Another school year in the books as Ethan finished his 7th grade year and Max completed 3rd grade.

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The last quarter of the school year definitely looked different from anything we could have ever anticipated, but we set up a schedule, established rules and overall, it went fairly smoothly.

We powered through each day, even though some were a struggle: The labor-intense art projects, outdoor math lessons turned scavenger hunts, failed science experiments… plus juggling full-time work and making sure our house didn’t turn into a complete pigsty with everyone home 24/7. (I’ve never run the dishwasher so many times in my life.)

However, Ethan perfectly summarized the end of the school year and the beginning of summer: anticlimactic.

He’s right.

The boys’ last day at school this year was Friday, March 13th. “Distance learning” continued until May 8th, but I think the boys and I tapped out somewhere in late April 🙂 The usual excitement leading up to the first day of summer break was incredibly muted and the last day of school was inconsequential.

I am thankful the boys were able to continue to learn and connect during the months they were away from school. We were completely capable of making our home a pseudo classroom and it’s not lost on me that other children were not as fortunate.

We are also thankful for our wonderful teachers. For as much as I might think I struggled, I admit our teachers had it even harder — especially those that were trying to teach their students and their own children at the same time.

We were lucky enough to have Ethan’s teacher Mr. Barry and Max’s teacher Mrs. Cunningham stop by to wish the boys a happy summer. They even brought goodie bags!

Here’s a very appropriate “thank you” dedicated to all teachers during these crazy times. These funny mommas summed it up well.

That said, the boys worked hard and made it through with flying colors. Max earned straight As and Ethan was just shy of straight As (just one B+).

They earned some fun graduation goodies including more LEGO since the boys have both been building sets like crazy.

We are all learning to cope and live with these new conditions until the normal we once knew returns.