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.