I was trying to find the right way to describe how 2021 felt and then I read this:
For Nikolas Tsamoutalidis, an assistant principal, the most vivid image of the post-pandemic student body was at lunch this year, when he saw ninth graders — whose last full year in school was seventh grade — preparing to play “Duck, Duck, Goose.” “It’s like fifth or sixth graders,” he said, “but in big bodies.”
New York Times
There was a meme floating around Facebook this year that went directly to the heart of this, namely, that the last “normal” year for a 7th grader was 4th grade so the above hit me hard. I certainly see it firsthand with my own kids, but recognize how adults have been impacted, too.
At the outset of the pandemic, we quickly make some risk assessments around our pod. They weren’t perfect; in fact it was completely porous, but pared down nevertheless. Our core group was really three families. It hasn’t changed much since. We visited Michigan twice this year and it was like stepping back into our social lives.
At the outset of the pandemic, it truly felt like an opportunity to completely reimagine ourselves and how we live our lives. It’s felt more like trying to get toothpaste back into the tube, especially as new variants emerge and disrupt our lives again and again. How can we as a society realistically address these challenges?