BY MELISSA DRIESSEN, ACS PARENT

Our mornings start out like a beautiful masterpiece.

No, really, it’s true.

We start by singing and dancing to God’s praises and then dive right into His word with a hint of art. It is fun, calm, collected; everyone gets along and it is the perfect way to start our day with Connected Learning.

I immediately think, “Yes, today is the day where my four children are going to get along and learning from home will be a breeze.”

As we slowly make a switch into the schoolwork we need to accomplish, it begins!

That beautiful masterpiece slowly turns into a whirlwind of mayhem where I, myself, cannot believe the things that I am saying and I know for a fact that their regular teachers will never ever, ever, have to say these things.

This part of our day is what I like to call, “The things teachers will never have to say” and it goes something like this:

  1. “No, I cannot wipe your bum right now; I am teaching a math lesson.”
  2. “Snack time is not two seconds into the first lesson.”
  3. “Stop writing all over your sister’s paper.”
  4. “How did silent reading turn into a game of tag?”
  5. “Please put your underwear on.”
  6. “Excuse me, where are you going?” Child: “Outside to play.” “Um, no…we are in the middle of a writing assignment which we just started exactly one minute ago.”
  7. “I said Raz kids, not You tube.”
  8. “I know you told me 10 times your teacher doesn’t do it that way, but guess what? Teacher Mom does.”
  9. “Why are you standing on the table? You cannot write in your journal standing on the table. Please sit down.”
  10. “Ahh, please do not come into my bathroom with the iPad when you are on zoom with your class. Everyone can see.”

By the end of our school day, that beautiful masterpiece morning has been long forgotten. The idea school day I imagined did not go how I planned. We got the bare minimum of work done.

And I, myself, am just hoping and praying that all those words do not come out of my mouth again tomorrow.

Teachers, we miss you, we love you, and consider yourself blessed that none of your students are asking you to help wipe their bums in the middle of your math lesson.