I had all these plans for the summer. Or, at least I had planned to make some summer plans. And yet, here we are, just one week away from when children in BC go back to school again. I know that some kids have already gone back to school, like in certain parts of the United States. In some ways, that’s a preview of what we, as parents, can expect with the return to full-time, in-classroom learning again in a few days. I have feelings about that.

What’s Old Is New Again

Now, it’s clear enough that the back to school season can be both stressful and exciting at the best of times. I know I had a lot of anxieties and worries before my daughter started kindergarten a couple years ago. These are all the “normal” worries that most parents and caregivers can expect. But, when you throw in what we’ve all had to endure and experience these past 18 months or so, it’s a whole other thing altogether.

Her kindergarten school year effectively got cut short in March, as she didn’t get to return to the classroom after spring break. And while she was able to return to in-classroom learning at the school for first grade, I never got to see the inside of her classroom all school year. It was weird and everything was uncertain. Somehow, most of us persevered through one of the strangest school years ever.

And just as we thought we were about to see light at the end of the tunnel, with vaccine rollouts and a general re-opening of society, the delta variant throws us all into a tailspin. So, here we are again. Except, this time around, we’re far more worse for wear, with pandemic fatigue weighing heavily on everyone.

Is This Better or Worse?

As I look back to the blog post I wrote around this time last year, I almost laugh at how naïve I was. Even then, we thought we were inching toward a return to normalcy. At the time, I expressed concern and discomfort at the fact that the new daily case count in BC “ballooned up to about 40 new confirmed cases per day.” Meanwhile, we’re averaging about 15 times that now, with a rolling average of 674 new cases per day.

Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.

With thousands of active cases, nearly 200 people in the hospital across the province, and hundreds of new daily cases, we’re definitely in a worse spot than we were at this same time last year. This is all very alarming. At the same time, over three-quarters (76.4%) of eligible people in BC have received their second dose of the vaccine, and 84.2% have received their first dose. It’s true that fully vaccinated individuals are less likely to catch it and, if they do, they’re less likely to experience more serious symptoms.

Planning on Back to School Plans…

But, the kicker is that “eligible people” bit, because it doesn’t include children under the age of 12. In other words, just about all the children in elementary school. And the BC government’s published plans for this school year remove some of the precautions we had last year, like “learning groups” (cohorts). Masks are required for grades 4 to 12, but not K-3.

COVID-19 safe schools - Province of British Columbia government

What does this mean for playground and lunch time? Are they intermingling what were once separate cohorts, then? What about extracurricular activities? The government website says, “Larger indoor activities like school assemblies or multiple classes in a gym must follow current province-wide and regional restrictions.” I don’t know how I feel about that.

On the one hand, most of us know about many of the best practices we’ve been doing for months now. Social distancing, frequent handwashing, wearing masks, and so on. On the other hand, just about everyone is tired of this group project and people are losing their resolve. This isn’t easy.

Back to School Shopping List

All this being said, I don’t have the answers. I never claimed that I did. Realistically, all I have are more questions that no one can really answer at this point. So, the best thing we can do is prepare ourselves and, as we’ve been doing, be prepared to adapt as we go. If you’re looking for some last minute back to school shopping, some of these items would probably come in handy.

Oh, and vaccines for kids would be great too. Let’s hope we see a bit more light at the end of the tunnel soon.

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