FALLING OUT OF ROUTINE

I have my six-year-old daughter half the time. The last 18 months was a sort of weird multi-generational co-working space where I’d work at my computer while she did learning apps on her tablet. I was able to keep to a homeschool routine most of the time: Wake up earlyish, do our work or learning, get exercise, play games.

That was until January this year when I got covid, and it took months for me to properly get off the couch. We lost any sense of routine and it was hard to crawl back to that. So our routine descended into pyjamas all day and binging Muppet Babies as “home school” because it taught… I don’t know… movie references? Emotional growth? It was a stretch.

CREATING ROUTINE

So starting school in August was a rude awakening. I had her coming to my bedroom to wake me up the whole pandemic, but now I’m the earlier riser. I get her up at 6am and she fights it like a teenager.

We suddenly didn’t have as much freedom to take her time, pick her outfit, etc. I realized I was giving orders, and it’s not fun for either of us. 

Getting dressed became a whole hassle because she’d gotten used to throwing on a summer dress or an Elsa costume – depending on the mood. As we’ve gone through her wardrobe, I released that we’d both grown out of a lot of clothes this year. For her, it is height-based; for me, it is non-height based. 

I realized she needed all the basics from pre-school rebought: backpacks, lunchboxes, every type of clothing. Since school had already started, nearly everything was sold out. After various trips foraging for clothing, we got there in the end.

THE DROP-OFF

Dropping her off at school is also an ordeal. LAUSD has a new covid process. It means weekly covid tests, masks obviously, and a daily symptom survey that generates a QR code to be let in. 

It’s all very comforting that this is in place, but when you’re standing outside trying to log in on your phone with spotty reception, knowing that the no parking sign wants you moved in two minutes, while a 6-year-old is trying to ask you if a dragon is a lion who walked through fire. It’s a bit overwhelming.

Ultimately, on the successful days when we are fed, dressed, masked, and on time, she goes through the gate and into a world I cannot see. I drop her off at a chain-linked fence to a masked stranger, after a year where it was mostly just me and her together at home. I was so focused on the Covid stuff, I didn’t even process that starting school is a milestone for us both until we were separated. 

There’s a quote by Elizabeth Stone that deciding to be a parent is to decide to “forever have your heart go walking around outside your body.” As I saw my masked offspring walk off into the school grounds without me,  it never felt more true.

LABOR DAY

After 3 weeks, we finally had the routine down, but getting out of bed early is still a problem. Then our schedule is interrupted by Labor Day’s 5 day weekend. I think we’re going to get away with a sleep-in, but of course, that Friday off becomes the first day she springs out of bed at 6 am.