I understand the hesitation, but if the school has addressed your concerns then I would go for it. She will benefit so much from having that structure again. Not all kids were made for homeschool. One of my sons was easy as can be, the other impossible. We learn differently.

You are not terrible, sj. I know you are being very cautious with your own household and will bring the same kind of risk assessment to deciding whether sending her to school is ok.

We've decided to send her. If the governor decides schools shouldn't reopen neither will her school, and TCG and I have both decided that the possible loss of tuition money is worth it if we become uncomfortable and decide to pull her from the school. MA and especially our area are doing very well right now.

sj, that sounds like the right choice for you and your family.

I got some things to the Post Office today and I'm going to get off social media as I finish my lunch and get some actual work done while listening to an audiobook (Black is the Body).

Thanks, juliana. If we don't sign her up now than we have nowhere to send her this year. So even if I end up keeping her home for part of the winter, it will be worth it.

I'm glad you have a good option, sj

I'm so torn about school. My kids are missing socialization way more than they missed actual learning last semester, but I'm not at all confident that elementary and middle school aged kids can successfully social distance all day.

...so I'm now another 300 messages behind. Remember when summer vacation for teachers was a thing? I used to have time in the summer to catch up and read everyone's posts in-depth and be a thoughtful respondant. This summer has just been work and stress and more stress. For what it's worth, sj, I think every family has to do what is right for them. It sounds like you are making the best decision for your family, and you shouldn't waste the spoons to feel anxious or guilty about it.

That's easy for me to say, of course, but the fact I've been having nonstop anxiety dreams about disappointing everyone in my life (and the occasional stranger, who pops into my dreams purely to be someone else I have disappointed) speaks to how much easier it is to give advice that it is to take it.

My latest meltdown came last night when I learned that my admin -- due to the radical changes they've made to the schedule overall -- has decided my journalism and yearbook classes don't actually need to be on the schedule as real classes, assuming I can just pull two independent study online courses out of my ass in the next three weeks. They would let the students "work independently with my guidance" Mon-Thurs and leave us only one 75-minute "discussion" period on Fridays. I can't even talk about this more without losing my shit again, so I'm just going to say that I really hope I've misinterpreted that email, but it isn't looking good. I haven't even started revamping my English curriculum (I still teach two sections of my junior English course) to adapt to the new schedule and the fact I'm removing two books and replacing them, and next week is my last week of "vacation" before a weeklong virtual PD starting Aug. 10.

The worst part? The chirpy email from the new US director responding to my concerned, "Um, this wasn't what we talked about and I really don't want that" told me she was sure it would all work out great and "Get some sleep! It's going to be a challenging but wondrous year!"

Reader, I wanted to do violence.

Oh, man, Pix. Yeah, I can see violence being a real attractive response to that