First Day of First Grade!

 

More than ever in my life, I am trying to live in the present.  We can't change the past. We can't predict the future (as COVID has shown us the best of us planners over and over) and worrying about what it holds is not productive nor helpful.  You cannot fix all the world's problems or save all of its people. You can only be where you are, forgive and forget, and try to move forward (as hard as that is to do in practice). 

Today was Iver's first day of First Grade. He was one of ~ 340,000 American kindergartners and many more schoolchildren who, due to many public schools' decisions in 2020 to start the year doing "distance learning" (a phrase I try to avoid saying or hearing as it still makes me shudder), missed out on in-person school last year, which affected me deeply.  Here's a recap of the last school year for our young son which I am still trying to move past (even though he seems fine and well-adjusted, mainly because of our privilege and his access to high-quality childcare, which stayed open and very safe).  I know and understand that teachers, administrators, and many parents were scared about illness in themselves, their kids, and for their families last year; however, I still maintain that schools (at least locally) should have never been closed; it made for an incredibly stressful and traumatic experience for many working parents (and, more importantly kids) in an area with low disease prevalence (to put 2020 in context, infection rates of COVID locally at that time were a mere fraction of what they are now [over 100 cases and a few deaths per day, currently with our rural ICU beds full]). It is now obvious to more people that huge educational and social costs (some that may never be able to be regained) come from keeping kids out of school and using screens and "distance learning" as a (sorely suboptimal and downright harmful) substitute for actual face-to-face education (or just play). 

Iver has been excited to return to his small school and see the friends he made in two short months of in-person instruction last year. We still have to submit "symptom/exposure checklists" daily, and there unfortunately is no current before- or after-care due to teacher staff shortages (so he'll still have to be shuttled to his childcare in the afternoons), although we hope it will change sometime in the near future. Nevertheless, just having school open (and the choice to send him) still feels like a HUGE improvement from last year this time, especially because CDPH guidelines don't automatically quarantine a faithfully masked kid from school with a positive school COVID contact nor automatically shut down a classroom/school when there is a positive case (I will be so relieved when kids can get COVID-vaccinated but I personally do not think that asymptomatic or mild COVID cases in kids need to sound any panic alarms when all adults have had ample and free access to life-preserving vaccines and because kids.are.good.at.masking. They should not be hostages for irresponsible adults any longer).

Sunday before-bed reading

He made this sign all by himself.

Flashback to Kinder start in 2020 (when he had all of his teeth!)

We tried to "burn" this ZOOM SCHOOL sign, because we want it to flame out in the realm of our consciousness; however, it would not light (and it is probably better due to nearby California wildfires to not actually try to light anything on fire).

We maniacally ripped it up instead. 

School handwashing station.

Iver had a great first day at school (his favorite parts were apparently arte y recess). Here's to a do-over first day, a new year, a new start, and all the learning (including immersion Spanish!) that these kids expect and deserve (and that this parent could not adequately provide). Here's to this Año Nuevo. Bienvenidos a Primero Grado!