But today it was back on track...sort of. Schoolwork right now is like the worst day of doing work during normal times - say, the week before Christmas, or before school lets out for the summer - but every day. It takes Bobby about an hour to get through the simplest math problems because he’s too busy staring out of the window, repeatedly dropping his pencil on the floor, singing songs, making goofy noises and faces, etc etc. I’m trying every trick in my tool box - switching up the work, sitting with him and helping, sitting far away so I’m not a distraction, threatening punishments, promising rewards. Nothing makes him want to do any of this work. Today after a conversation with a book club friend who told me some kids in her kid’s class might be in danger of being held back a grade because their parents were too busy to help them, I threatened B with this, and he seemed scared of that possibility...but not scared enough to do the work. I give up. It’s my worst nightmare to think of my kid falling behind or god forbid being held back a grade because of my own selfishness and obstinance. But surely other parents, even ones with no work right now, are in the same boat?
Announcement came from LAUSD that school re-opening is delayed until May 1. No surprises there. I’m going to assume that will be moved to end of school year which is six weeks after that. Who knows? Everyone is living minute to minute.
After a weekend of everyone crowding hiking trails and beaches, LA’s mayor cracked down further. Thankfully I can still hike in my neighborhood, which I’ve been doing every day. It’s a strange experience. There are for sure more people out than usual - especially on a weekday. We all cross the street to give each other space. Some people act like you’re not there; some make a point of saying hello; others exchange tense pursed lips in lieu of a smile (my preferred greeting). The day may come when even leaving the house for solo exercise is forbidden. I’m getting all the walks in that I can before that happens.
Bobby turns eight tomorrow. I never would have imagined, eight years ago tonight as I was hallucinating that the owner of the Mexican restaurant across the street from the hospital was pushing the baby out of my body, that eight years later we would be in the middle of a life-changing pandemic that would threaten our very lives and livelihoods...who could have ever dreamed this shit up?
The BF made a run to the completely empty grocery store to procure a small cake, and I scrambled to set up a Zoom meeting with some classmates to sing happy birthday to him, instead of the fun party we had planned for next Sunday. Thankfully I bought most of his presents before Amazon started pushing back non-prioritized products.
No comments:
Post a Comment