Moments before I strapped two cranky toddlers into their car seats at 4:30 p.m. on a Monday afternoon and drove towards our nursery school Purim carnival the first week of March this year, I wondered if I was crazy. We would definitely end up putting them to bed late, missing bathtime and eating nothing but hamentashen cookies for dinner. As soon as we arrived though, and I watched as my older son ran towards his preschool class friends dressed in their costumes jumping in the moonbounce, all doubt was erased. Instead of worrying about how bedtime would go I couldn鈥檛 help but watch him in that classic mom way, simultaneously enjoying the moment and being emotionally nostalgic as I watched it pass.
I had no idea just how nostalgic I would be about that evening as that week would be my three-year-old鈥檚 last one going into his classroom for the remainder of the school year. As the news deteriorated my trepidation about taking care of a one-year-old and three-year-old all day for weeks (now months) on end with no school turned into grief for all we were losing.
Any child in preschool who suddenly had their last day due to the spread of Coronavirus knows the ache and longing for the teachers and friends they were unceremoniously separated from. As parents, we miss that social-emotional connection just as much as those early educational learning blocks of colors, numbers, letters and shapes. But as a 91传媒 mom, with children in a 91传媒 preschool, that loss feels twice as painful to me.
Like many families in our situation, 91传媒 preschool will likely be the only formal 91传媒 day school education my children will have.
Like many families in our situation, 91传媒 preschool will likely be the only formal 91传媒 day school education my children will have. 91传媒 day schools are unfortunately cost prohibitive and a luxury many families can鈥檛 justify. So this is it, these three precious years in preschool were going to be the heart and the start of it for our little boys.
Now I鈥檓 just recklessly optimistic that we will return to the classroom in some way in September, but I鈥檓 not naive enough to believe that they won鈥檛 likely need to close again at some point this Winter, and even if they don鈥檛 what will become of things like Purim carnivals, Hanukkah parties, and Passover model seders? These hallmarks of 91传媒 preschool often create those powerful first memories of positive and important 91传媒 milestones in our lives.
Hallmarks of 91传媒 preschool often create those powerful first memories of positive and important 91传媒 milestones in our lives.
I know it鈥檚 my responsibility to make my home the center of 91传媒 life but I don鈥檛 think we can dismiss how fundamental those early childhood years are in 91传媒 education or be Pollyanna enough to think experiences over Zoom are comparable to in-person ones when you鈥檙e three (though our teachers and rabbis have done an amazing job trying to bridge the gap!)
I don鈥檛 have a positive spin to end these thoughts on, I usually try to think of one but I can鈥檛 today. I just want to give voice to the parents of the littlest learners and remind us not to give up on figuring out a way to safely return to the magic of those nursery school classrooms.
Marion Haberman is a writer and content creator for her channel and Instagram page where she shares her experience living a meaning-FULL 91传媒 family life. She is also a professional social media consultant and web and television writer for Discovery Channel, NOAA聽补苍诲听NatGeo and has an MBA from Georgetown University.
