We’re down to 11 days of school.  This school year seems to have gone by faster than others.  Maybe it’s because we’ve been doing a similar routine for a couple years, or because the girls are older and they understand life in general better, or because I’ve had other things occupying my mind, or a combination of those things and more.  Where it seemed to be a daily struggle to get the girls off to school and then home from school on a daily basis, mornings and afternoons run much smoother now.  And, while our evenings have been packed with activities, we’ve managed to keep up with all of our commitments.  So, maybe it’s a “time flies when you’re having” sort of thing.  Whatever the reason, we’re almost to the end of the school year.   

Dee Dee had a doctor’s appointment a couple weeks ago and it was suggested that we wear masks.  It was the first time that either of us had worn one in a while.  Dee Dee commented on how difficult it was to breathe while wearing a mask.  The mask just made me recall the experience of smelling my own breath for a couple years.  We still have a box of masks sitting in our living room.  Both my wife and i have commented on how we don’t need the box of masks sitting out like we used to.  But, neither of us has made any effort to move the box out of site.  Perhaps I’ll do that soon. 

Dee Dee had a birthday party a couple Saturdays ago.  It was scaled back quite a bit from previous parties in that instead of inviting everyone from her classroom and then some, she only invited a handful of kids, most of them from her Advanced Learner reading group.  Two of the invitees were from her Girl Scout Troop.  The week before the party, one of the boys from the reading group was mean to both Dee Dee and Audio at the playground.  So, I spoke with the boy’s father, and things were smoothed out in time for the boy and his twin sister to attend the party.  And, two days before the party, Dee Dee quit Girl Scouts.  But the party went well for the most part.  We held the party at the park near our house as she’s requested for the past few years.  So, I assume that memories of this party will be blended in with the last few.   

Audio is playing tee ball and Dee Dee is playing softball this year.  I’m coaching Dee Dee’s team.  After a few weeks, I’ve managed to get the schedules worked out so that just about everyone is happy.  Both girls have practice on Tuesday nights, one after the other.  Tee ball games are on Thursdays, and softball on Fridays.  Now that taekwondo is over and swimming never started (the pool heater was broken) and Dee Dee quit scouts, we only have these two activities.  But, with coaching Dee Dee’s team, it’s busy enough.  The softball team has only had one game, which got rained out.  And tee ball had one game that I wasn’t able to go to because I was coaching softball that night.  By the end of last night’s practice, Dee Dee had crossed an important milestone of NOT catching a ball with her mouth for the first time.  Neither girl really understands “baseball” because baseball isn’t on TV anymore. 

I haven’t been chronicling this school year like I did last year.  One reason is that there haven’t been any really interesting things happening.  Sure, there are bad kids in both girls’ classes who are entertaining enough.  Like, the girl in Dee Dee’s class who jumped in the wading pool near the grade school, with all of her clothing on.  Or, the ever-changing circle of friends that Audio is in with one day and on the outs the next.  But I think that the bulk of the days have just flowed, flavorlessly together.  And that’s fine because that’s how life looks from a distance.  

Our family experienced as many illnesses as we did in the other closer-to-COVID years.  But other than a health issue that I’ve been dealing with for over half a year, nothing extraordinary happened.  When the girls went back to school last year, and the masks were removed, our family had a variety of colds that we passed around.  I think I recall both girls missing a couple days this year due to illness.  But it hasn’t been chronic like it was previously.  

I would say that there is an element of just keeping our heads down and getting through the end of the year at this point.  While both girls are unsure about leaving their current grade, neither girl is incredibly happy with how things are going at school, but they get up, put on a brave face, and go to school every day.  Dee Dee will have a theater program that’ll keep her busy from noon to four, four days per week for the first few weeks of summer.  And Audio is at an age where I think we’ll be able to find things that we both enjoy doing to do together.  If there isn’t much written from here on out, it’ll be because things are going well.