Modern-Day School Day

It is a lunch break, so I have time to throw some thoughts together as I sit with my 4th grader.

So here it goes.

To the children who hold back tears throughout the day when they feel completely overwhelmed with virtual school, you are not alone.

To the parents who balance so much at the moment while watching the frustration build in their children only to be the ones to catch the brunt of that frustration, you are not alone.

To the excellent teachers doing fantastic with what you are being asked to do, given the circumstances, you are not alone.

With all of this tension and frustration, it is easy to look outward and look for someone to blame. There is a lot of that going on these days in virtually every circumstance. That said, to do so in this particular situation, we risk missing the silver lining of hope.

In a culture that demands perfection, we sit together in a virtual world, clumsily trying to figure it out. We are struggling to maneuver Zoom, Canvas, Clever, and every other program, and we may be trying to do so without showering for the second straight day.

There is much hope found in joined frustration. There is peace found in joined tears. When we seem divided about everything, we have regained the sense of oneness, not in the places we thought we would. Instead, we have rediscovered them in the modern-day school day.

For it is here that we have learned to give grace to one another again. We have redefined what we think “normal” is, which has caused us to see each other not as students, teachers, and parents but as human beings…doing our best.

Amen to that.

“My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.”

– Desmond Tutu