The Weird and Wonky First Day of School

In the school or no school decision, as a family we decided that Timothy will attend school. He was not keen on the Learn From Home (LFH) option, and he's been working at Publix anyway, so this morning ... off he went. But there is no denying that this First Day of School is like none other. 

Here's why:

There was no traditional back-to-school shopping for clothes (except for a pair of sneakers). We went through Timothy's closet, he was fine with what he had, and as a result we stayed out of the mall, Target, and Old Navy.

Timothy went shopping for school supplies by himself. After going through what we already had, he only needed the following: notebook paper, notecards, pencils, colored pencils. For the first time he not only drove by himself to get the supplies, but he insisted on paying for them. Grand total for the supplies: $8

This will be the first year EVER that I'm not driving Timothy to school or picking him up afterwards. This has me all mixed up. On the one hand I am really, really going to miss our conversations in the car to and from school; on the other hand, it will be nice waving to him from the driveway with cappuccino in hand. 

Attending school on alternate days. This will be interesting. Home today, school tomorrow. Home, then school. Home, then school. It's like the mask rule: mask on, mask off. See next wonky item on the list.

Going to school wearing a mask. I keep a basket of cloth masks by the back door so he can grab one when he leaves. When he comes home, he will drop it in the laundry room sink to be washed. 

A modified school building: reduced class sizes (many of his friends who attended yesterday said they had several classes with 6-7 students), desks spaced apart, hallways designated as one way to keep students flowing in one direction, hand sanitizing stations, lunch tables with alternate chairs marked off (no students will sit next to each other or across from each other during lunch), and no loitering in common areas (students report directly to class as opposed to hanging out).

 So, there you have it. Sometimes the road ahead is clear and straight, and sometimes (like this year) you can't see around the bend, but that's life--ordinary and normal, but also weird and wonky.