To all of the Virtual Learning Moms out there, I have one thing to say to you:
You are ROCK STARS.
When I say rock stars, what I really mean is that you are magical unicorns with incredible powers to face unknown situations with ferocity and strength. For the last year you have stepped out of your normal routines and been thrown into this crazy thing called “virtual learning.” You had never even heard that term 400 days ago.
But now? You know all about it.
You know how to sign-in to a Zoom call from the side of the computer like a ninja so that your child’s Kindergarten class can’t see you in your jammies (or lack there of).
You know how to upload Google Docs and complete Seesaw assignments disguised as a six-year-old’s work.
You’ve made a great impression on your child’s teacher who has heard your background singing when you’ve forgotten to mute the microphone on the computer.
You’ve waged war against technology (hello, unreliable wi-fi) and come out victorious…sometimes.
You’ve cried more than once wondering if your kid will ever be able to correctly find the square root of X in order to measure the size of Carol’s carrot garden.
You’ve literally herded cats for over 400 days in a row.
You’ve successfully created a hidden chocolate stash in an unknown location in your home for those moments when you just have to walk away and put yourself in time-out.
You’ve asked yourself more than ten times why the size of Carol’s carrot garden even matters and why you can’t just look at it and observe it’s beauty.
You’ve learned more than you ever wanted to know about little Johnnie’s bathroom habits via your daughter’s third grade Google Hang Out.
Your memory has hit an all-time high as you’ve memorized six different passwords for all three of your school-age children.
You’ve shared your computer, your day, your work-life, your personal-life, and any other type of life you had pre-pandemic not only with your child, but with your child’s teacher and 25 classmates.
You’ve shattered your child’s hopes and dreams when you’ve managed the mute button and not allowed him to speak freely during class in fear of what he will confess about your family life.
You’ve juggled assignments, tests, projects, virtual meetings, deadlines, and the need for your child to actually learn something all at a distance.
You’ve been given the nearly impossible task of meeting learning expectations set by the educational leaders around you while still trying to maintain your “normal” job and responsibilities without any wiggle room.
And here you are. Almost to the finish line. You’ve almost made it. You’re almost (hopefully) done with virtual learning.
And I’m here to clap my hands and tell you, “Well done.”
As you approach the end of this school year, I hope you celebrate. I hope you look back and acknowledge all that you’ve faced and everything you’ve overcome. Your kids might not have learned what you wanted them to, they may still be confused about multiplication, and you might feel like a failure for not getting all of those Pinterest distance learning projects completed. But those things don’t really matter. Not in the big scheme of things.
What matters is that you took a challenging season of life and you faced it head-on. You adjusted and adapted on the fly. You showed your kids what it looks like to do hard things, even when you don’t want to or enjoy the process. What should be celebrated is the perseverance that you showed when all you really wanted to do was give up.
You are a rock star, momma. A magical unicorn rock star.
