Details aside, I was drafted to take the Dancer to school because the before and after care situation on campus ran out of spaces because everything is chaos, let’s hope that gets fixed in a week or two. She’s been doing extended day for years, but everything, everything, is fucked up now.
So I said yeah, of course I can if you have no other alternatives, but this unpaid month off is my only chance in three years to sleep in just a bit. I now have two animals who love to sleep in, and I generally wake up before they do, and this an entirely new and pleasant experience. If I have to set an alarm to get her to school I will of course do it, but if you can find an alternative that’d be great, because it’s not like I get paid sick days and vacation days and holidays off like a normal person.
As it turns out it won’t be an issue because my son-in-law works in a private school setting where they’ve had to delay opening because COVID hit their summer program. He’s now available to drop her off in the mornings. (Yay?) He’s vaccinated, but he has to get tested and if he’s positive she’ll also have to miss the first week or two of school.
Meanwhile, the school board decided to split the baby and made it that parents have to “opt out” of masks for their children. On one hand I like it – let’s make it really clear that these parents have chosen to expose their children to a highly contagious virus – but it still puts my mask-wearing granddaughter of two vaccinated parents who can’t just opt out and virtual school her at more risk.
My white hot hatred of this situation is beyond my ability to express.
My rant about Twitter related ass-vice about what Florida should be doing about all of this is too much to get into, and needs to be a separate rant. I need to go watch an Avengers movie and crochet something. I’ve been catching up on the Marvel franchise, and damn, they’re so much fun. I am in full Hulk Smash mode at the moment.
The Delta variant is terrifying right now if you have children of any age. We have chosen (because there’s not another sane option for us at the moment) to place our school going children in Florida Virtual school. I HOPE it’s just for the one semester, but holy hot tamales, is it bad up here in the Panhandle. We also have multiple small children who are not/cannot be vaccinated yet due to health reasons and other immunocompromised family members in the household. I am more scared now than at any other previous time in this entire pandemic. We have GOT to get a handle on this. The hospitals are filling up with CHILDREN who cannot be vaccinated. There are 60+ by our estimation alone, in my county. This experience has destroyed any hope that I had of the basic inherent good of people.
I’m so sorry, Jo Alice, the Panhandle is a truly bad place to be in this insanity. We are marginally better here, because I do have to believe most of the parents at my granddaughter’s school are NOT anti-mask, anti-science, or I’ll never sleep. My daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter are all forced by circumstances to be out there in this. Granddaughter is in an excellent school and I do have faith that she’s not among too many idiots, but it’s by no means a protective bubble. Her parents are fully vaccinated and wearing masks. Staying home wasn’t an option for them. She got through in person school all of last year, all I can do is hope this year will improve by mid-year when kids can get vaccinated.