Day 1
It is quiet this morning. The boys were up late last night - later than usual dinner, then playing outside in the last bit of dusk and a good bit of dark, then we started a family game of Stone Age (to be continued today - Stone Age is our Monopoly).
Today was a regularly schedule professional day for Bedford schools. We had planned to go to the Science Museum, which would have meant a normal hour bedtime and then our regular morning routine. Even as of Tuesday night as we shared dinner with friends, there was thought that today might go as it had been planned months ago. We were all still wrapping our heads around this new COVID-19 coronavirus and what it really meant.
But it has become clear that going along as usual, trusting in your family's or your social network's good health and good hygiene is both a privileged choice and irresponsible one.
The Bedford public schools began daily updates on the state of the new coronavirus in Bedford and our schools on Monday, on Wednesday announced that they would used the already planned professional day to get ready for the time when distance learning was necessary and then Thursday afternoon, in conjunction with surrounding towns, decide to close all schools for the next two weeks. Arlington, Bedford, Belmont, Burlington, Lexington, and Winchester made the decision together. Other towns are closing schools for 30 days, others still making plans.
So today is Day One of being home, practicing social distancing and living in this strange new world of pandemic. We have plenty of food and books, library and video subscriptions, access to video meeting platforms for virtual visits, and expect that we'll be receiving virtual learning materials from the schools in the next few days. We're still going to treat today as the day off it was supposed to be, but we'll also be figuring out how to build structure into the next two weeks as we all work and learn and play under one roof.
Tim's choir has had to cancel its last 6 weeks of rehearsals and concert, but he will be creating opportunities for them the gather virtually and stay connected. Hopefully this will result in a strong return rate for the summer session. And we spent the beginning of the week reaching out to his collegiate a cappella groups to give them a framework for crafting new recording plans as need be once their more pressing concerns around college closings have settled down. Each decision we make is a reminder of the incredible place of privilege we inhabit. Now to stay healthy and to do our part to help our community stay healthy too.
Here goes!