School is going good for both of us . . . we are both in person since late August and well until last week it was smooth sailing! And then Colin was exposed to covid by one of his friends that tested positive. Colin and this kid are in 2 classes together and eat lunch at the same table so they were close to each other several times a day. Colin's high school had 39 active cases in less than a week and that doesn't include kids that were in close contact and had to quarantine. Now his high school has over 2,000 kids but not that many are currently attending in person.
If there was one thing we both learned in the spring it was that our house is our home and not a classroom. So on Friday, November 13 (just something else to stress me on an already sad day), I received a text from Colin saying he was told to report the nurse's office and that he was probably going to be quarantined. I mean we were not surprised since his friend test positive on Wednesday and well it was already Friday. So he was sent home for 14 days from his last day of possible exposure. The good part was only one of the weeks was a actual in school learning and the other week was Thanksgiving Break, but still we had 7.5 days to figure it all out. Figure it out? Yes, the nurse told Colin to let his teachers know and he was told to go home. Well isn't that nice! Nothing more and nothing less. So as soon as he arrived home, we started emailing teachers and trying to figure out how to do virtual school. Of course you know the teacher in me is strict and expects promptly submitted work that is quality. So we had the weekend to sort of figure it out which meant I was on his school issued iPad figuring it out. I still had work and came up with a plan and schedule for Colin to do each day I was not at home. Can you guess how that went? It did not. I went to work and came home and had to do work with him. I don't know how he turned his 6 hours of in school learning into 10 and some days more. It was not pretty . . . we argued, we yelled, we fought . . . this last week brought out the worst in both of us. Our home is our home . . . our home does not function as a school too. Now if the teenager would just stick to his school schedule it would be much easier but well he is 16 and "has it under control". Thankfully we are home this week with no assigned work . . . there is still work to do . . . well not thankfully but I would much rather be on the road. For the last 9 years we have spent this week traveling but not this year! Tuesday ends his 4 day quarantine and well we are still planning to stay home and skip my family Thanksgiving. I can not have him exposed again and quarantine to miss two more weeks of school.
I guess I am thankful we are both healthy at this point in time but honestly our last trip was November 2019 to Turks and Caicos . . . man I would do anything to be on the beach right now. Or the mountains. Or a hotel. Or just about anywhere but well home is home which is where we will be!
Interesting side note: On Wednesday I received a phone call from the school nurse. She said that Colin had emailed one of his teachers letting them know he was on quarantine but that they had no record of him being sent home. She wanted to know if I had talked to her or what the deal was. I refreshed her memory on the conversation we had on Colin's cell phone speaker . . . I was like if it is a mistake he will be back tomorrow. I was like seriously this school is huge and the lack of communication or information when my kid was sent home is unacceptable. I would think that when I kid is sent home from close contact they would have received a letter telling them what to do, their teachers would have been emailed or let known, or an email sent with details on what to do next. Nothing!
