I'd like to back up just a few short weeks with this reflection post. When school let out for Spring Break on March 6 at 3:15, I had no idea that I wouldn't get to see the 66 amazing 5th graders burst back into the classroom. When we walked out the door that Friday, we fully intended to begin classes (as usual) on Monday, March 16.
Spring Break was going to be a time for our family of four to do a mini trip to Champaign, Illinois, to watch some Fighting Illini Basketball and just enjoy some down time. Thankfully we did get to do that! The Sunday night game against the Iowa Hawkeyes was an amazing game and the Illini came out on top. With the buzze that game, we began to look forward to Thursday's games that would possibly be a rematch of these 2 teams but in Indianapolis as part of the 2020 Big Ten Men's Tournament..... By March 12, COVID -19 concerns had caused cancellations throughout the entire sports world.
We returned home on Tuesday. Things were already starting to show signs of what was to come. I watched as Illinois' Governor J. B. Pritzker closed all Illinois Schools on Friday, March 13, and figured it was just a matter of time until Governor Evers would do the same in Wisconsin. This definitely had me feeling afraid. I was afraid for my mom who lives in Illinois all alone. I was afraid for my own family because we had come in contact with lots of people while in Champaign at a huge sporting event. I was afraid because I didn't understand so much about what was happening. That was the real reason I felt afraid - I didn't understand. Fear of what I didn't even know.
That Saturday we went to Dubuque for what should have been a HUGE magic show. It was something that the Tri-State Magic Club has been planning for months. Before the show I had even contemplated not going at all. In fact I had told the students that were supposed to go with that I couldn't in good conscience put them in a situation like that. There was snow falling as we arrived at the art museum and walked inside. I quickly set up my props on the table and sat visiting with my family and some of my magician friends. As it got close to show time, there were only 3 guests... Was everyone else afraid of COVID-19, too? By the time the show started there were about 40 guests but it was nothing like what we had been planning for. After the show our family did grocery shopping assuming that we'd be back in Dubuque for groceries the following week. As we were in Wal-mart there were many signs that people there were preparing for something different. I could tell by the items that people were buying and from what was already missing from the shelves (think toilet paper and chocolate milk). We bought the things we thought we'd need for the week and headed home.
Sunday morning we went to church and I gave the children's sermon to just my two kids. During the service the announcement was made that that would be the final service during March and that all remaining Lenten services would be cancelled. That shook me. I am a preacher's kid and I am confident that even in the rural churches I attended from 1998 until 2000 there weren't 2 consecutive Sundays where church was cancelled. It was a rare event due to weather when it did happen. Something about church being cancelled just really made me even more afraid.
After church I headed to school for a Guided Coalition Meeting to discuss a plan for how we would connect and teach kids during what I thought was going to be a short school shutdown. The original plan was for teachers to attend school Monday and Tuesday and then have things ready to go out to families midweek. Things changed before Monday morning and a new plan was made. Tuesday we got together with our grade level teams and made instructional folders for our students and bagged up all of the contents of their lockers. Wednesday families came to school (but not into the school) to pick things up.
Wednesday morning was rainy, but we headed up to the middle school and high school to gather all of Kate and Will's things. We were home and eating breakfast at the kitchen table as a family by 8:30. I headed to my school for my shift and I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to be able to see some of my kiddos and give them quick hugs (I asked parents first every time). Even at that point I was thinking that by Monday, April 6, we would be back at school....That isn't going to happen. As of right now we are still on a safer at home order through April 24.
In those two weeks I have experienced every possible emotion but here's what I am going to focus on.
I am loving the game nights with my family! I am loving Zoom calls with my students. I am loving watching the Today show in the mornings ---sometimes while I run on the treadmill and sometimes while I lounge on the couch. I am loving eating my s'mores cereal late in the morning. I am loving this time at home for movies and books and all things that there often isn't time for.
don't think I will ever be a very good Pizza Delivery Girl but I have gotten two nights of work at Happy Joe's during all of this.
How are things going for you? Are you working from home? What are you enjoying about the way things are today?
I'd like to leave you with these words from Glennon Doyle (She has a great newer book out - Untamed. Check it out while you have some time.)
"Life is not safe, and so our task is not to promise there will be no turbulence. It's to assure each other that when the turbulence comes, we will all hold hands and get through this together."
#bettertogether
