Home With Mommy ..... Again!

No one in my town has been reported to have Covid - 19. But, like most of the country, we are being smart about precautions. Last week, New Jersey lawmakers revised key legislature. We are currently required to be in school for 180 days a year. They modified that law to count home instruction days to that 180 days.

Within a few days we got an email from the fantastic school superintendent. Today, the kids have half a day. The teachers will be working on establishing home instruction for the rest of the day. Yesterday, I received three emails. No school Monday and Tuesday so the teachers can continue to prepare. Wednesday starts home instruction. As of now, home instruction goes until the 30th, right before spring break. Baseball has been postponed until schools are back.

Zach is home with mommy again. I established this blog about nine years ago. Zach was a year old and we did almost everything together. I named it "Home With Mommy" because it was about our time together. Eventually, I started covering a lot of topics.

He's old enough to be left alone for a while. I can walk while he is doing home instruction. But, there is one thing about his personality that hasn't changed. When he is home, sometimes he comes to check out what I am doing. He wants to do it with me. We have a lot of shared interests. So, we bond.

We don't know yet how home instruction will work. That's what the next few days are for. They have asked us about what resources the kids have access to. Luckily, Zach has a Chromebook and a Laptop. Both are connected to the internet and his school google account.

In a strange way I look forward to being able to keep an eye on him. With his asthma, I have been very worried about his daily interactions. We talked about washing hands frequently and not getting close to anyone, even if they look healthy. A lot of how this is spreading is through people feeling and looking healthy while carrying the virus. Assume everyone has it even if they look healthy!

He has been good about being cautious. But, these steps are important in preventing the spread of Covid - 19. It's frustrating how much of the fun things in life have to be put on hold because of this virus. Human contact is essential to well-being. But, we have to keep our distance to be safe.

I have mostly been following the Washington Post and the NJ.com (Star Ledger) coverage of Covid - 19. They stick to facts and CDC recommendations. NJ.com has been particularly good about more detailed coverage to encourage precautions and discourage anxiety provoking conspiracy theories. It has been helping me avoid over-reacting while doing what I need to keep loved ones safe.

This time, Zach will be home with mommy to be safe. He has friends and routines at school that I am not a part of. He will want more freedom. But, there are things that are likely to feel comfortingly familiar about him being home with mommy. This is the right thing to do, for everyone!