I know it won’t last—and I don’t want it to last.  I want to go back to ‘normal’ at some point—very soon!

But for right now, there is one silver lining that makes my mornings go infinitely smoother: a more relaxed schedule for my fifteen-year-old daughter.

Her classes start at 8:45 AM.  When she had to physically be in the school building every day, she usually left around 7:40 AM.   A typical morning meant that I would see her only as she stomped past me on her way out the door.  There was no “Good morning, Mom!” or “Have a great day, too!”  The most I heard was usually a grunt in response to anything I’d say. 

This year?  She has a choice.  She can go to school on Monday, Thursday and Friday for only eighty minutes.  Or, she can do that class remotely.  (Tuesdays she is in school all day.  Wednesdays no one is in school at all; it’s deep-cleaning day and all students and teachers are only in Zoom classes for a half day.) 

This morning, she choice to get up early and work out.  We actually ended up in the kitchen at the same time, sitting together for a few minutes while eating breakfast, watching a home improvement show and commenting on interior design possibilities for an apartment in Chicago. 

I do want to go back to sending her off to school for the entire day, every day, all week long.  I do want to have a more consistent routine.  I do want COVID to all be done and gone–soon! But for today, since I can’t make things go the way I want anyway, I am happy to notice this silver lining… and actually, even happier to be living through this unexpected benefit of a happier daughter.