I don't have any children anymore.
That probably requires a bit of explanation.
Because of the necessary and wise step of converting schools from face-to-face learning into distance learning, I don't have physical contact with my students anymore. We meet twice a week (with a third office hours time) online, at which time we interact mostly by text. While I technically have students, and I interact with them, it's not even close to being the same. So in that sense, I've lost those children.
My daughter lives at home with us, but she's twenty-three years old and is a teacher herself, going through the same difficulties my wife and I are. She's a professional just like I am, so in that sense, she's not a child anymore.
My son turned twenty-one yesterday, which we celebrated under quarantine by ordering Mexican food and watching him take his first drink (a very strong margarita that he was not fond of). We also played Munchkin Quest--I secured the victory by flying under the radar for most of the game then with a masterful playing of cards won in the final round. In the morning, we'd awakened him with an air horn and streamers and balloons, and I made a big deal about "being a man" complete with stentorian declarations about What Men Do. It was a fun family time, but it also meant that James isn't a child anymore.
So you see, I don't have children anymore.
I wonder what it means that my dreams last night involved our Californian leader, Governor Newsom, announcing that because Covid-19 had ceased to spread and was on the retreat, we would be reopening schools in mid-May. I think that was a kind of wish-fulfillment that only a few months ago would have made no sense.
It's only now hitting me that I will not return to conventional work for many months--August is the soonest that this will happen, and there's no guarantee that August will be "normal," either. Worse, I'll have a new crop of students then, and the ones I have now will move on to their next grade. I've already suggested that we hold some kind of "reunion" when we get back, but it still won't be the same.
I am sad for my son, who had to celebrate his 21st birthday under these conditions (we'd long ago planned on going to Las Vegas to taste the fleshpots there, but of course, that plan was scuttled long ago), but he was much more philosophical than I.
He said that yes, initially, he was disappointed that we are under quarantine and couldn't do anything outside the house, but he said that when he takes stock of what he actually has--two loving parents and a great sister--he is grateful.
My son has begun his career as an adult in the best possible way--he's a good man. I love him.
Be seeing you!
That probably requires a bit of explanation.
Because of the necessary and wise step of converting schools from face-to-face learning into distance learning, I don't have physical contact with my students anymore. We meet twice a week (with a third office hours time) online, at which time we interact mostly by text. While I technically have students, and I interact with them, it's not even close to being the same. So in that sense, I've lost those children.
My daughter lives at home with us, but she's twenty-three years old and is a teacher herself, going through the same difficulties my wife and I are. She's a professional just like I am, so in that sense, she's not a child anymore.
My son turned twenty-one yesterday, which we celebrated under quarantine by ordering Mexican food and watching him take his first drink (a very strong margarita that he was not fond of). We also played Munchkin Quest--I secured the victory by flying under the radar for most of the game then with a masterful playing of cards won in the final round. In the morning, we'd awakened him with an air horn and streamers and balloons, and I made a big deal about "being a man" complete with stentorian declarations about What Men Do. It was a fun family time, but it also meant that James isn't a child anymore.
So you see, I don't have children anymore.
I wonder what it means that my dreams last night involved our Californian leader, Governor Newsom, announcing that because Covid-19 had ceased to spread and was on the retreat, we would be reopening schools in mid-May. I think that was a kind of wish-fulfillment that only a few months ago would have made no sense.
It's only now hitting me that I will not return to conventional work for many months--August is the soonest that this will happen, and there's no guarantee that August will be "normal," either. Worse, I'll have a new crop of students then, and the ones I have now will move on to their next grade. I've already suggested that we hold some kind of "reunion" when we get back, but it still won't be the same.
I am sad for my son, who had to celebrate his 21st birthday under these conditions (we'd long ago planned on going to Las Vegas to taste the fleshpots there, but of course, that plan was scuttled long ago), but he was much more philosophical than I.
He said that yes, initially, he was disappointed that we are under quarantine and couldn't do anything outside the house, but he said that when he takes stock of what he actually has--two loving parents and a great sister--he is grateful.
My son has begun his career as an adult in the best possible way--he's a good man. I love him.
Be seeing you!
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