Report from the front lines: Remote Learning, Day 1

 5:00 a.m. - I am up before my alarm, which is unusual and surprising. I like my sleep, plus I was up last night later than normal. Met a friend out for a couple of hours last night and then one of my car's tires blew on the way home, so it was 11:30 p.m. by the time I got the tire changed and made it home. Thank goodness for kind men who jump at the chance to change a tire for a damsel in distress. I know how to change a tire, but it was nice to have someone do it for me. Chivalry is not dead.

6:00 - I get up and get ready for the day. Task number one is making sure Josie has what she needs to start school. I get on her computer and open up the tabs she'll use - google classroom, zoom chats, the email with her schedule, etc. She should do this herself but she's so freaked about the remote learning that I set it up for her so it's one less thing for her to cry about.

7:30 - Zeke needs to start school at 8:10. He's totally self sufficient - I make sure he finds the emails from his teachers with the relevant zoom links, but beyond that he's good to go. I go downstairs to make him some breakfast and coffee. I promptly break the French press when I open the cupboard above it and a plastic water bottle falls out on top of it. I go to the coffee shop across the street instead and while I wait in line, I order myself a new coffee maker from Amazon.

8:10 - he logs into his first class. All is well.

8:45 - I make sure Josie is ready to go. She has hot chocolate and I make her some eggs. Her first class is Movement starting at 9. I have a conference call for work at the same time so once I know she's all set I go downstairs and do my call. 

9:50 - Josie's movement class went well but now she has English and she's already starting to melt down. She can't hear someone on the Zoom chat. She can't figure out how to edit the document in Google Classroom. When I make suggestions she lashes out at me. She's crying and hiding under a blanket. She wants to quit and I won't let her, so I'm mean. She cries some more, I'm annoyed, and I leave for the tire place.

11:30 - Back at home, I try to work while keeping an ear out for needy children. Josie manages to get through her English class in one piece and has a break for an hour or so. Zeke is fine. I feed them lunch in between phone calls for work, one of which entails being yelled at by an irate lawyer. Fun times.

12:00 - I finish a conference call and get up to start my third load of laundry of the day.

1:30 - I check on Josie. She's doing social studies but they're taking a break. She is spending her break underneath her bed watching TikTok videos. I tell her that when it's time to start class again she needs to sit at her desk. She begrudgingly agrees. She asks if we can make cookies later. We absolutely can.

2:30 - I check on Josie. She's supposed to write a letter to her teacher about something. She can't figure out what it's supposed to be about and is frustrated and complaining. I manage to talk her off the ledge before the tears flow. Zeke is done for the day and had no trouble. He then proceeds to torment his sister until I can get him out of her room.

3:00 - Work continues for me, as it has all day. Conference calls, telephone calls, video meetings, emails, memos. This is a hard time for school districts. Teachers are stressed, administrators are stressed, parents are stressed. We're all doing the best we can but it never feels like enough. Someone's always pissed off or upset. I'm like a pinball, ricocheting from one task and one dispute to the next. I can't focus on or remember anything.

3:30 - Josie finally finishes. I give her a hug and tell her I'm proud of her for sticking with it. The first day is the hardest, I say. Tomorrow it won't be as bad, and soon you'll be more comfortable with everything. It'll be ok. She nods, hugs me back, and lies down to take a nap. 

4:45 - A friend of Zeke's is over and the kids are out back on the trampoline. I'm almost finished for the day, having worked my way through my to-do list. I'm suddenly starving and realize I've had nothing to eat all day - just coffee. 

5:00 - I eat a bowl of yogurt with a mango cut into it. I look around and realize I need to vacuum. I think about doing a workout but know that I'm going to need to eat more if I'm going to do it without passing out. I try to come up with something to make for dinner. I wonder if I can get away with going to bed at 8 p.m.

We survived.