School it is!

~ paeansunplugged

The consent form for offline classes lies open on the desktop. To send or not to send is the dilemma we face. Our fourteen year old was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes a few months ago. He is excited at the idea of going back to school finally. But should we expose him to the possibility of infection? Is it worth the risk! I can’t overlook the fact that he is listless and inattentive during online classes. Missing live interaction with teachers and classmates. The most voluble student with a hundred queries now skulks in the virtual classroom.

He decides it is time for him to reclaim his life. With masks and sanitizers and the school staff completely vaccinated, we are ready to take a chance, albeit with trepidation!

The sun still burning
clouds chasing each other
could children do so

Written for dVerse. Frank Tassone says: Whether you begin a new school year yourself, you send your first (or last) to college, or you recall your own back to school adventures, write your haibun alluding to back to school!

Advertisement

76 thoughts on “School it is!”

  1. Hon, I do not know if this is fiction or not. If it is not fiction, I am sending you love and my best wishes. May everyone in your family be safe. It it is fiction, it touches all of us and it speaks to all of us. One way or another there are tears in my eyes.
    Thank you for writing this touching piece.
    xoxo

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

      3. Let’s hope vaccination for kids is going to come soon. Until then as you said , the school took precautions. Punam, I wish him a wonderful school here and please everyone stay safe. Much love hon 🥰❤️🥰❤️

        Liked by 1 person

  2. Punam, such a difficult decision! At fourteen, I think it is his decision, with your guidance, of course!

    The haiku is touching. We all long for a normal life for our children.

    I hope your son is healthy, happy, and motivated in his studies, and I wish your family all the best! ❤ ❤ ❤

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  5. Covid makes sending our children off to school all the more traumatic. I feel your concern. Hopefully he’ll be safe and enjoying company and competition of classmates.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  6. A brave decision but at 14 he needs to have a say… And I think you are making a tough but right decision to let him attend in person. Wishing him safety and health (and a dose of courage for you)!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  7. any child over 11 years are entitled to make their own choices, and here we are hearing that this longer term isolation from peers has real MH complications. So back his decision wholeheartedly and see what unfolds 🙂 Nice haibun 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. best to vent than bottle it inside and now you have loads of aunties and uncles weighing in on the debate 🙂 Do hope it helped and didn’t confuse, take care sis 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  9. Life as we knew it, is not going to be normal again, the new world is complicated and different and I’m afraid we all have to adjust, cope, and accept the challenges of these future changes to our lifestyles …

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  11. My heart popped out of my chest and spread all the way to Delhi and to you and your son. LOOOOOAAADDDDS of love (like the jaadoo-ki-jhappi) and may there be a protective love-shield (aka Harry Potter) around him.
    I feel you!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  16. It’s definitely a tough decision. Especially for kids his age. They are really missing out on some amazing school memories. I got the consent form as well, but the decision was a bit easy for me. I am in 11th, and preparing for NEET, there is no point for me to go. I really feel bad for the young ones. I really hope that they start vaccination for below 18 as well. Take care Punam❤ xoxo

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  23. Oh, my! A rather unfortunate situation for your little boy. A difficult dilemma indeed. I hope your son is doing much better now and heals from this nasty disease! If I had the chance to attend the one year of missed offline classes, I’ll be totally in to do so. Online classes didn’t work for me at all, similar to your son. I hope he’s safe and comfortable in the classroom ambience. One simply does not learn in online classes! But Ofcourse, health comes first. I wish him good health and the very best in academics! 🙏🤍

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. He is doing much better, Sahana. There is no healing from Type 1 diabetes. It is a lifelong disease.
      He starts from next Monday and I am hoping all will go well.
      Gratitude for your best wishes. 🙏🏼❤️

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  24. That’s so hard. We just finished 2 weeks of quarantine because there were cases at the school my older kids go to. I’m dreading schools being opened again here, even though home schooling 3 kids is driving me crazy – I can imagine how scary it is for you to let him go back to school. I’m not looking forward to making that decision for my 13 yr olds.
    I hope you and your son stay safe and healthy. ❤

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Grateful for your best wishes. Here the schools have been closed since April 2020. They opened briefly for 10th and 12th class in Feb-March this year to close again in April. But we have had online classes throughout. Home schooling would drive me crazy too. 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  26. The school staff completely vaccinated sounds promising. I understanding your fear, but kids need to reclaim their life. If not, they’ll get depressed, then we’ll wonder what we’ve done.
    I’m scared too but B has been going to kindergarten from day 1. It’s better that way.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. He is a teenager and has been moody these past few months. I know his condition has exacerbated the situation, so we felt we must make the most of this opportunity. Keeping my fingers crossed.
      Good to know B is attending school. Here the problem is of too many. Thankfully not too many kids have opted for offline classes. So the school will not be overcrowded.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.