Well This Week Was a Long Year

This was quite the week.

• Last Friday, we were told after school started that my school would follow the county's guidelines be out for this week (3/16-3/20). We were told at that time to take our computer and charger and not come back. It was later confirmed that the boys' district would also follow the county's guidelines and also take this week off.
• On Saturday, the local newspaper published that a student in our district was "presumed" positive for Covid-19. Based on that information, my district decided we would out of school through the end of our spring break, or 4/20. Work assigned to students was expected although we were told the work would not be graded and was only enrichment.
• On Sunday, we were notified that the student tested positive on their first test, but did not test positive on either of two subsequent tests, so was no longer "presumed" to have the virus. Great news for the student and their family!
• By Wednesday, we were notified that all districts in the county would be out of school through May 1, and that we would be moving to e-learning for the time after after spring break and for as long as we are out of school. We were also told there is a strong possibility we will not return to school this school year. 
• On Thursday, our governor called a state wide stay-home order, effective that night.
• On Friday, I was notified by my co-worker who teaches in the room next door to me that she is "presumed" positive by her doctor, but she did not have currently have a fever so they would not test her to confirm. She had all the other symptoms including some digestive issues. Yes, I worked with her regularly. Yes, it is quite possible I was exposed, although she had been sick, so I know I kept a further distance than I might have otherwise. (I have 5 more days until the 14 day incubation period is up. Fingers crossed.)

So, yeah. There has been a lot going on. 

I am trying to give myself and those around me grace because this time is challenging for all of us. I am not one who does well with uncertainty, though. I like to have a clear plan and move in a forward direction. In times like these, however, clear plans hard to come by. 

Obviously, the focus is on making sure the boys are set. I want to make sure they have "something" educational to do and create the structure they need to thrive without stressing us all out. I've set out some pretty basic expectations for the week: As of now, weekends are free from work as a normal weekend would be. For Monday through Friday, our goal is to complete reading (min. 30 minutes a day), academics (min. 1 hour a day), creativity time (min. 1 hour a day), chores (approx. 30 min. a day), and we're trying a new program computerized program to help work on calming skills. 

My goal is to limit tech time during the week, and I think we've done a decent job on that. We purchased some Chromebooks for the boys to use for their academic work. 

They boys (who are now 12 and almost 9 and in 6th grade and 3rd grades) seem to be taking everything in stride right now. I'm happy about that. We've even managed to avoid the dreaded "I'm bored, mom," this week. I'm happy about that, too.

What I am sad about is how this is impacting S. He is the one who is least adaptive to change in his routine. Plus, we fought his school district SO HARD to get them to implement the strategies and services he needs so he can thrive. It's taken us years of  state complaints, mediation, advocates, lawyers, meetings, and time to get to this place. We just finished completing a pretty solid IEP for him three weeks ago...and now this. Sigh. While I am glad that I get this opportunity to work with him myself (Isaac, too - he may be a special ed teacher at heart) I'm just frustrated with the break in the other services we can't provide. Sigh.

It was mentioned to me by another blogging buddy that maybe we should get back to this blogging thing. We are living through a historical time here. I'm sure it will be interesting to be able to look back on all that happened during this time. 

May we all stay safe and healthy.