I have a daughter graduating from high school next month, and my email is full of changing plans. At first it looked like graduation would be virtual. Then outside in four separate ceremonies. Now, it’s moved to different times and two outdoor ceremonies.
It’s joyful and we’re thrilled she’s getting a real life graduation at all. But as regular life kicks back into normal gear for parents and kids — creeping toward normalcy in the shadow of an ongoing pandemic — it’s unsettling to make plans. Maybe I’ll get better at it when I’ve been to a few more group outdoor events (or indoor ones)? In our county in Wisconsin, the mask mandate is set to expire June 2. While my family is vaccinated, I feel especially bad for the parents of kids younger than 12, whose children who are not yet able to be vaccinated, but still somehow are expected to jump back into school and activities and everyday life.
It makes me realize I don’t ever want to go back to exactly what was before. I don’t want us to forget. This time of intense thinking about our mortality, of winnowing things down to what is absolutely necessary has taught me a lot. As a parent, I said yes to things I never would have before, maybe because no was much more likely the answer to so many things during this time.
In this weekend’s show, “A Parenting Revolution,” we talk to parents about this moment and explore how a parenting movement has emerged from the pandemic and how we can learn about mothering and fathering from ancient cultures. We also hear the words of poets about raising Black teenage boys during a time of racial injustice in our country.
This show, which we produced in collaboration with the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, airs between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. I hope as parents and children, these days are filled with meaningful — even if complicated and messy — connections among generations for you and your families, in person or from afar.
–Shannon