My Two Writing Teachers colleagues and I are hosting the 13th Annual March Slice of Life Story Challenge, in which hundreds of teachers participate in posting a story per day.

Dear Kids,

Today I couldn’t help myself from checking the news constantly. The not-knowing got the best of me. When will schools be canceled? Do I need to cancel my work trip? How many coronavirus cases are there today? Should we even go to our friends’ dinner party tonight?

I spent the day doing laundry, cleaning the house, making a huge batch of chili to put in the freezer, and (I’m embarrassed to admit) constantly checking my work email and the news headlines.

By the end of the day, our governor had announced that all Vermont schools will close for students at the end of the day on Tuesday. I mentally made up my mind about my work trip. There are currently eight confirmed cases in Vermont (interestingly, half of them are people who fled from a larger city to a second home in Vermont). We’re not going to dinner tonight. I’m even keeping the two of you home from school tomorrow even though I could send you.

Am I overreacting? Maybe? But maybe I haven’t done enough. I don’t know. We won’t know - not for a while anyway.

Love,

Your Mom