A year ago today I physically left my work place, not knowing when I’d return.
I remember walking down the stairs to my car and thinking “damn, I left my coffee cup behind”. Every Friday I would bring my coffee cup home and clean it over the weekend. I wouldn’t see that cup again until December, when I visited the office and threw the cup away.
Aside from the one hour I was in the office back in December, I haven’t been there since. I’m unsure as to when I will, or if I will, physically go back. I had been working from home three days a week prior to the pandemic. I’ve enjoyed working from home. I’m saving myself almost two hours a day in commute time. I don’t feel as stressed as I was going into the office. There really isn’t anyone I miss, not that there’s many people there to miss anyway. I’m sure I will go back eventually in some way. But I think it will only be one day a week. Because I’ve discovered I can actually get more work done at home than I could in the office.
That day a year ago, upon arriving home, we received an email from the school superintendent indicating that school would be closed for a week. I figured we would be using that week as an early April vacation. That wasn’t the case. For the next sixty or so days my daughter would finish her schooling for the year from home, via computer. YouTube videos featuring her teachers overtook YouTube videos featuring YouTube stars. She actually did quite well. And a year later, still doing school remotely, she is still doing well. Her grades are on par with grades she received when she was physically in school. It’s been much easier for all of us. When physically going to school my daughter would give me problems on a daily basis. She would never eat breakfast. With remote school there has been none of that. She eats breakfast every day. I’ve had no issues waking her in the morning. The daily struggle is gone. The daily phone calls from the school nurse or office are gone. The dread of going to school the next day is gone. That has been replaced with the dread of returning to school. We have opted to finish the school year remotely.
Right now it’s unclear where we will be a year from now. I know there’s every intention to keep students in school and I know my work place is putting in every accommodation under the sun to keep us safely in the office. Whether I’ll be there or not is yet to be known.
michellemchatton.com 