Whinypaluza what am I choosing for school for my kids part 2

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Oh my God, how long is he gonna go on and on? Should we have timed it and see how long he could go on?

Who's entering?

Oh, Aunt Sue! Seth, did you get on on Sunday at 11?

I totally forgot.

Okay, Aunt Sue, I took Lily to a little birthday party with two of her friends.

You had me doing something.

And he was supposed to get on at 11 o'clock on Sunday to see the family and talk to you about the weddings. You had 2 children get married, so double mazel tov from us. We're so happy for you. And I can't believe we, um, I can't believe we just missed the call or missed the— yeah, family, the family Zoom.

We can address that later.

Okay, um, Sean Cosmala, T just asked when you were going to be on. Hi, Tegan! Hi, Cosmalas! I love you guys. Ella, come say hi to Tegan. Okay, so Ella's coming to say hi to Teagan. You should sit with us and make—

Hi, Teagan!

Teagan's watching me.

Hi!

Why don't you sit there? No. Okay, they're not interested in me anymore. So Lily is on the computer, Max is upstairs on the computer, and Ella is on her phone.

TikToking.

Oh my God, and I'm worried about them being on the computer all day. Maybe—

Yeah, I think they're good.

We'll talk about that. So The topic this week, part 2. Okay, so we talked about back to school before. We did a blog on back to school before and a vlog. This week the topic is what am I choosing for my kids for school because some stuff has changed, y'all.

I'm here all week.

Oh my God. So by Friday we have to make a decision for each child, and thankfully what I do love about my school district is you You do not have to pick the same thing for all 3 of your children. You may think one child should go back to school and one child shouldn't. So depending on your district, you should probably look into the fact that what's right for one kid might not be right for all of your kids.

You could have a variety pack.

You could have a variety pack and make your life even more complicated than it already is.

Fun and fun.

So we're headed into this new crazy School year. Um, less than ideal school year. I was looking for words. Um, it's, it's going to be an interesting year. Um, I'm going to keep telling you this. I'm going to keep my expectations super low. The less expectations I have, the less disappointments I can have.

See, if you could do that at home, we'd be all set.

I, I think I've gotten better at that. Anyway, we'll talk. We'll talk. That's for another, another week. Um, so, um, I'm keeping my expectations low and I'm also, um, keeping my mind open because at any moment things can change.

That's right.

So, um, we, for our district, we have to choose, are we sending our kids back to school in a hybrid, which for our letters, for our G for green, our kids would go on Monday and Tuesday. For the second half of the alphabet, they would go on Thursday and Friday, and Wednesday is the deep cleaning day at school.

Hybrid school model, not a hybrid car.

Hybrid school model. Thank you for filling in words that I skip. Um, you do not have to send your kids back to school in our district. You can choose to keep them home and do 100% virtual. Um, Seth and I did walk the dog tonight and and have a chance to talk. And we are choosing the hybrid for our children. We are sending them. I was actually—

Passion for life will help keep them healthy.

Stop it. Yes. We'll talk about that too, Seth. So I was just at my children's— I was just at Lily's elementary school handing out yearbooks to parents asking me what I was doing with my children. And I told them obviously what I'm telling you, that I am sending my kids, I am doing the hybrid model. I do think that my kids are not gonna like being virtual all day. As of today, our school is having the kids log in at the start of school and go through their schedule with their teachers. So as of today, they're gonna be on the computer all day. I—

The days that they are not in school.

The days that they're not in school, they're still going to school at home on the computer, live. However, um, things keep changing. Things have changed from last week. Um, I have a feeling next week it might look different. And as I told people tonight, I am not trying to be negative at all, but I'm being realistic. I'm honestly going to be surprised if the kids actually do go back to school. And our—

meaning school physically opens. You'll be surprised if school physically—

I'm going to be surprised if I actually drop my kids at school because I'm not going to use the bus. We don't tend to use the bus and we're really not using the bus this year. Um, so we're going to drop our kids at school, we're going to pick them up, and, um, I'm going to be shocked if school actually opens. Alex agrees, she says me too. Um, I think we're going to go all virtual. I think it's a matter of time, honestly. So we were taking bets tonight. Um, Seth is being really optimistic and thinks they're going to go till Thanksgiving. Is that correct?

That is correct. Max was more optimistic than me and thought we were gonna make it till December.

Okay, well, I don't even know if we're gonna make it through the doors.

You are the most pessimistic.

I had a parent say to me tonight that she's waiting the 2 weeks to see if kids start to get sick, and she does not want her child to be part of the experiment. She wants to see how things go. Then she will—

is an experiment too.

Then she will decide if she's sending her kids back to school.

And I said, you do that. Can you say I'm virtual now and later I'm changing my mind?

So at this At this point in time, so things keep changing, so we have to stay on it. So stay on your district and make sure things haven't changed. I have heard that teachers might not be that optimistic. Teachers are not feeling optimistic. They also have to have enough teachers for school to open, and I'm hearing a lot of teachers don't want to go back. So I'm hearing aides that aren't going back because they have to be home with their children. I'm hearing teachers who don't want to go back, so we actually haven't— have to have enough staff to actually go to school to send our kids to school.

So that's another factor.

That's another factor.

I did not think about that.

So when this woman was talking about the experiment of like, we're going to send our kids to school and see if kids get sick, I said to Seth on our walk tonight, oh my God, are we like the worst parents in the world sending our kids back to school for like an experiment? And he said, I'm going to tell you the same thing I told myself about work. I'm gonna go to work, I'm gonna go back to the office, and I'm gonna actually spend time at the office because I don't know how long I'm gonna have, and I don't know when they're gonna shut it down again. And he's like, and I'm gonna give you the same advice about school, and I'm gonna tell you that while they can be with their teachers and while they can be at school, send them to school, let them be with their teachers, because you know it's gonna get shut down.

Give them some semblance of some type of crazy paranormal normalcy. Before it gets all taken away was my thought.

Okay, so let's talk about decision-making. Yes, because a big part of my blog that I wrote, that I posted, was about decision-making. Um, Seth is actually reading a book on decision-making.

Finish the book.

You finished the book. So we have a very difference of opinion of decision-making. One of the things that I actually used to teach people pre-children was how to make a decision. And I— okay, you didn't know that? It's part of therapy, it's part of counseling. You have to be able to like make decisions.

Yeah, I get that point, I get that.

Um, so you gather your information, you make a list of your pros and cons, you talk— you— part of gathering your information is talking to multiple people. And, um, when— I don't, I don't want to be, um sexist when I say this, but I have noticed typically— I'm not saying every man and every woman—

or we could just talk about us and people could generalize however they want.

Okay, we'll talk about our marriage and us.

Yes.

So I tend to talk to multiple people.

You do a lot more research.

I do a lot of research. He was talking about how we shopped for cars.

Yes. So this very interesting The first, the car dealer delivered cars to our house and we drove them and then they took them back. In my case, the very first car that was delivered to me, I signed on the dotted line and accepted, and I'm very happy with it. How many cars did you test drive, honey? A lot.

I didn't count.

She didn't get— that's not good. So that's more than, hey, I know I only test drove 3. So she just drove all the cars.

Well, I wanted to pick my favorite one and I wanted to drive a bunch of 3-row SUVs.

See, that is different. She wants to pick the favorite perfect—

Tanner, stop!

—perfect one, and I just want something that is good enough that will do what we need it to do.

Okay, so that is a perfect example of our decision-making process. I want to look at a bunch of cars, look at a bunch of houses— 47. I want to look at a bunch of things and make the best decision that I can, and Seth wants to make a decision that's good enough. Yes. Okay, for some things. So you— so I gather my information from multiple sources, and as far as school is concerned, that's friends, teachers, administrators, family. I talk to people. She talks to people. Um, I would have done the same thing, test drive them all. Yep, there you go, Erica. You don't want buyer's remorse. Exactly.

It's— in our case, it was a car for 3 years. So if you got a car that you didn't like, 3 years is not that much time. You're gonna turn around and get another car. Okay. No one was gonna die.

It's not a big deal to lease a car, but I wanted to lease— The perfect car. I wanted to lease a car that I really wanted and would enjoy. Any chance, what are you gonna do with the dog? Because the dog is driving me nuts.

I'm not gonna do anything with the dog. See, it's affecting you. I am blocking it out with my selective attention span. I'm gonna go let the dog in, he'll drive you more nuts. This will be fun.

Oh my God, our dog is like another child. It is— yes! So Alex, I am back to being the mommy taxi and I actually almost sent Seth crying emojis today because I was getting back in my car to drive my children around again and I am not missing all of the driving that I used to do.

I didn't even have to take them back and forth to school.

Um, you spend a lot of time in there with the kids. Yes, and my argument to Seth was I want a car that I love because I spend so much time in my car. So we're getting far away from school.

Yeah, let's get back to school even though I have way more miles on my car now than you do.

So we talked about gathering your information, all the people that I talked to to gather information. I encourage you all to call anybody that you need to talk to, email anybody that you need to talk to, ask all the questions that you need to ask. Make a list of pros and cons. Make a decision that you feel good about. And let yourself rest. I keep hearing people tell me how stressed they are. I keep hearing people tell me that they're not sleeping. I so agree. I'm a hockey mom and we spend so much time traveling with a ton of stuff, tournaments, like everything but the kitchen sink. Yes, exactly.

So let's talk about the evaluation of said decisions part of the process.

So, okay. So Seth and I have made, so we did the process that I told you about. We made the decision that we're doing the hybrid, we're sending our kids to school. And now the decision-making process is a loop. I think about it as a circle. And I did all my stuff to make my decision. I made my decision. I'm not gonna drive myself crazy about the decision. Stress is not good for us. Hi, Joette. I do not want you to be stressed. I want you to do the best that you can to use all— gather all of your information, make a decision by Friday if you're in my case, your deadline is Friday unless they extend it and drive us more crazy, and then let it rest. And then you say to yourself, when school starts, if the kids actually are allowed to go back to school, which I'm telling you I don't think is gonna happen, If it happens, okay, but I don't think—

We'll be back with another episode called Color Me Surprised.

I think that all the schools are going to go virtual, full virtual, but that's my prediction. I don't know any— anything. I don't have any inside information. She does not. So, um, then you move on to the evaluation process, and just because you make a decision does not mean that you can't change your mind. And that is one of the greatest lessons that my mother taught me. Because I thought that when I made a decision that I had to stick to my decision and I had to be loyal and faithful to my decision. And she said to me one day, you just— I know, just the decision to marry you. Exactly. Everything else you can change. So, um, she said to me that, what makes you think that you don't have freedom to change your mind? And I was like, whoa, a whole new world just opened up. Sometimes you're— sometimes you get really good advice and My mother tends to give me really good advice. So there you have it. We have the ability to evaluate our decision. Is it going well? Is this something that I want to continue? Is this not going well? I will tell you all right now, Lily wants to go back to school. Max and Ella do not. Ella is like, I'll do whatever you say, you're my mother, and I'm guessing you want me to go back to school, so I'll go back to school. And Max is the most resistant and is like, I really don't wanna go back to school. Why can't I do 100% virtual? So let's see how it goes. Let's keep an open mind. Let's be— what is the word I'm looking for? Respectful. He's got the other shoe. Let's be respectful and understanding of the fact that this is new for everybody and that this year is going to be crazy for everybody and that this year is not ideal for anybody. So my heart goes out to the teachers as they try to figure out— in our district, they're gonna have, as of today, they're going to be teaching children in the class while simultaneously teaching kids who are home. Good luck! I believe that they can pull this off. Even if we don't think that this is a fabulous plan, I believe in our teachers. I believe that they will do their best, and all our kids can do is get the most out of whatever is offered to them. So if you are choosing to keep your kids home and do 100% virtual for many, many reasons I have heard— I had a parent today tell me that she's terminally ill and that her daughter will be staying home. Um, I have had people tell me that their kids have asthma, that they live with elderly parents, There are lists and lists of reasons why people are choosing the virtual option, and I respect whatever decision you are making. If you are choosing to homeschool your kid, I take my hat off to you and give you a high five because I can't imagine taking on that task right now. I have also had multiple parents tell me that they are sending their kids to private school, which is an excellent solution if you want to write a check for it. It's an excellent solution because The kids can go 5 days, they're smaller classes, more attention.

They can still get COVID though.

Absolutely. As soon as one of those kids gets it, they're shutting down that school too. I have heard fabulous things about the private schools in our area, but as my husband so delicately told me, we bought a house in a good school district to— and pay high taxes for this good school district, and he does not want to then write another check for a private school.

You gotta warn when you're in public school. I agree, I agree with you.

We moved into this house for a reason, and I agree with you. Um, you have anything else before I tell them about our nephew's website?

We were going to talk about the decision evaluation thing I told you from the book.

Oh, sorry, I forgot. I thought you were talking about evaluating your decision. I was not.

Seth read a book called Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke, the world champion poker player.

We had a big disagreement about the book. The book says that you, you gather all your information, do all your pros and cons, make your decision. You have made the best decision that you can make, and then no matter what the outcome is, you've still made the best decision that you could have made.

And judge your decision based on the decision itself and the process that went into it, not on the outcome, because you may have no control over the outcome. So if sending them hybrid is the best decision for us and we're happy with that, We need to be happy no matter what. The decision process did not change simply because they got a germ. The process, it was still right. It was just the outcome that had nothing that made it wrong. It didn't make it wrong. It just, stuff happens. So I totally disagree.

Yes. And what I said to Seth was, we made our decision. We will know. I said, we will find out if we made a good decision. If our children—

We already made a good decision. Doesn't matter if they stay healthy or not.

He thinks we already made a good decision. I'm going to tell I think. Yours is conditional.

Mine is unconditional love, baby.

Stop! I think that it's a good decision if they stay healthy. You have no control. The kids stay healthy, enjoy going to school for those 2 days, and they're not— you have no control over them. And get something out of going to school for those 2 days. Number 3, you'll get. And I also want to say, as I fight for them. So we have a disagreement. We do. I also want to say to everybody You as parents have probably thought of this already, but while it's on my mind, I'm gonna say it, that we all should tell our children that school is going to look different. I need to have that conversation with my kids. I have started it. They are going to be wearing masks. The teachers are going to be wearing masks. They are going to be 6 feet away from each other. It sounds like if they eat—

can you stop? He's fighting, he's trying— no, I cannot. I can either put him back in the other room.

Here, so go take him away. I tried to take him. If they eat in the lunchroom, If they eat in the lunchroom, then I have heard that they are going to be sitting at desks at our school, um, 6 feet apart from each other in the middle school alphabetically. This is what I'm hearing. I'm just saying that things are going to look differently, so we just should prep our children that it's not gonna— when they go back to school, it's not gonna look the same. My middle schoolers, I don't believe, are going to be allowed to have a locker either. Alex says, that is exactly what Drew said to me when I asked to send the kids to private school. Our husbands do not want us to all be writing another check for a private school when we're already writing a big check for the taxes for the good school district that we moved into. So Alex, Drew, and Seth are on the same page. Erica says, well, some are not so fabulous. We left one to go to public school because there are far more services which my son needed. And the class sizes are not that small at all. Private schools, 22 to 24 in the one we were in. That is good to know, Erica. That's an excellent point. I did hear you could get more services in public school. Um, so there was one more thing, or is that everything? That's everything. Okay, so I'm going to leave you with my very— our very smart nephew started a website. It's called Kids tutorkids.com. Go check it out. It, um, all the services are online, so he does not live here, he lives out of state, um, and he's doing everything online. He's tutoring K through 5th grade. He's going into 8th grade. He's taking 11th grade math. He's taking honors English. He is one of the smartest kids I've ever met, and if you can take a break from your children for 30 to 60 minutes, I think he has, I looked up at his awesome website, I was super impressed with it, and there's different time increments that you can purchase from him, and he will meet with your kid online and tutor them and help them, and someone like me may actually need him to help with math because I may have an 8th grader who is really good at math who does not even want to help his sisters. Do I make him help his sisters? Yes. Does he want to? Not all the time. My nephew might actually be better at it.

So— Less emotionally involved.

So I'm telling you to go check out his website. I'm super impressed with My Smart Nephew. I'm sure he could help you out. Maria says, today was our 3rd day of 100% virtual classes in Atlanta, and surprisingly it's going great. Amazed with how awesome my kindergarten class is doing. Maria, do you teach kindergarten? Oh my gosh, you need to tell us how kindergarten is going, especially virtually. Whoa, if you did a successful kindergarten class virtually for 3 days, I could not be more impressed with you because I am most concerned about the kindergarteners. I also if you can answer this, Maria, have a soon-to-be 3rd grader who I cannot picture sitting at a computer all day. Paraprofessional.

I don't know what that means.

Do you? No, I have to look up that term, Maria. Sean says, I agree with Seth. The main reason we moved into the district. Yes, we all chose this district for a reason. It's the top district. Let's put some faith in them to do a good job with our children.

Um, as they have done forever and ever and ever.

This whole week has been community forums for the parents to get information and ask questions. Okay, teacher assistant, got it. Um, and I'm glad to hear— I'm glad and surprised to hear that it's going well. That's amazing. So, um, tell me what I was just saying.

Uh, let's trust in the district, have some faith. So Monday They met with elementary school forums where they take abuse for 3, 4 hours in a row.

So they gave us information and then we asked questions. No, people critique, criticize. Monday went well. The parents were very respectful. Tuesday was middle school. Tonight was high school. I missed high school because I don't have a high schooler. Tomorrow is teachers. They're only meeting with teachers. And then I believe on Monday they meet with the union. Does that sound right? Yes, that is correct. So we will see next week if things have changed. I will let you know. Thank you for joining us tonight. I hope that you can make the best decision for your children, and I hope that you can leave it alone and let it rest and get some sleep and relax and de-stress. Is Ella around? Ella Bella! Ella! I'm coming! She's coming.

And thank you to Passion 4 Life for your wonderful sponsorship of winiepalooza.com.

Dot com. You're funny. You should be doing commercials, you and Ella. Come here. Come sing us out, baby Kate. Thank you for watching Winie Palooza Wednesday with the Green family. I don't think that you could sing any faster. That was pretty fast. Thank you, everyone. I'll see you next week.