Yes, I'm Sending My Child Back to In-Person School in a Pandemic
Like every other mom in America, I anxiously waited to get “the call” from school about what our district’s plans were for the upcoming fall semester. Then one day, a few weeks ago, it finally came and it honestly made me breathe a sigh of relief. Our options were either full-time in-person school or full-time virtual for our older son who is going into seventh grade. At that point, we were still on a waiting list for our four-year-old’s preschool program and completely unsure of what that would bring.
I didn’t even have to have a conversation with my husband or our son: we knew that he would go back to school in September, in-person. It was an easy choice for our family, something that we could all feel in our gut was the right one.
So why was this so easy for us whenever it’s been such a traumatic choice for many? Our almost 12-year-old son has ADHD, and though we look at this like it’s a superpower in our home, it made virtual learning in the spring really, really difficult. Don’t get me wrong, he had an outstanding group of teachers that made it as easy as they possibly could and were in constant communication with us every step of the way. But keeping him organized and focused in this manner led to our honor roll student barely passing the semester.
While he was able to keep up with most of his subjects, he fell behind enormously in science and ended up having to redo the entire semester of work within three days to get a passing grade. It was stressful for him—and us. Life is hard enough right now that I would never put us in a situation where we would experience something like that again if we didn't have to.
Our daughter is a very busy toddler, much like her older brother was. She’s our social butterfly and being without her friends for so long was emotionally hard on her. She got accepted into our local preschool program where she will be socially distanced daily, with all of her very own school supplies, with only eight other students. The program is safe and clean and the staff is amazing. (Yes, I’m giving them all the praise because I know that you’re going to close out of this article judging me.) She is over the moon excited to start going to school and this is an experience that I refuse to take away from her this fall.
I’m not writing this to downgrade the experience that so many parents are going through right now, but to highlight how important it is to make sure that we’re making this big decision based on the individual needs of each child.
Believe me, I know how easy it can be to make a decision based on the pressure that you’re feeling from other mom friends or family, but at the end of the day, we’re all navigating through this pandemic on our own. If sending your child back to in-person school is going to be the better option for them both physically and mentally, then go for it.
I’m fully aware that the classroom he’s going back to is going to be different than anything he has ever experienced before. But, kids are so incredibly resilient and even though there will be differences, it’s going to get them out of the house each day, learning in a different environment, keep them from arguing all day, and instill some routine in their lives that I know they are both craving right now. I know that both of our kids will thrive in that environment.
So yes, making this decision was an easy one for our family. Life is undoubtedly evolving right now, and this is my version of rolling with the punches.
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