Day 162

I want to call Dad and tell him about our road trip. He’d want to hear about it. He’d want to know about all the swimming we did, the National Parks we visited, the presidents we learned about. He’d want hear about our frustrations with people not taking the virus seriously and the fact that we camped nearly every night. There are so many things I want to tell him. But I will never again have the pleasure of speaking with him and the emptiness upon coming home is suffocating.

We listened to so much Billy Joel in the car on our trip that my son asked us what the “cola wars” were. It was easier to demonstrate. Yesterday my spouse bought a small bottle of Pepsi and a small bottle of coke. We blindfolded my son and after a few sips he correctly identified each brand. As for which was better, he couldn’t decide and so he mixed them together and sipped the mixed drink while we played cards.

This morning, my spouse and I withdrew our son from school. In-person classes are not safe — at least not in our opinion. And virtual classes are not as effective. Therefore, I will be be his teacher this year. The poor kid had been looking forward to switching classes and having a different teacher for each subject. But now he will be stuck with me all day every day. And I will not be an easy teacher — though I don’t foresee myself giving tests, at least not in social studies or English. How can I give an objective grade to my own son in subjects that can be so subjective? 

While most American parents are dismayed with decisions that are being made by various school districts, for the first time in my life I am eagerly looking forward to this school year. I am excited about it. It is my dream job — teaching what I love without idiotic politicians or administrators breathing down my back. Of course the pay sucks, but as my spouse pointed out, I’m used to working for free. But for anyone who thinks I’m lucky, that isn’t exactly the case either. Teaching full time means that I won’t have much time to write. I won’t have time to send out query letters to agents that would probably just reject me any way. Nor will I have much time to work on my photography. (I traded one job for which I don’t get paid for another that pays as poorly.) And I did have to quit my adjuncting job. Yes it paid shitty wages, but the money was needed. I’m not sure how we’ll get by without it. I also won’t be living with my spouse. First, I could never teach in that condo with landscaping noise around the clock. It drives me mad and makes for a terrible learning/teaching environment. Plus, my spouse is a teacher. She will be required to show up and teach in-person, but the school has no intention of keeping her safe, which is evident in the fact that they won’t supply her with proper masks. Teachers are expendable. And the working conditions will put the entire family at risk. If we live with her, she could bring the virus home to us. I had it once. I’ve no desire to suffer a second time. But more importantly, we don’t want our son to get sick. Children have died, and I think one Covid death in the family is enough. So because someone else is demanding a babysitter for their kids (teaching can be done remotely but not babysitting), my spouse will be deprived of time with her own child.

Anyway, I am confident in my ability to teach reading, writing, and history. My spouse will run point with math. She’ll tell me what to teach and review the material with me if I have forgotten it — I haven’t had to do math since high school — so that I can teach my son. But science has me a bit concerned. I’m hoping to get my hands on a fifth grade textbook. As long as I have that I need only to stay a chapter ahead of my son. But if I can’t locate a textbook, well, in the words of my son, “You can always make me watch documentaries.”

Yesterday, I went to Barnes & Noble to do some back to school shopping. I picked up a dictionary for my son — yes, defining words will be part of my curriculum, and there will be no cheating by typing the words in a google search bar. I also grabbed the Who Was Ferdinand Magellan book. Yes, the reading level is lower than he can read but he loves the “Fathead Books,” and since the explorers are in the curriculum I figured why not buy it. As for reading, I consulted a middle school English teacher friend of mine who suggested several novels I could teach. He added the Hobbit to his list. My son has been itching to read the Hobbit since last year so I bought two copies of the book — one for me and one for him. I always write in the books I teach, so I couldn’t let my son read it after me. It would have all the answers in it. I read it years ago and since I have an awful memory I remember none of it. I guess I should start reading and prepping questions for the first day of school. Yes, the first day of school will be a work day. I’m fairly certain I know my student and he knows me so there is no need for any icebreaker activities.