Contemplating the New Normal

Now that Governor Justice has given guidance and a timeline for opening the state's businesses, I am wondering what our new normal will be like. As much as I hate it, I do believe our lives and our interactions with others will be forever changed.

While I do, so much, want to see my grandkids soon, I think these interactions behind masks and at a six-foot distance will be excruciating.  Carter, Eowyn, and Nolan will probably understand that they cannot sit on Memaw's lap and that I can't hug them as I usually do(to some degree, for them, this may be a relief), but I am afraid this lack of physical closeness will stunt my relationship with Rosalee.  She is only 20 months old, and since she lives some distance away, I have not seen her that often. I don't have the same physical bond with her as I do my other grandchildren, and I worry that I won't be able to develop the same strong bond that I have with the other three.  This is probably my biggest fear of my new normal.

I don't know what to expect when going out into the public and seeing my friends for the first time after this long separation.  How will one behave?  I am a hugger.  I hug my friends.  I cannot imagine going back to school and not hugging those I have not seen in so long.  How am I supposed to act?  In a conversation with a friend last night I likened this to the initiation of consensual contact.  "Are you okay with this?"  Awkward. I am really not going to like this.

What will our classrooms look like when schools finally reopen?  The room in which I teach math and reading intervention is very narrow.  I often have likened it to the trash compactor on the Death Star.  We cannot physically distance and cannot open the window for fresh air.  Last year in one of my groups I had a child that had a very bad cold, bad enough that the illness stands out in my memory.  Although the child always used tissues, washed her hands, and used sanitizer, I felt the room was swarming with germs. This child was certainly not the only one in school with nasal discharge or coughs.  I never have been a germophobe, even though I have a compromised immune system and probably should be a bit more concerned. Likely I will be now.

And what about the kids?  What will school be like?  Will each child and teacher be wearing masks?  Will we have a total hands-off policy?  Sometimes more than education, kids need love, demonstrated as hugs, from their teacher.  People that don't understand that have never taught in elementary school. How can we look at children, especially our most vulnerable, and say sorry, I can't hug you?  I hate the very idea of this.

I can envision other things about school that will have to change, too.  There can be no sharing of pencils and crayons.  Each child will have to have his own box of crayons, scissors, glue sticks, and pencils stored in a plastic storage bag. Papers will have to handled carefully and tables wiped down before the next class can enter. Do we have room to physically distance children in the cafeteria?  How will this impact the before and after school programs?  What will playing be like?

There is no sense in worrying about what the future will hold, especially the far off future of fall and winter.  I will look forward to these interactions, even with their limitations, when they will occur.  Until then, I will simply enjoy the abundance of nature with which we have been blessed.

And maybe adopt a shelter dog.

Observations from a Socially Distant Woman with Too Much Time on Her Hands

Hello there, friends. 

Today is the 39th day since I have been home from work.  I have been out to pick up two ClickList orders and to drop off and pick up my car for an oil change.  Aside from my husband, I have had face-to-face discourse with five people. While a lack of interaction with my kids is troubling, this period has given me time to form some opinions on our current condition.  Allow me to share them with you.

• I think Governor Jim Justice has done a wonderful job of orchestrating our course through the pandemic.  I believe he took swift action, and that has probably saved many lives.  He has surrounded himself with very competent individuals and he values their contributions and takes their opinions seriously.
• I would support Major General Hoyer, should he decide to run for president.  The man gets the job done and assumes responsibility when someone under his command commits an error.  I have great respect for him and the National Guard in general.
• The financial stimulus was distributed with much greater efficiency than my income tax refund, which is still being evaluated by the IRS.  I don't know why my refund has been held up, but it would be really nice to see that chunk of change land in my bank account.
• I want to thank all the curriculum publishers that have made their content available free of charge to teachers, parents, and students during this time.  Scholastic, Epic, Vocabulary City, PebbleGo and more have opened up their databases to share with everyone with an Internet connection.
• The manner in which county boards of education have administered their food programs is amazing.  To organize and mobilize volunteers to prepare and deliver meals in the short time they had to react is a feat I never would have imagined possible.  It is wonderful to see so many people come together for the good of our neighbors.  I feel guilty for not being able to participate in this effort.
• The question of when to reopen the economy is a serious one.  Personally, I would hope that all officials take the advice of those in the medical sector very seriously when making these decisions. I was appalled to hear some of the comments of protesters in Ohio and Michigan that wanted the economy in their state reopened.  There some good points, and I believe, some misguided opinions, the most egregious of which was that of a woman who said she needed to get her hair done. I have several counterpoints to her argument:
• First and foremost, how important is your life as opposed to your roots? What about the life of your grandkids?  Really?
• I miss seeing my stylist, who is family to me. But my stylist has her own family, which has an extended family, and they have exposure to different people through work and family contacts.  Already, just by exposure to my stylist, I would have exposure to many people who could have been exposed to the virus.  I can wait a while. Not only that, my stylist, who is family, would be exposed to ME and the few people I have been in contact with. I would not want to endanger her or her family because I need new highlights.  Don't you care about the well-being of your stylist?
• During this pandemic, I have discovered that I have some gray hair,  Yep, I am still breathing.  Gray hair is not deadly; COVID-19 is.
• Many manufacturers, including Coty and L'Oreal, have products for you to successfully mask your roots until such time as your stylist can repair this flaw.
• Finally, if you're worried about people seeing your roots, 1) you're self-isolating, no one should be able to see you, and 2) you just displayed your roots on the national news. #Fail.

Once again, we will all get through this.  It is nice to be able to open the windows and smell the fresh aromas of Spring.  I hope you all are doing well and feeling healthy.

April in Eastgate - the Stay at Home Edition

April at Eastgate - Stay-at-Home Edition

I will be honest with you:  this stay at home thing is getting old.  Don't get me wrong.  I hate leaving my house unless it involves visiting my farm, my family or my best friends.  If we weren't under social isolation orders, I would probably be socially isolated anyway. That's just me.  

It's also just me to rebel about most things I am told to do.  Being told I have to stay home is tantamount to being told I can't see my grandkids or my best friends. I have missed my grandson Carter's birthday in March, and I will miss my grandson Nolan's birthday in a couple of weeks.  One of my best friends' birthday was yesterday.  The idea that I cannot see them makes these milestones more significant and makes me want to see them even more. 

I am sure you share my dilemma but like me, you realize that this suffering is nothing compared with that of the people who feel abandoned in nursing homes or those who are dying alone, with no family by their sides. It is absolutely nothing compared to the sacrifices of the medical professionals and first responders who are sacrificing their own lives for the sake of helping others.

(I know we have many first responders and medical workers in our neighborhood.  God bless you all.)

The hardest part of this, I think, is the uncertainty of what is coming.  We have been told the next two weeks (maybe we're down to one week now) were going to be hard.  What does "hard" mean in qualitative and quantitative measures?  We don't know; no one does.  This is a stress-inducing time.

I see the stress of others in lots of ways. My husband works at an essential service and sees other people not socially distancing. He stresses because he could unknowingly become infected, and hence, bring COVID-19 home to me.

My daughters worry about their families and also about their parents' health.  They check-in on us frequently via Messenger and are taking our pre-existing conditions risks seriously. They are worried.  We are worried about them and our grandchildren.

Colleagues teaching from home are worried, too. They are worried about the children they cannot reach by phone.  They are worried that online instruction is not getting their students ready for the next grade.  They are worried about what new challenges the upcoming school year will bring.

I have sensed anxiety in the correspondence I have received from teachers and principals who are enrolled in my online class.  I have received more correspondence from people worrying if their project is "right" now than I have in the past four times I have taught this course.  The extra time gives us more time to worry.

Watching the news, including Governor Justice's and President Trump's press conferences, is as stress-inducing now as the reporting of the terrorist attacks was on 9/11. It is the repetition of information droned on and on, so reminiscent of  1984 or Brave New World, that makes me jump out of my skin, and the continual chatter of rehashing the same information over and over that makes me want to scream.

No one knows where we will all end up when this is over. Will we trust experts when they say we are safe, or will we all be suspiciously distant? How likely will we be to hug those friends and coworkers we desperately miss?  Will our outlooks on life be as affected by COVID-19 as the Great Depression affected our forebears?  Only time will tell. 

Hold on tight, folks.  We could be in for a long ride.

God bless you and please stay safe.