Emotional day

Friday was an emotional day in my household. My wife and I had to tell our 7-year-old daughter that school was canceled the rest of the year.

No chance to say goodbye to a teacher she adored.

No chance to play with her friends at recess again. No more singing in the chorus room. No visiting the library to check out her next book.

No closure.

That last part sums it all up. As a husband of a teacher and the dad of a first grader, neither one of them had a chance to say goodbye and close out the year the proper way. 

There are worse things in the world. I get that. But my girl was in tears when she got the news. And she will likely be in tears again when we have to tell her that her dance recital is called off.

The recital is not canceled yet. But with everything else that has happened, I think it's only a matter of time.

It's been a rough 2020 in general. COVID-19 should be ashamed of itself. It wrecked March, April and probably May. Will we be back to somewhat normal in June? I don't think anyone knows.

Teachers have had to adjust their skills on the fly this spring. My daughter has attended two Zoom meetings with her teacher and first grade class. My wife has done a pair of Zoom meetings with her fourth grade class.

That may seem like something small. And most of the kids are nervous to be in that environment, but I know our daughter enjoys seeing her friends and teacher. She's as shy as probably anyone but still looks forward to it every week.

I hope everyone is staying safe and doing their part to help at least get through this pandemic. It can be over sooner rather than later if we all just do our best to social distance and stay home as much as possible.