Everything is different.
No more waiting for the bus. There’s no discerning school clothes from play clothes. It always seems to be snack or lunch time. The comfort and wonder of the classroom has turned into makeshift workspaces in bedrooms, playrooms, and kitchens. All of our childrens energy that is normally spent socializing with peers is now concentrated on daydreaming about “when this is over.” We’re a little more lenient with screen time. And family time is, well, all the time now.
Questions like, “If you were at school right now, would you be allowed to do that?” Or “Did you finish your school work for the day?” have been uttered a mere two dozen times per day since school closed. At least.
One thing that hasn’t changed is that you are still helping shape our childrens’ lives, even if it’s no longer through face-to-face instruction. More than ever, you are dedicating so much time and care to help parents continue their childrens’ learning. And, it hasn’t gone unnoticed.
We have a deeper appreciation for everything you do every day. We celebrate you every day.
To be honest, we love this time that we have with our kids. Selfishly, we love that we get to see the satisfaction on our child’s face when they learn something new. We love being the one who helps them sound out a word that they’ve never seen before or encourage them to keep trying on a math problem that’s probably way too hard for us to solve. But we can’t do it as well as you. We trust you. We depend on you. We admire you more than ever.
Our children miss you. And we know that you miss them just as much.
We see you. We appreciate you. We thank you.
Sometimes you have to endure the dark to appreciate the light. And one day everything will go back to normal. Until then…
Happy Teacher Appreciation Day from the PLS 3rd Learning family to you. Thank you for everything you do.