I’ve been hearing a lot of “back to normal” talk over the last couple months but Back to School this year seems like anything but back to normal.
Yes, the thought of Back to School sounds wonderful but..
We kept all 4 of our kids home for the entire school year last year. We have been home, together in the house for about 90% of the last 18 months. No school. No extracurricular activities. And very little get togethers. So yeah, the thought of having them out of the house and back at school this September sounds wonderful and definitely a step towards normal.
But what will this school year be like?
Now…now that its actually approaching my head is filled with so many questions and what if’s. I can’t help but continuously wonder, what will this year be like? Will there be shut downs due to Covid outbreaks? How soon will they start? How often is it going to happen? Will my kids have children in their classes that have parents who challenge masking? Or worse yet, send their kids to school knowing they are sick? Do we isolate from grandparents and other family members now that they are in school and exposed to who knows what? What happens when one of my kids catches a cold or something? Do I keep all 4 home while they are sick, will they be missing weeks of school until they are all symptom free again? And of course the question I’ve been asking myself since the second I became a mother, Am I doing the right thing?
There’s just no way to know what “back to school” will be like.
There’s no way to know what to expect and how to prepare. As a mother of four this is overwhelmingly terrifying. I need a plan to execute the smallest of tasks with 4 kids involved. And preparing for a new school year, new busses and new teachers is no small task.
There are so many unknowns. So many variables. And most of them are pretty much out of my control. So what do we do when so much is out of our control? Identify what we can control. If I focus solely on the things I can actually control and let go of what I can’t, I just might have a fighting chance of surviving this year.
Last year was hard.
We didn’t think we would make it through last year but we did. We learned a lot about ourselves and I learned a lot about how my kids learn. If we can get through that hellish year then we got this, right? I’ll just have to keep reminding myself of that. And for anyone else who needs that reminder I’m here for you too! We can do hard things.
Because at the end of the day this is the world our children are growing up in. And no amount of worrying or wishing that were different is going to change that.
All we can do as parents is prepare them for it as best we can. Unfortunately there are no clear instructions on how exactly to do that, not that I’ve found anyway. But we have to help them live is this world whether we like it or not. My goal has always been to show the world to them rather than shield them from it. Even if the world kinda sucks right now.
If you want more info about coping with back to school after Covid anxiety this is a great post from Mental Health First Aid. They also have links for more resources.
