Category: School
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COVID-19 Diaries: Back to School Rumblings
This week the school district my children are part of voted on a plan for the fall. Kids stay home until November. Then, they revisit the guidelines at that time, evaluate the safety of students and teachers and make a decision. The board meeting was telecast live. I tuned it and listened on and off.…
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Milestone: Fifth Grade Graduation
For the last day of the school year, today did not seem any different from the three months preceding this. When the school decided to close on March 13th, there were no goodbyes, no last day pictures, no walkouts to cheering children, no teary-eyed parents waiting in the wings to ferry their children to douse…
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Letting Go, Just A Little Bit
I hear the bus before I see it. My pace picks up speed. I meet neighbors on the way to the bus stop but my mind is on my five-year-old Laddu. The bus passes me and Pattu waves from inside. I am wondering if I should jog the last few meters to the bus stop…
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Fleeting Childhood
She is staring out the window, a stuffed bear under her elbow, a piece of paper with the drawing of a little girl in her hand. In a week she will set foot into a new era. One in which her life will be ruled by teachers, friends and timers. In the eight months she…
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Musings: End Of School Year
The water swirls around my feet, pulsing from the jets in the tub. The chair I am on pounds in synchrony, massaging my back as I let out a sigh of contentment. The woman scrubbing my feet, sloughing off dead cells, works in silence. My phone dings, an aberration in the otherwise zen space I…
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Becoming Our Mothers
In the midst of stir-frying a melange of vegetables for my children’s’ lunchbox, I reach out for my phone. I shake the pan on one hand and scroll through my FB feed on the other. I set the pan down and lean on the kitchen counter as I catch up on writing-related posts. Next up…
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A Big Girl
I circle the school parking lot a couple of times before resigning and finding a spot in the grass farthest from the entrance. I grab the folder containing documents that I need, close the door and help Laddu from the car. She is bundled up, her hood covering most of her face. Her tiny hands…
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Why Homework?
The lights are on at the breakfast table and the dining table. I walk, swinging my arms, hoping my iWatch will count the strides toward exercise minutes. Laddu ambles behind me clicking her flashlight on and off to illuminate what she considers dark corners of the house. Ammu is bent over her homework, way past…
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It Will Be Okay
I feel the familiar band of stress tighten around my head. My ears are taut. I feel like a loaded spring, ready to jump in and rescue Ammu as she sits doing Math with her dad. They are working on two-digit multiplication. “What is 7 times 8?” asks Saathi his voice even, a controlled impatience…
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New Beginnings
I woke to the sounds of Laddu crying at 4:30 AM. Bringing her back to bed with me, we snuggled and she slept, an arm around my neck, her hair tickling my nose. Me? I was wide awake. For the past three months, mornings have been relaxed, days have been organic, eating, sleeping and playing…