Dear Addie,
I can count on one hand the places you’ve been outside of our house since March or dare I say since the end of February when you became very ill for 15 straight days.
7 months. It’s been 7 months of steering clear of our greatest advice - exposure. But we're doing it.
Months of adjusting to a new routine. But we did it.
Creating a virtual classroom setting in our home. Laminating, zooming, scheduling, let us not forget the Spiderman warm-up video. We are doing this so much that you even request “homework’s time!” watching classroom videos on the weekends!
Virtual IEP meetings, therapy, and doctor appointments - doing it!
This is pandemic life. Sure we’ve had our challenges and it’s uncomfortable, but we’re doing it.
Uncomfortable, now why does that sound familiar? Oh, that’s right, that’s lesson #1 on this journey get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Literally every day is uncomfortable. That sounds horrible, doesn’t it? It’s true though, even on days when everything just seems to work out such as a family outing or grocery shopping, I promise you it didn’t happen without a healthy dose of anxiety if it was going to come close to working out! Living a life of “what if’s” every time you leave the house is uncomfortable, but our normal. We get thrown curveballs more than any baseball player so while we’ve had our fair share of struggles perhaps families like ours are adjusting better than most in some of all this craziness of pandemic life?!
Addie, I can’t speak for all special needs families, but for us, in this pandemic, we have done pretty well. We’re really, I mean like really tired, but doing well. Sure we had our fair share of behavioral issues in the beginning, but we are still pushing forward.
We’ve spent months avoiding stores, doctors, schools, neighborhood parks, and pools. Literally only sneaking in the side door twice to eat socially distant at our beloved Stack Em' High pancakes restaurant. Twice! That’s two times Addie, in 7 months.
But now our next chapter begins - in-person learning, during a pandemic. Deep breaths mama, deep breaths.
Your class is way smaller than most, but is it safe? Have we done enough to educate you on safe practices? Will you wear a mask? What if you take it off? The questions are endless and let’s not forget the judgment of whatever decision we make - but let’s be honest judgment is something we are quite used to.
What do we do? Should we even be entertaining such a thought?
Addie, there are some harsh realities in all this and while you might think I’m a "T.A. Of The Year" assistant for your amazing teacher, there are some things I just can’t do for you. Your social and emotional health and I’m sure a bit of academics are suffering. Not to mention some all too important therapy that we get through school. School is literally part of our dream team and they have given it their all to help you thrive during this time with whatever resources they had. In this unprecedented era, we have felt quite blessed to have had the team we do.
While there’s no real easy answer to what’s the right thing to do, we have to put our trust, hope, and faith into our team and leaders.
So the past two weeks in preparation for our next chapter we have slowly adventured out into something I’d like to call “masked exposure.” I may have just created a whole new term there - mark it!
Mask on! Let’s do this! It’s fall y’all! We decided an outdoor activity was an appropriate first step. Carmel apples, cider, warm cinnamon donuts, or wait...wrong state! While I’m sure that exists somewhere here - we are more apt to see cotton, pumpkins, and mums - and I’m not talking about cotton candy baby.
Not gonna lie Ad, you nailed it! Mask stayed on, no meltdowns, even helped pick out plants!
Next adventure Target, because why wouldn’t it be ;)?
Mask stayed on, we took your stuffed bunny to limit touching of objects and once again nailed it!
Addie, I’ve never been more dependent on our faith in my life. I pray for the health and safety of all in our family, team, and this country daily. As we enter this next chapter I know our school dream team is determined to keep health and safety at the forefront. And with the millions of social stories we’ve read about washing hands and masks - I think you’ve got this! ...and if issues arise that would put safety at risk, we can always head back to our virtual classroom at home. But you've got this!
Mask on!
Stay 6ft feet away!
Wash your hands!
And remember we love you the whole world full. Stay safe!
Love,
Mom
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