What We All Have in Common This School Year

Hey, moms and dads.  It’s been rough out on the ol’ interwebs lately, hasn’t it?  Everywhere you turn, people are fighting and arguing about this year’s return to school and, frankly, it’s getting ugly.  There’s been mudslinging and name-calling, opinions posted as fact and facts taken as just another opinion.  People are at their wit’s end about the upcoming school year (which is completely understandable) and they’re taking it out on each other (which is not).  Confusion reigns and compassion is taking a back seat.

As far as I’m concerned, all that nastiness ends now.  Here and now.  Because, friends, in the words of my yoga teacher, we are more alike than we are different.  Say it with me: We are more alike than we are different!  Yell it out, if you want to!

I’m serious, y’all.  Despite our differences of opinion, we have more in common than we think and it’s high time we shifted our focus to finding that common ground.  Don’t you agree?

So many school choices!

Brick & mortar.  Distance learning.  Homeschool.  Hybrid.  Virtual school.  Day care.

If we choose one, we’re screwed.  If we choose the other, we’re screwed.  At least, that’s how it feels, yes?  But lean in for a second and I’ll tell you what I really think…

It doesn’t matter what we pick.  As long as we love and support our kids, their education won’t truly suffer.

CRAZY, right?!

See, what it all really boils down to in the end is this:  Not a single child in this country is going to have a “normal” or in any way ideal education this year.  They’re just not.  But it’s not just going to be to my kids or yours who feel the difference.  It’s not just going to effect the schoolhouse kids or the virtual learning kids or the homeschool kids.  It’s going to be all of them and, therefore, all of us.

Pray, Think, Decide, Breathe.

Whatever way you ultimately choose to educate your child this school year, I’m sure it won’t be an easy decision.  And these certainly aren’t ideal times in which to make these kinds of choices, are they?  We’ve all agonized over the option and second-guessed ourselves a hundred times.  And we’ve all had to come to (or maybe are still coming to) terms with a school year that’s going to look a whole lot different than we expected.

Sure, we’ve thought about it all until we can’t think anymore.  Hopefully, we’ve taken it to prayer.  But in the end, we all make the best decisions possible for our own families.  We keep our own children in the forefront of our thoughts, we keep our eyes on our own papers, and we make our decisions.  And then, finally, we breathe.

Somehow, just making a decision can bring a level of peace, can’t it?

We’re all just doing our best.

Moms and dads, if you get nothing else from this post, I hope you hear what I have to say right now.

I know that you are doing your best.

Moms and dads who choose brick and mortar school, I know you’re doing your best.

If you’ve chosen virtual school, I know you’re doing your best.

If you have special needs children who need the resources schools provide, I know you’re doing your best.

Moms and dads who suffer from their own mental health issues, I know you’re doing your best.

To all the people who swore they’d never homeschool and are now up to their elbows in curriculum, I know you’re doing your best.

If you’re working from home and juggling virtual school, I know you’re doing your best.

If you’re reluctant about whatever choice you made, I know you’re doing your best.

Parents who’ve always homeschooled but are still feeling the effects of distancing, I know you’re doing your best.

If what to do was the easy decision but how to do it is harder, I know you’re doing your best.

If you wish you could’ve made a different choice, I know you’re doing your best.

And if you love your kids and want the best for them, I know you’re doing your best.

What do we all have in common this school year?

Let’s sum it up, shall we?  What do we have in common?

• We’re all making really hard decisions in less than ideal circumstances.
• We all love our kids and want them to succeed.
• We are more alike than we are different.
• And we are all doing the best we can.

So, if that sounds about right to you, then I have a proposal.  Going forward, why don’t we ask ourselves how we are alike before we engage in any online debates this week?  Why don’t we intentionally try to find some common ground with the people we encounter?  Can we acknowledge that, even though our choices may be different, we are all doing the best we can?

I think we can, moms and dads.  I have faith in us!  After all, we’re all doing the very best we can, aren’t we?