As a mom, we never want to be in a position where we have to make the tough decisions concerning our children. Like many of you, I was faced with making the decision of putting my children back in school or keeping them at home with the current situation of COVID-19.
In the beginning, it was a no brainer for me concerning our children and school.
I didn’t quite know how it was all going to work out, but I knew that my babies would not be starting the school year as usual.
I prayed and prayed and God spoke to me one day. I would not be returning back to work. Fear and doubt began to set in.
I experienced all the emotions a Mom could experience at one time.
Would we be financially able to do this? How will the kids adjust? What about my career as a teacher?
All sorts of thoughts crossed my mind. I knew that I had to step out on faith and trust God and that is exactly what I did!
I began to prep and transform our dining room in our home as our classroom. Each child had a corner. I even decorated a bit to give it more of a classroom atmosphere.
I had no clue how this would work out, but I was excited to see! Makenzie, who is my youngest, was excited as this is her Kindergarten year. Melody, who is in 5th grade, was relieved that she didn’t have to physically go to school. Marcus (MJ), was totally disappointed because this was his first year in Middle School. He is our social child.
The first month and a half was a struggle.
Well, I guess I should say the entire 9 weeks was a struggle. But, for the first few weeks, I got absolutely nothing done around the house.
In addition, I was having to spend about 10 hour days or longer, 7 days a week in our “classroom” with our beloved Melody. I tried everything to help her stay on track with actually completing her assignments. I would write out each class and each assignment, so that she could see and check off what she needed to get done. However, that did not work. One thing that she had to realize was that no one in our house was going to do her work for her.
But then, we ran into another problem.
Anytime that I would spend helping our youngest with her work and checking her assignments, Melody would begin pretending that she could not do her work.
I was very frustrated as a teacher Mommy. We tried punishment, rewards, incentives, but nothing seemed to help. We knew that she would not have any problems if she were in her classroom.
The deeper we were into the 9 weeks, the more she struggled with doing school at home. The mental toll that this was taking on her and the stressful mode that I caught myself slipping into was not a healthy one. When her grades began to take a downward spiral, I knew that we had to do something. I just struggled with making that final decision.
My husband had no problem with making this decision, however; it was more difficult for me. They needed to return to school. I first dealt with the emotions as a Mom that I wasn’t able to make this work for the safety of our children.
I had to realize that every child is different and will not thrive how I feel they should.
I had to do what I knew deep down worked for our children. So, I prayed again for guidance over them as I do each morning before they load the bus.
There are many safety precautions that we take upon their return from school, which I will be happy to share later. But for now, I can say that everyone is happy, stress free, and most of all, the kids are thriving being back in school.
