironic that NOW, when the entire world is homeschooling, we would begin the process of transitioning our oldest to public school, but we really feel like he’s ready, and we all have this weird peace about it – even in the middle of corona-chaos.

Speaking of . . . with most of summer purportedly cancelled, we’re planning to take a short break to regroup after this semester is finished and then will just plow ahead half-days to make us more ready and available to welcome normal when it gets here.

How are you?

What are doing on quarantine?

How are you surviving the new normal? 

How can I be praying for you?

We’re going to make it. Promise.