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Wednesday, September 23, 2020

WHAT’S LEFT WHEN THERE ARE NO GOOD OR BAD CHOICES? – Dad Gone Wild

WHAT’S LEFT WHEN THERE ARE NO GOOD OR BAD CHOICES? – Dad Gone Wild

WHAT’S LEFT WHEN THERE ARE NO GOOD OR BAD CHOICES?




“I don’t feel very much like Pooh today,” said Pooh. There, there, said Piglet. I’ll bring you tea and honey until you do.” – A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh
“You are either the sort of person who shapes society, or the sort of person whose life is affected by the shape of society.”
― Rumaan Alam, Rich and Pretty
Like most parents in Nashville, last week was one fraught with a choice – to remain virtual or to send the kids back to school. Decisions were sorta kinda due on Friday, more on that in a minute, so the week felt uniquely stressful.
Earlier in the week, MNPS’s Superintendent of Schools sent out an email that was supposed to reassure parents that there were “no bad decisions.” I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt and assume she made that pronouncement in the effort to put on a positive face. The reality was that due to a lack of information. and ever-changing directives, it was hard to make a good decision.
Many parents lept at the option to send their kids back to schools with the expectations that they would return to a similar environment as they did last Fall. While I don’t believe that this option is as stark and dire as some tried to paint it, the reality is that the classrooms of November are not going to be the same as in the past. At the very least, interactions between students will be limited, and a simple process will take longer due to new protocols.
For example, the car line. Fewer kids will be riding the bus resulting in more being picked up, combined with new safety practices this will naturally mean an extended process. That alone was enough to discourage me, as I’ve spent probably about 90 minutes a day for the last 6 years in the car line. I’ve never been able to figure out whether the best practice is to be the last arrival or earliest arrival.
Some parents probably chose to return to in-person with the expectation of renewing old patterns. Unfortunately, it is entirely possible that a child could return to school on a Tuesday and a week CONTINUE READING: WHAT’S LEFT WHEN THERE ARE NO GOOD OR BAD CHOICES? – Dad Gone Wild