The Longest Month of the Year

February’s status as the shortest month of the year may be a thing for the calendar but this year February found a way to drag on and on.  I can’t quite explain it because most of the month featured at least one snow day each week.  That the snow fall often measured more than a foot is part of the challenge.  Neither our snow blower or our shovels were ready for that much snow and much of it lingers in piles in our front yard, as proof that Winter wasn’t messing around this year.  

I always long for Spring and this year is no exception.  At midday today I realized why.  For this year’s model of hybrid school, our 6th graders are in session every day but our 7th and 8th graders are on campus for one week and then learn remote the next.  Snow and the dictates of a pandemic have sometimes demanded that we all learn remotely.  There has been little regularity to the year.  To provide time for non-digital play, the principal and I decided we would have daily recess after lunch.  To give the teachers a break,  supervise every recess on our own.  Our plan was to have that recess outside and for most of the fall and into a cold January, we did that.  The end of January brought epic snow and that snow has lasted all of the month.  So recess is indoors in a large space.  Middle Schoolers - even just 50 of them - are the loudest creatures on the planet and the mid-day noise can sometimes be draining, even when it’s the noise of happy kids.  This week we were on campus for all five days and that meant five loud recess duties.  I am ready for the snow to melt and the ground to dry so that my banshees and I can have our recess outside.