I wrote this post back in February. Still true today. Don’t know why I never hit “post” on it.

Are y’all tired? I am. I’ve been trying to do the whole Instagram, happy thing, look on the bright side, look at my adorable kid and dog! But reality…I’m tired. I’m also a big fan of not comparing someone else’s “highlight reel” to my own life, so make no mistake, my life is mine alone. Not something to be held up in esteem or used as a “whew, at least things aren’t that bad” moment. That said, let’s just do some real, 2021 talk.

My sister posted a Meme today. The one that says, “So, what is everyone wearing to the one year anniversary of ‘Two Weeks to Flatten the Curve?’” Just pause for a moment from wherever you are and think on that. The sheer volume of division in daily life experiences from 11 months ago is staggering. What state do you live in? Okay…next questions…what is your daily life like? Do your kids go to actual school? Can you go out to eat with a friend while the aforementioned children are in school? Or can you stop by the YMCA for a workout? Can you book a weekend away with a girlfriend, another couple, your family? Our reality in these “United” States is that we are no longer united. We now live freely or in chains in accordance with our state governments. Should your beliefs not align with your state government’s dictates, then you are most likely living a secret life. Perhaps you meet friends in backyards, away from prying eyes. Perhaps you go to a favorite restaurant and do not fill out their Gestapo registration form. At what point do we rise up as individuals with our Constitutional inalienable rights?

I live in a “free state”…meaning that our Governor has allowed our state to open up, for months. Restaurants, Public Spaces, Theme Parks, Events, etc. We are down here in FL living a “normal” life, while reading about all the rest of the country, who seems to be wondering when “normal” life resumes. Honey, we’ve been living it for months. The problem isn’t CoVid. The problem is your state government. Start paying attention. Personally, my homeschooled daughter and I gather weekly (multi-weekly) with our personally known, homeschooled friends – parks, zoos, aquariums, etc. We constantly mention how sad it is that all of our FB friends from everywhere other than here seem to have to justify every single thing they do…”We took this picture while socially distanced,” “We only took our masks off for the photo,” and on and on and on. I’m exhausted just by your justifications! Are you not exhausted for having to make them? I don’t care what you do, when you do it, or how you do it. Your choices are your choices. Stay home if you feel it necessary. Wear a mask everywhere. Don’t wear a mask. Get the vaccine. Don’t get the vaccine. I love you all, but for reals, when do we get to back to living our OWN lives?

Next soapbox…While I do not have to contend with the absolute horror and travesty of “Virtual Schooling,” I am eyes wide open to the detriment it is doing to our youth. Kids are resilient. Kids will recoup. But at what cost? My daughter is in a formal, homeschool program with a one day/week, in class instruction. Today was one of several this year that was co-opted by outer circumstances, so today was Zoom. While her Teacher was phenomenal over Zoom, I could see just in 90 minutes how much less my daughter took in vs her weekly, in person experience. And this is a program that I mostly ignore during the other 6 days of the week. I cannot even imagine the horror of my daughter actually trying to learn over Zoom class for her daily, necessary instruction. Are you all insane? That’s a real question, sweet friends? Do you truly, really think that this is WORKING for your kids? And if it’s not, why the h*(@ are you not rising up? What happened to the days of the pitchforks? What happened to our backbone? What happened to our belief that WE control our own destiny? As a homeschool mom, the only change we experienced in our FL life was a few short months where we did not get together with our normal HS group. The End. After about 3 months, a few families were sick of that, began meeting together again, and we’ve basically lived a normal life since last summer. I speak to my friends from all over the world, and I absolutely weep after I get off the phone. IF YOU DON’T THINK THE LIFE YOU ARE LIVING IS ACCEPTABLE, THEN START SPEAKING OUT LOUD.

We are living in climate where speaking “your truth” is supposed to be the absolute ideal, yet my feeling in many conversations with people from all walks of life is an absolute fear of speaking your truth. And this message is truly coming from all walks of life. Why? Supposedly, we still have freedom of speech. So what are you afraid of? Losing friends? If your friends don’t either (1) like what you have to say, or (2) love you in spite of what you have to say, then they ARE NOT your friends. And they deserve zero consideration or place in your life. Because boundaries.

I’ve spent the day reflecting on an entire generation of kids who are not homeschooled, yet have now spent 12 months on Virtual Learning. Friends, THIS is the CoVid nightmare. We are losing a generation of kids. Every single week that kids are not participating in soul contact learning is another week that our entire society loses. Science matters…except when science is also tied to politics and unions and votes…and then…neither science nor children matter. What matters is the almighty bottom line – power or money…or both. What’s extremely clear is that very few states are putting children and learning first.