Day One Hundred Ninety-Four

You know that thing where something is clearly too good to be true, so you sort of wince a little as you wait for the other shoe to drop? But then it doesn't so you just look weird with your scrunched up face?

I've been making that weird face since school started.

I've mentioned that both girls are somehow ahead on their school work. Just typing that sentence makes me want to throw salt over my shoulder, build a temple and beg the Fates for mercy, and smash myself in the face with every good luck charm under the sun. I still don't know how it's possible. Okay, with Alexis it's expected. But Mila? MILA? I thought she was going to be rival me with my procrastination skills. It's almost disappointing that she's not.

Realizing that has made me figure out why the shoe hasn't dropped yet. There's a skill that both girls are figuring out that I never considered to be an advantage to cyber school - they're learning to manage their time.

Yes, really.

Mila is 110% motivated by her desire to stop doing school work. There are rules that she has to spend a minimum amount of time doing her work and she has to complete a full day's worth each day, but if she does? Whatever. She can go do all of the things that make her heart sing.Obviously she's allowed breaks and all of that, but what's happening is that she's staying focused and completely her work quickly so she can do what she wants. In fact, today she told me she was just getting a drink for her break (not taking her full 15 minutes) because she wanted to be done in time to watch some dumb show on TV.

Yes, really.

Basically, Mila has proven that she can do 5-6 hours of work in 4 hours (... and sometimes less) because she just wants to be done. There's only one small "butts in seats" requirement for her, so instead of becoming an expert at wasting time as she waits her way through a school day, she focuses and is done.

I WISH I HAD LEARNED THAT SKILL. Do you know how often I sat through dumb classes with information that I already knew just because I had to wait until a teacher handed me a test to prove I already knew it? I am sooooo good at spacing out and accomplishing nothing while I wait for the world to get to the point. Mila is off acing tests and jumping ahead and finding her way to the point. Because she can.

And Alexis. Alexis does have some "butts in seats" requirements because she wanted live instruction for 4 of her classes. They're a little spread out, so she uses the time in between to get everything else done. Even wth tests and projects and all of that, she has managed to be completely done with school each day at around the same time she would have been at a brick-and-mortar school. The difference? No need to study or do homework in the evening. She's already done it.

She's also doing it on purpose. She has decided she doesn't like doing homework in the evenings, so she will balance her time during the day to make sure she doesn't have to. She has commented that she didn't realize how much of her school day was previously spent waiting for other people, so that's probably a huge part of it, but seriously she is getting so much better at managing her time.

So do we think they'll be able to teach me? Because they have both definitely passed me by.

Day One Hundred Ninety-Three

There's this really weird thing going on where our dance studio is doing a better job than pretty much anybody with COVID. Classes are back, with the choice of taking them in studio or via Zoom. For those who decide to be there in person, there are rules. Lots of rules.

- Masks are mandatory at all times. Yes, that means during conditioning classes, even.

- No adults are allowed inside the studio.

- Everybody has to dance inside their taped off square, which puts them at least six feet away from any other dancers.

- Class sizes have been cut in half

- Temp and health checks before entry

- Have a break between classes? That's fine, but you're going to have to go outside during that time.

And lots more. It's almost as if places that stand to lose a ton of money if they contribute to the spread of COVID are making choices that reduce that risk. CRAZINESS.

Anyway, all of that was enough for me to decide that the girls could return to in-person classes. We all have to manage risks as we see fit and the whole scenario is feeling pretty low risk.

So far, so good.

Alexis, of course, has ALL OF THE CLASSES. She thinks that is wonderful and fantastic. I complained about her having classes all of the time while we were at the beach, but she was all, "This is so great! I don't have to miss anything because I can participate via Zoom!" Truly, she loves every minute of every class. It's pretty great.

Mila loves her classes, too. I will continue to pretend to be happy about this fact for Mila's sake, but really I"m irritated that she isn't screaming at the top of her lungs for basketball. I need one kid to love basketball. It would be so fantastic and wonderful. I'm willing to settle for the short kid! AND YET.

It's all Alexis' fault. If it weren't for her, Mila would never have discovered a love for dance. I'm convinced.

ANYWAY.

Both girls are happy with their classes, but Alexis is most especially SUPER! DUPER! HAPPY! because she gets to student teach this year. As luck would have it, she student teaches Mila's tap/ballet class. This may be the first and last time the girls need to be in at the same place at the same time, so I'm enjoying every second of the convenience, even as Alexis enjoys every second of being called, "Miss Alexis."

Seriously. That's her favorite thing about student teaching. Not only does she feel super awesome when the teachers treat her like a peer, but she gets to have a bunch of little kids refer to her as Miss Alexis and she thinks it's the best. Her over-the-top glowing about this fact is how it came to be that Mila started calling her own sister "Miss Alexis."

I don't know why, but the whole thing has me picturing 16-year old Alexis driving her baby sister to dance class while her baby sister says, "Thank you, Miss Alexis!" It's ... a lot.

Day One Hundred Ninety-Two

In case it isn't already obvious, we have most definitely returned from the beach. Is that me you hear sobbing and wailing about that? YES, IT IS. It's Mila, too, but for different reasons. While that child probably should spend the rest of her life squealing with delight as waves gently lap at her ankles, I'm mostly full of the sads because I think this means I have to acknowledge that summer is over.

Dammit.

I know a lot of people are doing their best to wish away all things 2020, but I am here to declare that the summer of 2020, in a lot of ways, was the best summer ever.

Bear with me a second. I do realize how crazy that sounds, but y'all ... time stood still in the summer of 2020.

While I wouldn't ever want to repeat all of the nervousness and uncertainty, and I certainly wish the 200,000+ Americans who have lost their lives were still with us, there was a special kind of magic to the world coming to a standstill. The girls didn't have any activities. School became far less structured and scheduled. There was nowhere we needed to be. We had all these things on calendars and time blocked off for this and that, but it all vanished. All of it. *poof*

Not being able to go anywhere contributed to the magic. Instead of spending hours in a crowded mall, days shoving our way through crowds at amusement parks, and weeks crammed into convention centers, we spent the time in the woods. Leisurely hikes became the highlight of the week. The hikes were bookended with hours on the trampoline, days in the pool, and weeks of yard work. Even the simple act of me not needing to commute 15 minutes to and from the office each day added up to an extra half hour to just let summer be summer.

So much just stopped. The things that filled the gaps were gifts.

The summer of 2020 was a heaping dumpster fire of stupid in a lot of ways, but the little moments that happened close to me were worth their weight in gold. Mila chasing frogs, Alexis spending hours in the playhouse reading. A giant swing that got used so much it already needs to be replaced. Muddy feet and tan lines and wild hair and the fact that Mila hasn't worn real shoes in months.

Time just ... stood still. Now I need to figure out how to bottle up a little of that magic and bring it to our lives all of the time.