COVID-19 Social Distancing Day 1

Monday, March 16th, 2020

My wife yesterday made a comment to my kids that I initially chuckled at, but the more I thought about, I realized she was right.  She said, “We are living through something that your kids are going to learn about in their history books.”

As usual, I think she’s right.  We don’t have a plan to follow for this. No one has a “Virus Social Isolation for Dummies” book on a shelf somewhere that they can refer to when making decisions.  So our family, along with millions of others, is figuring this out as we go.  We have a schedule that I am doing my best to have my kids follow so that they are doing the three things that I think are really important on a daily basis…Reading, Writing, and Thinking.

One of the things we are asking our kids to do is journal each morning. I know, if any of my HS students read this, they will be rolling their eyes because the English teacher is making his kids write.  However, we are in unchartered waters here, and my wife and I both think that having them reflect on what they are thinking/feeling/doing will not only keep their minds active, but could be a really unique item that they will have years down the road to reflect on, and potentially share with their kids. My parents have a story or two from the “Blizzard of ’78”, but neither one has any specific details. Hopefully, if we can stick to our plan, our kids will have these journals to look back on years from now and recall what they did during this tumultuous time.

As we begin this three-week time frame away from school (four if you count spring break) I don’t know if all of what I mentioned above has sunk in yet.  There are still so many unanswered questions…How are we going to make up the missed time? Will we have to extend the school year? Will we still be able to go to Florida for Spring Break? SHOULD we go to Florida for Spring Break? How much toilet paper does one family actually need?

To close my thoughts for the day, I will say this…All of these measures might seem to be extreme to some of you (shutting down schools, closing restaurants/bars, etc.) but as a scientist said last night, these extreme measures only truly work if we do them early.  If we wait too long, the social distancing measures are ineffective.

So NO you can’t continue to live your life the way you always have, nor should you.  These current events are unlike anything any of us have lived through, and therefore we are going to have to live, act, and behave in ways that none of us have before. Stay safe, stay healthy, and always remember, PEOPLE CARE ABOUT YOU!