MOM Life During this "pandemic".....

To be honest, I never wanted to be a homeschool mom. My son has always enjoyed school and enjoyed being out of the house. From a young age, he went to mothers day out and then on to child care a couple of days a week. When I had a full time job, he was only two years old and really enjoyed being "at school". SO that is what I did. I figured out a way to keep him going even when I no longer had a job. Just a couple of days a week. He is now 9. We went into Spring Break then....never went back. It's not about not wanting to care for my child. It's not about me not wanting to be a parent. My son legit loves school. He loves the interaction outside of the home. As a mom, being confined, well it's had a negative impact on my only child. We all like to paint that perfect picture of our family. We are all happy. We do things that are fun. We get along in harmony. That is the outside appearance that we all want to show the world. Don't lie. We ALL want to be happy and perfect. But let's be real here. When my son goes to school, I clean. It's hard to clean when the people are here. I clean, I grocery shop and I work on my business. I'm self employed and I need time to do my books as well as clean tack, take care of the horses and so on. Life has been altered since March. I have had to learn to step back from a lot of the things I get done while my son is at school. I have had to learn to keep my cool when my child is throwing a tantrum because....well...he is bored. He loves to be challenged and being home is not challenging. I have always had appreciation for teachers as a whole. The fact that they can keep my kid engaged and interested in learning for a whole day, five days a week, just...wow. Way to go! I can't get him to focus long enough to make his bed muchless teaching him something! Kuddo's to all the teachers in the world! I am not a teacher in that sense. I am a riding coach but that comes natural. I see a lot of backlash on parents who express their desire for person to person classes resuming during this pandemic. Back off y'all. It's not that we don't want to parent our kids. It's not that we don't love our children. Trust me. Not all of us parents are cut out for homeschooling. I do know several parents that are built to teach their kids at home. Y'all are blessed with the ability to juggle the teacher/parent relationship. Congrats!!!!! I am not blessed with that skill. But that is not a reason to shame me for wanting more for my child. I want him to go back to school so he can thrive. So he can develop new friendships and build on his personality. Yes, I want my child healthy. Yes I do worry about him getting sick. But let's all be honest here. The flu will spread through a school like wildfire. It has shut down schools in a matter of days. They clean said school and kids with no fever for 24 hours can return. It happens almost every year. How is this different? Some say "Well, we get the shot for the flu". Me too. So does my child. Guess what? He still get its it. A vaccination is not going to completely stop the spread. It's not y'all. The viruses, all of them, will mutate and find a way around whatever vaccination is created. It happens. But, we still send our kids to school. We remind them to wash their hands, cough and sneeze into their elbows and if our child has fever, WE KEEP THEM HOME. Or at least I do! Wanting to send my child back to school has way more to do with his mental growth that me not wanting to parent my child. Stop shaming us. The other part of all this mess is simply the fact that people are loosing income. Single parents cannot both homeschool and work. Life doesn't work like that for the general population. I am blessed with a hard working husband! So I can be home if my child is sick. Not everyone is as blessed. We are creating a great divide with all of this mess. The folks who are single handedly raising their kids need to work so they can provide for said kids. No school. No day care. No income. Not everyone has a family member close to take the reins. Think about those kids. Their single parent is struggling to make ends meet. A simple stimulus check won't fix the fact that they lost their job, insurance and security because they cannot attend work. The middle class and the below middle class are merging. The children are getting the short end of the stick. Some won't accept handouts. I get that. But some don't have the opportunity for handouts. So think really hard about that right there. What will it take to get these kids back into school??? It's simple, really. Parents, don't send kids to school who have any fever. This is something that has been an issue for YEARS. Practice good hygiene. Hand washing. Don't eat your boogers. Don't swap spit. Everyone has cooties. Let's keep teaching our children that they must wash their hands. Don't cough or sneeze on others etc. Common sense. Just like putting on a seat belt in a vehicle! And yes, this is a lead by example as well as parental reinforcement type deal. So as a mom with a school aged child, I beg you to think about what is happening to our kids while the adults are in panic mode. Take a deep breath behind your mask and think. Is shutting down schools going to solve the issue? No. It won't. If the adults cant remember basic hygiene, how will the curve be flattened??? WAKE UP AMERICA!!!