Just no.

As we enter week two ... or wait, is it three? I dontfuckingknow what week it is.

As we enter week [unidentified number ] of distance learning, I'm anticipating it to be much like the one before: unpredictable, full of whining (by both parent and child), annoying and probably really pointless. We might get through an activity or two each day without clawing each others eyes out, but that's only if we still have any leftover Easter candy to sweeten our bribes with. In other words, it's only 10:48 on a Monday and I pretty much feel like crying.

But then there's this post from a mom who, like many of us, is trying to teach her kid while juggling a full household as well as a full workload (she's managing a Covid-19 tracking platform no less). So she finally just said no.

But perhaps her wisest words are buried in a series of subsequent Tweets:

The thought of homeschooling makes me want to barf...It’s a f*cking joke.

Seriously, this woman is an inspiration.

While her Tweet probably won't prompt me to write a similar email to my kid's teacher because let's face it, complain as I might, I'm just not quite that ballsy, it has reminded me of a very valuable lesson: it's still ok to say no. If this mom can do it, I can do it. And so can you.

When it all starts to feel overwhelming, say no. You don't have to finish every, single activity that's been assigned. When that overachiever inner voice is telling you that you have to go one step further, say no. Yesterday's rules no longer apply. When that kid asks for the 30th time if he can have his Easter candy back—which you put in quarantine after you found him passed out, his mouth surrounded by chocolate and his body by wrappers—just no. You'll both be ok. Plus, you need to hang on to what's left for future bribes.

In pre-pandemic life, saying no was considered self care. So why should we have a problem saying it now, when the stakes are so much higher? Twitter mom don't give a shit. Even as she "quit" being her kid's fake teacher, she expressed her utmost respect for her son's real teachers. Because none of us can do what they do. In fact, we may even be trying too hard to pretend that we can. So I think it's high time we all start practicing the fine the art of saying no and maybe also start praying that these heaven-sent teachers will take our children back some day.

...pay them a million dollars a year they are incredible I cannot do what they do.

I can remember very little of my own kindergarten career but from the few memories I have pasted together, half the kids in my class were still eating paste. Our brains would have literally exploded if we, as kids, were asked to do what ours are doing now. So am I going to let the fact that my kid literally just spent the entirety of his literacy video making "marker trains" and singing Jingle Bells bother me? Hard no. Maybe later I'll see what he might be able to muster in return for some of those delicious malted milk eggs, but beyond that, it's "no" time.