Thank Elliot for sharing your story! I don't have kids or grandkids, but I donhave nieces nephews and great/grand nieces and nephews that are a huge part of my life, that I helped my siblings reaise. I have also worked and volunteered with youth and young folks in my church and community! I have a genuine love and concern for children. I worry about their future too. I pray for parents to be strong and wise and persevere in getting and doing what is best for their children. It is not an easy road to travel! GOD blessings to all of you!
Thank you for such a thoughtful piece. I have said throughout this pandemic that my greatest concern was for the children and how this has been affecting them. Thankfully now many of the 12 and ups have been vaccinated. Masks are essential until we get through this in my estimation.
I recently wrote a letter to the editor to our local newspaper. It was titled "Thankful for a Lifetime of Vaccines". In it I explained that my mother took me from Canada to England when I was 8. And when we tried to return to Canada, I wasn't allowed to re-enter Canada unless I had a smallpox shot. Probably my mother had to have the shot too. I also said I was thankful that I received the polio shot when I was 12. The final sentence in my letter is "I will feel so relieved when everyone has been offered the vaccine including the children when it is proven safe for them".
So very beautifully written!!! What a gift you have. And should we hear--yes, hear--what you have to say and act with care when we in the community and in our government make decisions that affect each and every one of us what a gift we can pass on--to our children, to our family, to our community and to the rest of this interconnected world. This gift of caring for one another that we humans have such capacity to offer.
We are now at the point where we need to choose between potential disease or the impact of continued isolation for our youngest people. Last year's ad hoc experiment in online learning did not go well for most despite the herculean efforts of parents, teachers and administrators. My small sample of family experience ranged from a teen in the early college program who never wants to go back on ground, through disinterested tweens with futures in circumventing IT systems, to a six year old twins who enjoyed online learning much more than their mother or teachers.
The only one old enough for the vaccine is the teen who has long haul COVID and cannot get the shot yet. The rest are too young. So like everyone else, I am terrified for our little ones.
Elliot, I am thankful you took the time to write this and I relate to you more than I can express. During the early months of the pandemic, my wife and I struggled intensely juggling our new responsibilities. We felt extremely aware of the concerns not just for our family's physical health, but our mental health as well.
Our children are young, currently 4 and 7. My son, the oldest, ended kindergarten and began 1st grade at home. Our daughter, thankfully, has been able to return to her in-home Montessori for the last year. Our son missed his friends for months while no one knew what was ok to do. Returning to 1st grade and finishing the year at school was pivotal to his development. As was attending camps this summer. He's made new friendships and he's excited to go back to school.
And guess what neither kid cares about - masks! Wearing one isn't a problem, never has been. I believe that my wife and I are lucky that our kids are young as this pandemic has raged on. They're adaptable to new behaviors, they still listen to us about (about the really important things), and they understand that us being safe isn't about us alone, it's about being safe for everyone. But, like you said, these kids are part of a defining moment in their generation. This is something they'll never forget. It'll be a thing that literally will define them as a whole.
I am a Millennial. My older cousins are Gen X. Our children don't have a generational name yet, that I'm aware of, but I suspect it'll be something like Generation C (for COVID-19), as much of their young lives have been affected in unforeseen ways.
Despite all this, I remain cautiously optimistic. I believe that for the most part every generation improves upon the last. I believe this pandemic will make these kids resilient, tenacious, loving, and mindful. They'll care more about relationships and the efforts needed to maintain them, despite challenges and distance. (And that's not to even acknowledge the parallel understandings that Black Lives Matter and the realities of George Floyd's murder have made on these kids.)
I spent some time writing reflective pieces much like your own, one of which was on Medium about finding how to be zen during all this (https://michaelrm.medium.com/how-the-pandemic-has-made-me-more-zen-2411abb2aaa6). If I take anything away personally, it's my appreciation for slowing down and adapting to reality.
I hope we will all be better over the long term because of this. I hope, because I don't know what happens if we don't improve.
Thank you for sharing your story. I am a preschool teacher and I have witnessed the effect it has had on them. They were not sure how to engage with each other, it took a couple of weeks before they starting playing together. They lost over a year of learning and creativity. I know that it will take time. I have seen the effect on my mother. She is 81. To basically be confined to home, not engage with friends has been hard for her. Now she really doesn't want to go outside of home and her surroundings. Her doctor has seen this with many older patients. I feel she lost some of her spunk. Will there ever be a normal life, I hope do but I am not sure. Thank you again
My own children are grown and live out of state (I am in Vermont), but I am a child care provider that continued to stay open when most everything else was closing down. I was very worried about how "my kiddos" were going to deal with all the stresses put on them. Within the first month of the pandemic I realized how stressed one of the children in my care was when he had a difficult time looking at me because I had not put on all of my makeup. In the past year the children in my care and I have helped each other get through some very stressful times. My favorite comment from this past year was from a child in my care. He said to me "I don't know how you do it" When I asked "do what?" He said "make everyone smile."
I don't make any decisions without thinking of the children in my care.
Thank you Mr. Kirschner for your thoughtful and heartfelt writing. I have four beautiful grandchildren and feel that they MUST live in a world where there is hope and optimism, even during the most difficult times. I taught special needs students for forty-one years and always knew that every child is special. (Thank you Fred Rogers) A note to fellow subscribers- please keep sharing your comments on this forum that Mr. Rather
and Mr. Kirschner have created. Your comments demonstrate that love and kindness will prevail with the persistence and determination of people like yourselves.
Elliott your words resonate deeply. This is a time we will never forget. Let's take all the good parts of what we have learnt with us about ourselves and each other. We should not forget the other parts as these will serve as a reminder not to repeat them. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Kirschner. I do not have children nor grandchildren but I work in a classroom and to see my colleagues at point/pass the point of exhaustion this past year and seeing what we are facing this upcoming school year makes me very sad and afraid. I continue to pray that wisdom will come about with those who use children, "our children" ( and yes, even as a full time teacher, retired, I still call them "my children") as pawns for political gains before it becomes too late.
Elliot, you and others here made me cry. Such a touching and thoughtful telling of life. I have no other words to describe the experience here today but as wonderful.
Thank you so much for your insights, Mr Kirschner. I do not have children or grandchildren, but have watched sadly as the safety of those children, and the experiences they will take away from this period of time, are minimized and made into political chess pieces. It is one of the reasons I was vaccinated, to ensure their safety. I'm deeply saddened that others don't prioritize the children and those that are vulnerable.
I am in my 24th year of teaching. I am teaching a new grade at a new school, for me.
It's hard. We have duty at 7:50 am to ward off the parents. This is my prep time to prepare for the day. I never imagined that part of my job would be to ward off parents not enter the campus and have breakfast with their children. It's very sad. I'm looking forward to seeing them tomorrow as I only started last Thursday. I have a sweet bunch and am looking forward to supporting them. Loving them and making them feel safe.
Thank you for this wonderful piece. It comes on a day when I've learned that my sister and two of her fellow teachers have been summoned for jury duty the first week of school. They have (so far) been denied a postponement. After a year and a half of being out of the classroom, and after suffering hearts breaking for their lower-income students who have not always been able to log in to their classes and have gotten so far behind they may never catch up...THIS!
Thanks, Elliot. I'm the grandmother in this story, watching my daughter navigate these waters with our first grandchild who has spent half his life under the pandemic. Will he attend preschool? How will his generation ever feel fully safe? You express our thoughts and worries beautifully.
Beautiful piece, Elliot. Thank you for sharing your life. Being without progeny, I must live vicariously through others’. Just loved it.
Thank Elliot for sharing your story! I don't have kids or grandkids, but I donhave nieces nephews and great/grand nieces and nephews that are a huge part of my life, that I helped my siblings reaise. I have also worked and volunteered with youth and young folks in my church and community! I have a genuine love and concern for children. I worry about their future too. I pray for parents to be strong and wise and persevere in getting and doing what is best for their children. It is not an easy road to travel! GOD blessings to all of you!
Thank you for such a thoughtful piece. I have said throughout this pandemic that my greatest concern was for the children and how this has been affecting them. Thankfully now many of the 12 and ups have been vaccinated. Masks are essential until we get through this in my estimation.
I recently wrote a letter to the editor to our local newspaper. It was titled "Thankful for a Lifetime of Vaccines". In it I explained that my mother took me from Canada to England when I was 8. And when we tried to return to Canada, I wasn't allowed to re-enter Canada unless I had a smallpox shot. Probably my mother had to have the shot too. I also said I was thankful that I received the polio shot when I was 12. The final sentence in my letter is "I will feel so relieved when everyone has been offered the vaccine including the children when it is proven safe for them".
So very beautifully written!!! What a gift you have. And should we hear--yes, hear--what you have to say and act with care when we in the community and in our government make decisions that affect each and every one of us what a gift we can pass on--to our children, to our family, to our community and to the rest of this interconnected world. This gift of caring for one another that we humans have such capacity to offer.
We are now at the point where we need to choose between potential disease or the impact of continued isolation for our youngest people. Last year's ad hoc experiment in online learning did not go well for most despite the herculean efforts of parents, teachers and administrators. My small sample of family experience ranged from a teen in the early college program who never wants to go back on ground, through disinterested tweens with futures in circumventing IT systems, to a six year old twins who enjoyed online learning much more than their mother or teachers.
The only one old enough for the vaccine is the teen who has long haul COVID and cannot get the shot yet. The rest are too young. So like everyone else, I am terrified for our little ones.
Elliot, I am thankful you took the time to write this and I relate to you more than I can express. During the early months of the pandemic, my wife and I struggled intensely juggling our new responsibilities. We felt extremely aware of the concerns not just for our family's physical health, but our mental health as well.
Our children are young, currently 4 and 7. My son, the oldest, ended kindergarten and began 1st grade at home. Our daughter, thankfully, has been able to return to her in-home Montessori for the last year. Our son missed his friends for months while no one knew what was ok to do. Returning to 1st grade and finishing the year at school was pivotal to his development. As was attending camps this summer. He's made new friendships and he's excited to go back to school.
And guess what neither kid cares about - masks! Wearing one isn't a problem, never has been. I believe that my wife and I are lucky that our kids are young as this pandemic has raged on. They're adaptable to new behaviors, they still listen to us about (about the really important things), and they understand that us being safe isn't about us alone, it's about being safe for everyone. But, like you said, these kids are part of a defining moment in their generation. This is something they'll never forget. It'll be a thing that literally will define them as a whole.
I am a Millennial. My older cousins are Gen X. Our children don't have a generational name yet, that I'm aware of, but I suspect it'll be something like Generation C (for COVID-19), as much of their young lives have been affected in unforeseen ways.
Despite all this, I remain cautiously optimistic. I believe that for the most part every generation improves upon the last. I believe this pandemic will make these kids resilient, tenacious, loving, and mindful. They'll care more about relationships and the efforts needed to maintain them, despite challenges and distance. (And that's not to even acknowledge the parallel understandings that Black Lives Matter and the realities of George Floyd's murder have made on these kids.)
I spent some time writing reflective pieces much like your own, one of which was on Medium about finding how to be zen during all this (https://michaelrm.medium.com/how-the-pandemic-has-made-me-more-zen-2411abb2aaa6). If I take anything away personally, it's my appreciation for slowing down and adapting to reality.
I hope we will all be better over the long term because of this. I hope, because I don't know what happens if we don't improve.
Thank you for sharing your story. I am a preschool teacher and I have witnessed the effect it has had on them. They were not sure how to engage with each other, it took a couple of weeks before they starting playing together. They lost over a year of learning and creativity. I know that it will take time. I have seen the effect on my mother. She is 81. To basically be confined to home, not engage with friends has been hard for her. Now she really doesn't want to go outside of home and her surroundings. Her doctor has seen this with many older patients. I feel she lost some of her spunk. Will there ever be a normal life, I hope do but I am not sure. Thank you again
My own children are grown and live out of state (I am in Vermont), but I am a child care provider that continued to stay open when most everything else was closing down. I was very worried about how "my kiddos" were going to deal with all the stresses put on them. Within the first month of the pandemic I realized how stressed one of the children in my care was when he had a difficult time looking at me because I had not put on all of my makeup. In the past year the children in my care and I have helped each other get through some very stressful times. My favorite comment from this past year was from a child in my care. He said to me "I don't know how you do it" When I asked "do what?" He said "make everyone smile."
I don't make any decisions without thinking of the children in my care.
Thank you Mr. Kirschner for your thoughtful and heartfelt writing. I have four beautiful grandchildren and feel that they MUST live in a world where there is hope and optimism, even during the most difficult times. I taught special needs students for forty-one years and always knew that every child is special. (Thank you Fred Rogers) A note to fellow subscribers- please keep sharing your comments on this forum that Mr. Rather
and Mr. Kirschner have created. Your comments demonstrate that love and kindness will prevail with the persistence and determination of people like yourselves.
Elliott your words resonate deeply. This is a time we will never forget. Let's take all the good parts of what we have learnt with us about ourselves and each other. We should not forget the other parts as these will serve as a reminder not to repeat them. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Kirschner. I do not have children nor grandchildren but I work in a classroom and to see my colleagues at point/pass the point of exhaustion this past year and seeing what we are facing this upcoming school year makes me very sad and afraid. I continue to pray that wisdom will come about with those who use children, "our children" ( and yes, even as a full time teacher, retired, I still call them "my children") as pawns for political gains before it becomes too late.
Elliot, you and others here made me cry. Such a touching and thoughtful telling of life. I have no other words to describe the experience here today but as wonderful.
Thank you so much for your insights, Mr Kirschner. I do not have children or grandchildren, but have watched sadly as the safety of those children, and the experiences they will take away from this period of time, are minimized and made into political chess pieces. It is one of the reasons I was vaccinated, to ensure their safety. I'm deeply saddened that others don't prioritize the children and those that are vulnerable.
I am in my 24th year of teaching. I am teaching a new grade at a new school, for me.
It's hard. We have duty at 7:50 am to ward off the parents. This is my prep time to prepare for the day. I never imagined that part of my job would be to ward off parents not enter the campus and have breakfast with their children. It's very sad. I'm looking forward to seeing them tomorrow as I only started last Thursday. I have a sweet bunch and am looking forward to supporting them. Loving them and making them feel safe.
Thank you for this wonderful piece. It comes on a day when I've learned that my sister and two of her fellow teachers have been summoned for jury duty the first week of school. They have (so far) been denied a postponement. After a year and a half of being out of the classroom, and after suffering hearts breaking for their lower-income students who have not always been able to log in to their classes and have gotten so far behind they may never catch up...THIS!
Thanks, Elliot. I'm the grandmother in this story, watching my daughter navigate these waters with our first grandchild who has spent half his life under the pandemic. Will he attend preschool? How will his generation ever feel fully safe? You express our thoughts and worries beautifully.