The struggle is real

W
ell … we are now in our sixth week of quarantine and entering into our third week of online school.
This. Is. Hard.
My lethargy has reached a critical point and I’ve gained six pounds while stuck in my house even though I’ve been pretty good with what I’m eating. But when my regular movement is limited to walking from my bed to my table to my couch to my kitchen throughout the day, there aren’t a whole lot of calories being burned.
I’m grateful that my daughter is home with me but bummed that my son is in Laramie. He’s there because he has a job, which is so important right now.
Mother Nature has decided to add to our quarantine agony by sending snow far too often for April, and though it disappears just about as quickly as it falls, just looking out the window and seeing winter dragging
on is disappointing to say
the least.
And then, as quarantine and the shutdown of regular face-to-face interaction has increased, so has the number of people trying to maintain a “normal” life going online.
I have been totally jumping on the opportunity to use the amazing capabilities of technological interconnectivity to hang out with family and friends, but I also have realized the frustrations of technological limitations.
As I tried to log into my Google Drive to write this article, I couldn’t. I couldn’t get into the folder for my Karpe articles, I couldn’t open a new document in my NLJ drive, and I won’t lie — that made me grab my computer and scream.
I upgraded my router not that long ago, but with everyone home and working from home, the hole that Newcastle is in technologically is just getting deeper.
I’m trying to connect with 90 or so students a couple of times per week, trying to provide them with an online education, and it is beyond stressful.
My kids want to be in school, I want to be in school, my fellow teachers and administrators and support staff want to be in school, but we can’t.
With everyone trying to be online to go to school, go to work, and touch base with other humans, we are sucking the life out of the bandwidth available in our little rural town.
Everyone is getting frustrated, unfortunately a natural tendency is to lash out, and also unfortunately, the target tends to be those who are the easiest targets.
While a vast majority of parents are grateful for the efforts of teachers who are working hard to try to educate their kids throughout the country, there are a very few who are accusatory and derisive of what schools are doing during this trying time.
I will just say that when I hear of situations such as this, it really hurts.
Teachers are struggling. We are sad. We are trying so hard to figure out a way to connect with our students. We miss their faces. We miss their voices. We miss them.
Tears are welling up as I write this column because I want to be with my kids — because they are more than just students, they are
my kids.
This. Is. Hard.
But, in the midst of my struggle today, a colleague along with a student surprised me with a wonderful gift left on my porch. A delicious plate of goodies and an amazing card of thanks which truly touched my heart and helped to lift me out of my funk. 
The struggle is real for everyone right now, but we all just need to work together to get through it to the other side as unscathed as we can.