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May 6, 2020
Dear Families,
My oldest daughter rode her bicycle from her apartment in Brooklyn to our home on the Upper West Side, a round trip of 30 miles. NO, she did not come up to our apartment. YES, I did give her extra Clorox wipes, masks, and toothpaste (?). And, she said no to the following:
toilet paper
paper towels
cans of food
gluten free challah
fresh veggies
etc.
Clearly she is doing just fine. The point of the visit was to see each other in the flesh, not just during our evening zoom Boggle games with her Grandma. (For those of you who are interested, the Getz family has mastered this new form of entertainment.) I wanted to hug her so hard, to hold her until she squirmed away, to basically pet her. I wish one of our three daughters lived at home, so please give your sometimes difficult, and more often entertaining middle schooler a hug for me today.
I loved this article The War Between Middle Schoolers and Their Parents Ends Now.
This is such a time of reminiscing about what was, about what was just a few weeks ago. But I am learning so much about what is. I am absolutely filled with hope when I hear and read about all of the remarkable stories describing the GIVING going on in this city. The quote “We all have something to give” really struck me, because we all do have something to give. This new giving and generosity is about giving time, a smile, some company, ideas, solutions, and a listening ear. Your children should be learning lessons about this every day by what you model - how to give and how to accept graciously. The smallest gestures have become the biggest wins.
I was bragging about our staff at a recent Principals’ Conference. In a previous letter I mentioned that I asked the staff to reply to some questions about remote learning. One of them was Why are the 3 ½ months of remote learning not a loss? As I told my colleagues at the conference, the words of our staff inspired me. They were identifying so many strengths that will lead us into September with advantages, as opposed to disadvantages. My colleagues thanked me for this idea and said they planned to do the same.
It is so important to find ways and reasons for our children to imagine themselves, and their friends and families, coming through this crisis with hope and with growth. Your children are tomorrow’s leaders, and we owe them this support.
As my daughter rode off with me yelling, despite the fact that she is 29, “Where are your safety lights? Text me the minute you get home!”, I was so grateful that she had ignored me when I'd said it was too far to ride. I am even more grateful that she had the character to make the journey and give us the chance to walk six feet behind her and be happy to have her close.
So BE CALM AND 75 MORTON ON.
We are busy planning our virtual ORIENTATION and GRADUATION - YESSSS! More news soon - I promise.
Miss you all,
Jacqui