Educating the Village

2020, Mar 17    

There are a number of kids in the neighborhood who are now home from school, and will be until next school year. This will be a major change in daily dynamics on the block.

One parent suggested that this week, neighbors put a shamrock up in their window and the kids would walk around the neighborhood and try to find all of the shamrocks. We couldn’t find any tape, so we got creative about putting our shamrock up.

This might become a weekly activity for me and my neighbors, with a different theme for every week.

I saw another family on the way to the market who took their kids to the park. In my neighborhood — not very densely populated and many people with office jobs — the differences in day-to-day life are subtle. You may not immediately notice the people who say hi on the street standing six feet away from each other. You may not immediately notice that it isn’t just some kids home during the school day, it is all kids. You may not immediate notice that the stores are having a stocking challenge, but if you go to the store a couple of times a week, you’ll notice some items are replenishing, but others are not.

So what do we do to keep joyful?

Take walks, I’m playing with a language learning app, watching some learning videos. I’m working a more-or-less typical work day and encouraging video as much as possible with my colleagues.

And trying to connect with friends and family as much as I can. Because we’ll need each other to get through this, even if we are at a distance.