Ping Pong Thoughts on a Sunday (to be posted on a Monday)

{Frequently I will write a post in the evening, but since I know it will post the next morning, I change the “todays/yesterdays/tomorrows” to match the day it posts, not the day I’m writing it. Sometimes I mess up and a couple don’t get changed and I imagine that causes some confusion. Apologies. I’m mentioning it today because I’m writing this early Sunday evening, but I’m going to schedule it to post tomorrow, and I’m NOT going to change the temporal markers, so just be warned.}

Well, it’s Sunday and we got through our Spring Break. There are no more breaks before summer. We’re winding the bend to the final stretch of the school year.

And what a long, grueling stretch it is.

The thing I hate the most about the end of the school year is how it never feels like enough time to cover the curriculum, so you’re always lamenting how few weeks you have. But the actual teaching itself is hard and tiring and you just want to get it over with. It’s a shitty place to be, where you don’t have enough time in theory, but in practice you have way, WAY too much time.

I guess a lot of life is like that. The end of the school year is like that on steroids.

And of course, we have to see how “BA.2 meets relaxed masking in schools” goes over the next ten weeks. That is sure to through a wrench or two into everyone’s plans.

My husband has been gone for five days and I miss him. The kids miss him even more. My kids and I have spent A LOT of time together, and I’m actually looking forward to resuming our schedules tomorrow. I have an interesting week planned in the classroom, where each period will invent a story and then film a skit of the story. We did this for the first time in March, and I think I (and the students!) learned enough from that experience to make this one go a lot smoother. It’s definitely fun to realize that I’m not really sure what we will have created at the end of the day. So much more engaging than repeating a grammar lesson three or four times.

{I’m trying to take this little spark of “not loathing the idea of returning to work tomorrow” and just letting it burn, without dousing it in gasoline or smothering it out of existence. It’s nice to feel some positive emotions associated with a return to work, and it’s definitely nice to not feel super gloomy about it, but it’s surprisingly hard to just be there for those feelings without trying to make it into something else. I’m also really grateful my throat doesn’t hurt and I’m pretty sure I can make it through tomorrow, which will require a lot of talking through mask.}

Today my daughter’s elementary school friends got together at a park to enjoy some pizza. The girls were trying to make something happen and I stepped in to help, so I did the final organizing, and got the pizza and brought some sodas. They had a really good time, despite some awkward moments between friends who are navigating relationships that are changing because of different middle schools, and different journeys through adolescence. I will admit, it can be hard to watch. But I’m glad it worked out for them to all get together today, and I’m glad I was able to facilitate their efforts.

My in-laws were kind enough to take my son for a couple hours during the meet up, when I couldn’t find a friend of his who was able to come. It was so nice to be able to chat with my friend instead of managing my son – I REALLY appreciated it. My in-laws are always so willing to help us out when we need (or just want, as the case was today) their support. I am VERY lucky to have them in my life. I just want to acknowledge that, because we absolutely could not afford the amount of child care that our kids’ grandparents provide for us. It is one of the reasons we have stayed in this incredibly expensive area, despite how little we make; here BOTH sets of grandparents are willing and able to help us! It’s definitely important to me that I say that out loud every once in a while. I should honestly say it more often.

My sister’s dog has been very sick with parvo, the virus that puppies need to be inoculated against before they can be walked on the street. It’s evidently a deadly virus to young puppies who have not received their vaccination. It’s rare for adult dogs who have been vaccinated to get sick with it, but evidently quite a few adult dogs in London have come down with it recently, which suggests there is a vaccine resist strain going around. The first few days we weren’t sure if she was going to make it, but now she’s doing a lot better. She’s been at the vet since Thursday, getting IV fluids and antibiotics to ward off sepsis (evidently dogs don’t usually die of parvo, but of some secondary infection caused by the virus attacking immune system). Today she ate most of her food and was able to keep it down. They think she’ll be able to go home on Wednesday. My poor sister has been sick with worry. I’m so glad her beloved pooch will be home soon. The whole thing has been very stressful.

My husband called from the airport and I talked to him for while, which means I got less written than I intended. But that’s okay! I’m trying to be happy with what I can manage these days, instead of focusing on what I don’t manage (like the giant purge I was ramping up for – I did get rid of a lot of clothes from all of our closets, but I didn’t do much more than that).

Let’s get this final stretch of the school year started! The only way out is through!