The first 30 days or so of summer were filled with glimmers of hope. The state of Texas started reopening without issues. Gyms, child care, restaurants, salons, bars and movie theatres were all able to open to some capacity. Restaurants even made it to 75% capacity at one point. Then within the last week, it all came crashing down.
The proverbial storm began with record high increases in the number of people testing positive for the virus. Some argued this was a result of more testing, but the percentage of people tested that turned up positive is significantly on the rise. Suddenly the media attention turned back to the virus, and the panic began all over again. On Monday, Harris County leadership mandated masks with the threat of fining the business owners if customers were not wearing a mask. Then on Friday, the Texas governor reduced restaurant capacity back to 50% and again closed all bars. He also banned tubing on the river, which had been getting a great deal of media attention.
So here we. What is and is not allowed in not sensical. People can run in massive crowds with people they do not know, but people that would have been in proximity of each other anyway cannot gather in small groups to have a drink? Destroying our local economy is not helping stop the spread of the virus. We cannot stop the spread of the virus whether we close our small businesses or not.
I did not see this coming. I thought that we had learned that the shutdown was a mistake, and I thought that we would never go back to a shutdown situation. I was wrong. I am worried about my friends that own small businesses, and all that I can do for them is pray. That feels so helpless.
For our little family, the biggest question is whether or not schools will open in the fall. I was sure they would, but I was also sure that we would never again shutdown our economy. Given that school is supposed to start in less than 2 months, I think that there is a high likelihood that schools will not be open. I am trying to prepare myself for this mentally.
I love our school district, but our virtual learning experience was a joke. Little Chirp could finish all of his work for the week before noon on Monday if he had wanted to. I think that if our school is going to be online that Little Chirp needs to change schools. He needs a customized learning program that allows him to take high school level algebra, but keeps in seventh grade pre-advanced placement for English. He needs curriculum that is designed to be taught online by teachers trained to teach online. I never thought I would be taking my kid out of public school, but I think that is where we are headed. He would be home schooled for the next two years, and then attend a private high school that will accept all of his home learning as high school credit. In other words, he could move at his own pace, and get way ahead in math.
Brainy Bird is stuck where he is. His high school course work is way beyond anything that any of the home school programs offer. His only option other than attending his high school virtually is to go to college. The problem with heading to college is that he would have missed all of the scholarship deadlines, and then next year he would be a transfer student instead of an incoming freshman, which means way fewer scholarship opportunities.
Every cloud has a silver lining. If we do wind up in a virtual learning experience, we are going to make the most of it. We will think about letting them spend a week each month with their aunt or grandparents. As long as they are doing well on school, I am all for them getting to spend more time with family.
As the title of this post suggests, we are in a world of uncertainty.