August wasn’t my favorite month ever. Yeah, it was hot, and I know I’m always whining about the heat, but that wasn’t it. For essentially the entire month, we agonized about the kids and school.

Our new series: Nox sitting on stuff.

Early in the month, with COVID cases ramping up again, we applied for virtual school. It sucked, I cried, we began preparing. We bought Ian a desk for his room and started looking for a vaccinated caretaker who could spend at least a few hours every day helping to keep the kids focused on school. I hated everything about it. Last year, Ian basically did kindergarten-lite. He’s told me over and over again how he was looking forward to going to school and making friends. Maya, who desperately needs to learn how to deal with social situations, had been largely deprived of the opportunity for a year and a half. Our jobs have suffered. Our mental health has suffered. This was, we felt, a necessary but terrible choice.

We listened to a Zoom presentation the school principal gave on all the safety measures at their school. She couldn’t guarantee mask compliance, but they were doing so many things to try and keep the kids distanced. Outdoor classes sometimes, improved ventilation, outdoor lunches, regular hand washing. Plus, we learned that the virtual option was being provided at the district level – they wouldn’t have teachers from their own school. And we (understandably) had to commit to a full semester – no popping back to in-person school if vaccines became available in the fall. In the great state of Texas, the schools were forbidden from mandating masks, and the delta variant has been so terrifically contagious. We wanted badly for our kids to go in person – THEY wanted to badly to go in person – but we just weren’t sure.

Hank and Lumos.

And then the AISD superintendent decided to mandate masks at her district anyway. Given the political climate here, we decided we’d have to behave as if that mandate could go away at any time. After so, so many conversations over the risks versus the benefits, we eventually decided to level up our kids’ masks (they had been using surgical masks; Sean supplied them with KF-94 masks instead), and send them for in-person school. And to be perfectly blunt, I have been second-guessing the wisdom of that decision ever since.

So, we all got brave and masked up to attend back-to-school night in person. The kids met their respective teachers in person. Maya saw some of her friends, who recognized her even though she was wearing a mask. It was so weird. And good. And nerve-wracking.

Fancy camping. That cabin is air-conditioned.

On the last weekend before school started, we packed up the Outback with all the camping and swimming supplies we could possibly want (and still had a little room to spare), and we spent the weekend at Inks Lake in a little cabin right by the water. We reheated or reconstituted our food. Maya and Ian caught bugs and little fish to their hearts’ content. Sean and I parked our butts in lawn chairs in the lake and sipped beverages while the kids played all day long in the calm water. One of my favorite things was that the little minnows (or whatever) would nibble at our feet as we sat. Poor Maya wanted so badly to have them nibble her feet too, but she has such a hard time holding still. Ian was pleased at how far he could swim out while wearing his life jacket.

The kids had one last day on Monday with their beloved summer babysitter, Oriana. She and the kids had planned a Dragon City party (some iPad game they all play), and they painted and played games and had WAY too much junk food and generally gave Oriana a nice send off.

Back to school, 2021.

Then on Tuesday, for the first time in a year and a half, our kids went to school in person. Ian finally got to use the backpack and lunch bag we had bought for him before kindergarten. For a whole variety of reasons, we have chosen to pick the kids up right away after school rather than have them hang out in after school care. To differentiate our white car from the dozens of other white cars in the pickup line, we stuck some fun stickers on the back passenger window – an octopus for Maya and a guitar for Ian. They tell me it helps them see our car, so I guess it’s working.

By all reports, the two of them are so happy to be back. Maya has been good about saying hello to her old teachers (something she used to refuse to do #reasons), and she talks about playing with some of her friends from earlier grades. Ian has been learning the ropes and seems to be making lots of friends and adapting well.

Our long-haired, pink-purple-rainbow-sparkles loving boy has already been bullied once. He was shoved off the running track by some boy who accused him of looking like a girl. Sean and I were both expecting it at some point, but not already in first grade and during the first week of school, no less. He has bounced back with a quickness though and says that boy doesn’t bother him any more. Maybe I can assume it was a good teaching moment and now that other kid is a more open-minded soul.

Monarch caterpillar systematically devouring all the leaves from a tropical milkweed plant.

Around the house, we have enjoyed some new wildlife. I have three different kinds of milkweed planted around the back yard in hopes of attracting monarch butterflies. We have had a couple of them flying around from time to time, but this month, we actually have had a caterpillar! They are so interesting looking. I’ve hunted around a little for a chrysalis, but I haven’t found one so far. We have also had a tiger swallowtail butterfly and a cute little green anole lizard in the back yard as well. The kids were excited to find a cicada on our mailbox who was actually freshly emerging from his shell.

Sean and I have tried a few date nights over the summer – just little things – meeting a pair of friends for an outdoor dinner, a masked and socially distanced movie. In August when things started getting bad, we decided we’d keep it small. Just us, a quick shopping trip since we were both needing clothes, and outdoor dinner. We went to sort of an outdoor mall. To our surprise (especially to me – I don’t get out much), everything closed earlier than expected – we’re assuming due to either staffing shortages or stores trying to manage their expenses in a tough economy. It was kind of weird. And then we went to a restaurant with outdoor seating, and other than the hostess, not a single soul was wearing a mask. We couldn’t figure it out. Don’t they watch the local news? We had nearly canceled date night given the horrible case counts and the full-to-capacity ICUs. Out on the sidewalks it was like a ghost town. And inside (or outside on the patio), it was all business as usual.

The covid statistics are just straight up terrible these days. Every time I look at them (daily), I rethink this back to in-person school decision.Percentage of US population that has been fully vaccinated (49.5% as of 7/31, 53.8% as of 9/15). Travis County – 07/30 89,433 cases and 900 deaths – 09/15 111,361 cases and 1038 deaths. Texas – 08/01 3,142,184 cases and 53,296 deaths – 09/15 3,890,444 cases and 60,830 deaths. United States – 08/01 35,002,148 cases and 613,224 deaths – 09/15 41,535,666 cases and 666,598 deaths. The World – 08/01 198,283,776 cases and 4,224,015 deaths – 09/15 226,321,414 cases and 4,658,267 deaths.