Schools out….

… for the summer. Hopefully not forever! all 3 kids have gone back to school over the past 2 weeks and it was a success for all 3.

Did they love wearing masks all day? Nope. Did they feel it was worth it to be able to see their teachers and friends? Absolutely. And while I’m not sure they social distanced properly 💯 the mental lift it provided our whole family was well worth it. I’m again so grateful to their amazing teachers who not only went above and beyond for distance learning, but who also were so incredibly enthusiastic about returning to school. To have that closure on the year was amazing, especially for our kids who have had so many changes… I’m terrified of having 2 months of summer. No BRYC, no visitors from home, no traveling. Right now, no friends and no where to go! Gulp. One day at a time.

This week while the girls were in school, Liam was supposed to be doing work in packets from school. Which was a fail. But he and I did have some adventures. We took a big bike ride one day, we rode past each of his 2 best friends’s condos (they don’t live near each other) in a big loop. We also took a walk in the botanic gardens one day. Nice to spend some alone time with him.

Last weekend we rode out bikes down to the formula 1 track. We watched “formula 1, drive to survive” on Netflix so I actually knew who the drivers were. I hope Singapore can figure out how to have the race in September…

All this is happening against the backdrop of the pandemic and the protests in the US. Many days it feels surreal to us. Ryan and I have been talking about how our experience of this pandemic is now so radically different than that of our family and friends in the US that it really isn’t comparable. While there are many things here that I HATE about our lockdown and the painfully slow reopening. What I do appreciate is the level of communication the government provides and the feeling of “we are all in this together and if we each do our part, we will succeed” (though I do hate when they “threaten” to relockdown if cases go up. It feels like, “if you’re bad, we will send you back to your room”. See, my Americanness just keeps bubbling up).

I’ve actually written a few unpublished blog posts about George Floyd’s murder and the subsequent protests. Nothing I write seems to be enough. Which is also why I didn’t ever post anything on social media. It just feels hollow. Again, we can only experience this from a distance. I’m just so incredibly sad that in the US our African American community is treated so badly. And we all knew and chose to look the other way. But now we can’t and shouldn’t look away. Our Declaration of Independence states: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. We need to make sure that this is true for ALL American. Not just white Americans. And if a few institutions need to be remade to achieve this, maybe it’s time..

I have one other observation about the protests. It is a magnificent thing to have the right to freely protest. It might look a little “messy” to outsiders, but it is a clear way for the people’s voices to be heard. This is not a right in all countries (in Singapore, you need government approval to protest so really, what’s the point?!?). So hold your signs proudly. I’m holding my “Black Lives Matter” sign in my heart from 9,500 miles away.