Last Day of School

Our distance learning school year came to an end on June 5th.  This is usually a much anticipated day, but this year, it was rather anti-climatic.  We had already been home for three months, and we don't have much on the calendar for summer.  

To celebrate the last day of school, we went to a local bakery for donuts, and I took last day of school pictures without their backpacks.  The backpacks got cleaned out and put away months ago.  The elementary school also had a "reverse parade".  Buses, cars, and even a firetruck full of teachers drove around the neighborhoods with banners and fanfare as kids watched and cheered along the street.

Brett finished his first year of middle school at the charter school and shared-time with home schooling.  I'm very proud that despite the set-back of distance learning, we finished his reading curriculum.  We also made good progress in his spelling level.  Math was not quite as productive, but with Brett everything is a marathon, not a sprint.  Through distance learning, he received "A's" in Social Studies and Life Skills, and enjoyed joining in on the weekly middle school lunch zoom hangouts.  I notified the school that in the best case scenario, I will send him to 7th grade full-time in the fall.

Lydia finished up her sixth and final year (5th grade) at Castle through distance learning.  She missed out on her 5th grade overnight camp and didn't get to say goodbye to many of her friends and classmates.  Due to school boundaries, her class gets shuffled into two middle schools and she will not attend school with her best buds.  She has had the same girlfriends since 1st and 2nd grade, so I hope they can remain friends despite going to different schools.  Kid-friendly social media has helped them stay in contact.  

This week, Lydia did get to go to her friend's house for the friend's birthday.  When I dropped Lydia off, her friend ran up to the van to give her a hug.  Then, she stopped short, remembering to social distance as Lydia quickly put on her mask.  After weeks of shedding tears over my boys in the aftermath of George Floyd, my heart broke for my daughter in that moment.  Regardless, she had fun at the party and was not ready to leave when I picked her up.

Lydia is so independent, she excelled in distance learning.   I have always believed she could be locked in a closet and would still find a way to learn!  She loves writing and says she wants to be an author.  The elementary school didn't give out grades during distance learning, but in math she got an "A", an improvement from 1st and 2nd trimester.

Reggie's teacher is a strong believer in differentiated learning, even through distance learning.  Reggie didn't end up doing the 100-page packets of busy work.  Instead, he wrote a realistic fiction story about going to the Little League World Series, created a simulation project where he studied baseball statistics and came up with his own formulas to create a fantasy MLB team, and worked ahead in his math workbook.  I feel the amount of support students need from home to facilitate learning was largely underestimated by schools, but I am also thankful to the teachers who did what they could to make the best of a bad situation.

During the last week of school, Reggie became the teacher as he took us through his baseball simulation project.

You cannot separate Reggie from sports.  Brett and Lydia play sport.  Reggie is sports.  To not have sports for Reggie has been truly unbearable.  Lydia's softball has been canceled and the Special Olympics will not gather until further notice.  

But, there is good news!  In the last couple weeks, Reggie has been able to return to some practicing in real life.  He has started going to a very restricted wrestling workout.  Up to 10 kids can participate at the facility while the class is also hosted online.  The practice is no contact with social distancing.  They get temp checks and health screened at the door, and because it used to be a warehouse, they leave the big garage door open for ventilation.  It's not really wrestling, but it's something.  

Last week, baseball camp also started.  In MN, under the current restrictions, baseball game play is not allowed, but they are allowed to do drills in groups of ten players.  Again, there are the obligatory temp checks, social distancing, and sanitizing.  They are expected to wear face masks when they are not able to social distance. Even with all the restrictions, the pep has returned to Reggie's step!

On June 1, barbershops and salons opened at 25% capacity.  We couldn't wait!  The boys got appointments right away.  Everyone but the client must wait in the car, so here we are doing our distance learning as we wait!  Lydia and I finally got our turn at the salon this week.

momma

When the news of Ahmaud Arbery's death surfaced in early May, we were well into our distance learning routine.  I decided to take advantage of our time at home and go through the Tamir Rice Safety Handbook with the kids.  Tamir Rice was a 12-year-old boy in Ohio who was playing with a toy gun in a park.  Officers responding to a concerned neighbor's call arrived at the scene and immediately shot him from their squad car.

His mother, together with the ACLU, put together a safety handbook for children when approached by police.

I want you to read that again.  The safety handbook helps children stay safe in their interactions with police.  There is something seriously wrong with me having to teach my kids how to be safe around those who's very job is to keep them safe. Regardless, I must prepare them for the world in which they live.

As we went through the curriculum, I made sure I drove home these points: never run from the police even if you are scared, never argue, and never resist.  I told them they will not necessarily be in trouble if they are taken to the station.  In that moment, it is more important for them to stay alive than to be innocent.  We will come down to the station and work it out.  (How many white parents tell their 10-, 11-, and 12-year-olds that?)

We know now that this was a timely lesson.  I watched the video of George Floyd's death in horror a couple weeks later.  That was my boy calling out for his momma as he struggled for breath.  It seemed the man kneeling with his hand in his pocket believed the man pinned under his knee was beneath him.  The man wearing the crooked badge had 7 minutes and 46 seconds to change his mind.  Knowing he had cameras on him.  Tuning out the bystanders calling for him to have mercy, he continued without expression of empathy or fear.  Because our country has a documented and prevalent history of not holding the police accountable for their disproportionate brutality toward people of color.

After a restless night, I sat the kids down and described the death of George Floyd.  I knew I could not shelter them from hearing the news. I wanted them to hear it from me and to have a safe place to debrief.  But I didn't want them to see the footage.

I think Reggie saw the footage.  The way Reggie processes information is he will just go about his active day as tho nothing is happening, and then out of nowhere, he will hit me with a dagger:

"But, Mom...he stopped resisting..."

I didn't have a response for Reggie.  The truth is he can do everything the handbook said and still be a victim. But I will be right next to him as he wrestles with what it means to be black in America.

more projects complete

One of the first things I wanted to change when we purchased our house in 2011 was the doors visible from the front entrance.  They were the cheap, dirty white, construction grade doors with gold knobs.  Nine years and a pandemic later, I finally have beautiful real oak doors in my foyer!  They have knobs to match what we have already replaced throughout the house.  

After.  Forgot to take a "before" picture.  Also the knobs have been replaced since the picture was taken. The two doors further down the hall were also placed, but it's hard to get a picture of them.  We got a bid for the job, but Bryan decided to do it himself.

Another long-overdue project was adding a back splash in our kitchen.  We had the kitchen updated with new island, counters, lighting, patio door, and sink in 2014.  It was hard to keep the project on budget.  We also put in an egress window the same year, and we always pay cash for home updates.  So, I put off doing the back splash.  Six years and a pandemic later, I have a beautiful back splash!

Before.  Bryan bumped out and replaced the outlets so they would be white.

After.

After.  We hired the tile install.

I love how both projects turned out.  I told Bryan our kitchen went from "bland to grand"!

The last project I'm hoping to complete this year is new area rugs for the living and dining room.  Of course, there is no labor involved, only shopping.  I hate shopping tho, and that's why it's taking so long!

Special Olympics Virtual Summer Games

In May, we trained and competed in the Special Olympics Virtual Summer Games.  Brett was the only one who formally entered the competition, but Reggie, Lydia and I trained and competed along with him for the fun of it.

We held the official event over a weekend, recreating some of our favorite parts of the summer games.  The entrance of the athletes during the opening ceremony is a special experience that can't be recreated in all it's fanfare, but we did our best with what we had.  It included a special announcement, WWE-style entrance music, a handcrafted torch, the National Anthem, and a few curious looks from neighbors!

On to "Victory Village", which is generally a carnival-like atmosphere with games and free stuff, the kids set out our yard games and the refrigerator box became a food truck.  We had badges and meal tickets and food.  Because Brett is all about the food.

Then we "competed" in track and basketball events.  It was fun for Brett to compete in the basketball events.  Due to scheduling, in real life, he can only compete in track.  Many of the basketball events were number of baskets out of 20.  So, for example, he made 16 layups out of 20.  He competed in the same track events as last year.  We had everything measured out and marked with sidewalk chalk.

When the events were complete, I entered Brett's results into the SOMN website.  They gathered results from athletes around the state, created ability-level divisions, and virtual medals were emailed to the athletes. They put together an overall celebration video and a highlight video for each sport (track, basketball, and gymnastics - no swimming this year).  Brett is featured in the highlight video @ 1:08, but I highly watching the entire video.  It will make any day better!

Here is the highlight video I created from our stay-at-home summer games.

It was announced this week that the Special Olympics will be doing virtual competition for bocce and softball.  Better get on Amazon and order a bocce set!  I'm crossing my fingers that flag football will be in real life.