It is 6:55 am. Your alarm rings and as you swipe away the inexplicable multitude of notifications that arrived overnight, you notice a text from the school district. There’s a 2-hour delay. Not so bad, you think, stopping your alarm and getting to sleep in a whole extra 30 minutes before work.
7:45 am. Did I say 30 minutes? Turns out you really needed 50. You fly out of bed, hopeful that you’ll still have time to make coffee before work at 8. But not that hopeful.
7:58. Rushed coffee in hand and trailed by all 3 of the household animals you settle at your desk. You forgot to grab your water and instead take your absolutely critical anxiety meds with coffee. Why is this so gross? Medication can only be taken with water or, at least in my case, Diet Coke.
8:45 am. One meeting done. 500 left to go. You realize not a single child has even considered waking up. Time to wake everyone. With varying levels of success, the kids are moving. But your high schooler tells you some less-than-ideal news. School is canceled and they have to do school from home today. Sigh. You look outside at the roads trying to decide if you agree with this decision. As though your personal street is a perfect representative of the whole district. Also, as though anyone cares about your opinion on this one.
9:00 am. You quickly clear the table of any nonsense that appeared after dinner. This is where the kids will do school, you think. You are wrong. Not one child will sit at that table. You head to meeting number 2.
10:00 am. A frenzy of printing begins. Worksheets and schedules sent out for the day through the portal come flying out. The paper tray is still closed and for reasons unknown, your printer is shooting out paper with a vengeance. Papers fall, completely out of order, all around you. You quickly mute your call.
11:15 am. You heard or saw everyone on their morning calls, but now the children seem aimless. Shouldn’t they still be in class? Turns out they have lots of free time today. And they are getting a little peckish. You are asked for the 12th time if someone can have a snack. You will run out of snacks today.
12:00 pm. Time for lunch. But wait. You have to feed the kids too. They’re unlikely to be happy with the bento boxes you made for yourself. Thank God for air fryers and Pizza Rolls. The dog steals some from someone who left their plate on the couch and they need replacement rolls. You oblige and throw in a few for yourself.
1:30 pm. Everyone is done with work but you. If you have to keep listening to random YouTubers yell any longer, while trying to concentrate, you will lose your last shred of sanity. You take your laptop to your room and shut the door. Silence.
1:45 pm. They found you. And they need more snacks. How do they get through the school day if they need to eat this often?
3:15 pm. A fight breaks out over whose turn it is to use the TV. You don’t know. Is it bedtime?
5:30 pm. You finally finish work having needed extra time with all the snack interruptions. It’s your turn to watch mindless internet content. Instead, you check the weather and see they are calling for snow tonight, much to your dismay. Flashbacks to Covid where you all worked from home together every single day run through your mind. Will they ever go back to school?*
*They did. But not without another 2-hour delay.
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