In the fall, who could have predicted what the last day of the 2019-2020 school year would look like? Instead of the usual fanfare, fun, and ceremony of a typical last day, our family forgot it was *technically* the last day until sometime around noon. It was… unremarkable.
And yet, it’s important we mark these milestones. Despite their grumblings, I shuffled our kids outside for our annual Last Day photo. Years from now, I want to look back on particular end-of-year “celebration” and remember all the big and little feelings.
Collectively, our kids have shown incredible resilience in the midst of these crazy times. Overnight, they were told to abandon their classrooms — some likely with their lunches still in their lockers! — with no plans to return. They were asked to take everything online, not see their friends, and drop all extracurriculars and sports. In our house, we went from never having enough time in the day to having far too many hours.
But, they made it. Time marched on and we adapted. Some took to online learning more than others. Some felt cooped up, others enjoyed the downtime. Graduates skipped ceremonies, or did them as drive-thru events. We’re all stretching the boundaries of what is comfortable and learning to make do when something isn’t.
So let’s take a moment to celebrate what our kids have done these past few months, and the strength they have shown in the process. And although it hasn’t been in a classroom and may not have even have been about academics, our young students have learned a lot. About themselves, about sacrifice, about how to keep from murdering their siblings.
This is probably not what anyone would have chosen. But our kids have proven themselves to be capable and flexible under difficult circumstances. Here’s to the end of an unexpectedly different school year, and to the start of a well-earned summer break!
