Dec Goes Back to School ... Kinda

Last Monday (Jan 25), our district brought kindergarten through second grade students back TO school full-time. Five days a week (for the few weeks when they actually have school five days a week. But that's a whole different story). The girls have one more week at home and then they go back full-time too.

Little Dude was super excited to go back. Distance learning is not his thing. He was also incredibly nervous. He's never actually had to navigate school without his own personal fixers (The Sisters) and he wasn't sure what he thought about that. Apparently - even though the boy probably knows the school better than some fifth graders - the girls take turns holding his hand and walking him to his classroom.  Seems like two weeks flying solo might be good for the guy!

Quinn, Mike, and I walked him to the bus Monday morning. Fiona said she'd meet him at the bus after school. She changed her mind after we all left and just.missed saying good-bye to him. There was a bit of sadness that she missed him, but we got it smoothed over by the time school started. At the bus stop, Q was hugging him and patting his head. She didn't want him to go [or she wanted to go too. She is so done with distance learning!]. Despite all the extra mothering, he bravely got on the bus and waved good-bye.

Turns out, it is really quiet around here without one six-year-old. And poor Q, who is normally in charge of him, was without a sense of purpose. By the time the end of the day came, the girls could not wait to put their coats on and go retrieve him. Mike and I were told to wait on our driveway so they could greet him solo. He walked off the bus, opened his arms wide, and was gathered into a huge three-person hug. You'd think he had been gone for weeks.

We made it all of 2.5 days before he caught a cold and got sent home with the sniffles and a cough. The silver lining is that there was already no school on Friday for end of the quarter, so he only missed class on Thursday. Quinn's sense of purpose was restored. We also now know our local covid test options. And we got his negative test results back Saturday morning, so he can head back to the bus stop tomorrow.