Mar 20. 2020 – Observations and Thoughts:

Necessity is the mother of invention. Our youngest daughter (in the picture to the left), desperately craves connection. I found her this morning doing classwork with two classmates. Her work done on her school Chromebook via Google Classroom. Her friend connection is with Facetime on our iPad.

Speaking up helped my stress. Last night, I looked like Carol Burnett in Day 3 of the picture below. Many of us feel helpless right now and limited in what we are able to do…but we can speak up and ask for help from the school when we see our kids pushed to the max.

Yesterday, we encountered a large issue with our oldest daughter’s schooling. She has dyslexia and anxiety and the workload was overwhelming her, especially since most work is now done by reading long assignments and writing long responses on the computer. We emailed her teacher and found a quick reply of concern and willingness to adapt. Like that, my stress level quickly fell to well within a normal range, rather than hovering at the rate of a ballistic missile right before take off.

Humans learn when they feel safe and connected. We also sent a message to the school principal with our feedback on how the online learning is going, in hopes of encouraging schools to assign less work and connect kids more. Is it reasonable to expect a student in this upended world to sit and perform at a computer for more than 6-7 hours a day?

These kids have lost everything that is “normal: ” routine, graduation, prom, activities, sports, in-person learning, physical contact with friends and classmates, etc.  We feel it’s even more important that they remain connected. Please, schools and teachers, incorporate streaming lectures, google hangouts and group chats, anything that encourages kids to see and connect with others. Right now, assign less work and connect more.

I don’t need as much as I thought I did. Funny how crisis puts life into perspective, as well as the true definition of “needs.” What I truly need now is a God who loves and comforts me, my husband’s support, my kids’ and family’s safety, my health, enough food to eat, a roof over my head, connection with the outside world, fresh air…and, yes, maybe even some toilet paper (although not 6 months worth).

#thisiscoronalife #newnormal