Back To School: It’s Time For The Village

Parents all over the country are panicking as it pertains to school starting back (or not starting back). The worry and grief is all valid- but we have to stop flailing and focus.⠀
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Parenting parallels everything I ever learned in my 10 years in patient care. There is risk/benefit to every single choice we make.⠀
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Instead of reacting to each other in judgment and losing sight of the bigger issues, we can use this moment to identify the gaping holes in our system that need reform. Our education system is grossly underfunded (while, for example, our police are overfunded). Many children’s welfare isn’t accounted for without public school. MOST Americans are living paycheck to paycheck and are not protected enough by their employers, and don’t get me started on childcare costs. We can pay attention in the future to the elected leadership that MAKES the decisions that will affect our families (all the way from the president to the school board).⠀
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We have little power in the 11th hour of crisis and in the midst of a pandemic that is out of control. But, we are wasting a ton of energy lashing out at each other. This is hard and it sucks but sometimes LIFE is hard and it sucks and there IS NO good answer. ⠀
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Step away from the Facebook group. Take a breath. Remember we belong to each other. ⠀
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Find out what single mom in your circle or community has no choice but to go back to work and see how you can help. Are you an employer? Loosen your protocol to protect parents during uncertainty with schools. Are you a gifted homeschooler or tutor? Start a co-op. Get creative!⠀
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Parenting is hard. No matter what you do, you will feel like you did the wrong thing. (I don’t make the rules.) While there is little we can do individually right now to control outcomes, we CAN find our footing and keep being the village. We’ve never needed that mentality more. ⠀