A side effect of the stay-at-home order for many of us is that we are not home alone. My family includes two teenage boys who tend to think I’m a short order cook, housekeeper, counselor, dog walker, yard worker, waitress, and can do their laundry I my spare time. Now, with the long term shutdown of the schools through April (oh, PLEASE, don’t let it be longer), let’s add teacher to the mix of job titles.
I’m appreciating this hashtag from the Jimmy Fallon show:
When I was their age, all the information of the world was in one spot. The school library. You could learn anything you wanted there. My school library had thousands of thoughts and experiences of others in books, encyclopedias, atlases, and periodicals. When you needed to know about something, the library was where you went. Now, the world of information is in our cell phone. So I think I will leave the teaching job to my kids’ natural exploration.
My oldest started talking to me about beryl stones. He wanted to know if I knew that the blue ones fade in sunlight. He was looking into them for his character in Live Action Role Play, as the game was maintained remotely, and he was preparing his character for the next round. I’ll be honest, I had to go to Wikipedia to keep up with him. He is independently learning just fine without my input.
Maybe in this day and age, the screen wall we all face has enough doors to the outside world, that cabin fever will be a thing of the past. And my boys will have clean clothes when they take them to the washer, move them to the dryer, remove them when dry, fold them and store them where they belong. After all, it is a prime time for those life skills lessons. And learning how to live with others will be a valuable asset – if I ever get them to leave the house!
Kristen Brown