I have found it really hard to get rid of the writer’s block I have had over the last few months.
November has felt like a whole year unto itself! Here we are at the end of the month again, I have been focused on dealing with remote learning for our kids, how to maintain a sense of sanity during an otherwise very difficult time in our nation. We have had so many life-changing; historical moments this year.
As I sat down to write this morning, I got an email stating our kids are now remote again till December 10. I have to say, we have given the schools a lot of credit. I watch the town pages and the different social media posts. I don’t disagree. However, I am in awe of the resilience of our children, and how they are able to go with the flow with what is going on right now in our nation.
I have been really frustrated watching my kids trying to get on zooms that they get kicked out of, Wi-Fi deciding not to work, calls from the attendance office they have an “absence” when they are in front of me trying to get into the live zoom and it just won’t work. Thankfully, I have high school kids. They are able to do their work independently (let’s face it I don’t even think I could do their work anyway.) It is hard to find a happy medium. Education is important but, at what expense to our children’s sanity. I have watched some of the light go out of their eyes. Kids need teacher interaction, social interaction, sports, etc.
We will continue to try to navigate this new “normal”. I never thought I would miss the craziness of running around to different activities, carpooling, early mornings and late nights. Yet, I miss it more than I even care to admit.
We have tried to make the most of our time and make sure to try to still have some fun, in a safe way. We went out to celebrate this month with our family. We found a spot in Larchmont, N.Y.; Billy and Pete’s. They have reservation-only igloos outside their restaurant. They have additional outdoor and indoor dining (for now). They have gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegetarian options. I added the link above for you to check out. It gave us a little sense of fun and “normalcy” in a tumultuous time. They sanitize the igloos after each guest. The drinks menu has different beers and their own handcrafted cocktails.
Deborah Levine-Powell is a psychotherapist in New York, where she works with teenage girls who are victims of abuse and trafficking. She is a wife and a mom to a tween and teenager. When she is not working, you can find her engaged in PTA activities, a leader at Girl Scouts, having fun with her friends and family, while serving up hot soulful dishes in the kitchen.