Sara Sandstrom-Kobi, Peak to Peak . School, Home Learning, has begun! While thinking about how the first days have gone the song We’ve Only Just Begun popped into my head. The 1970 hit from The Carpenters has a way of sticking in one’s head. 

The song is certainly not about Home Learning specifically, but it is about a journey. A journey no one thought we would be on a year ago. A journey not many of us would choose to be on. It is a journey that is fluid and unpredictable. 

Karen Carpenter’s flawless voice sings, “We’ll start out walkin’ and learn to run.” We are definitely at a slow walk as we are learning how to do this at home. I quickly realized that my plan to have the kids use headphones was not going to work. My first grader needs a lot of help and so I have to be able to hear what her teacher is saying. So, headphones off and I send my fourth grader, who can do much of this on his own, downstairs. We clear a space and the first grader is already yelling for help. The internet does not work perfectly. I end up running up and down the stairs several times each day. I am not getting much of my work done but I may lose some of these extra Covid-19 pounds I have gained. 

The song continues, “Sharing horizons that are new to us…watchin’ the signs along the way…workin’ together day to day.” I have written before that my dad often tells me when I complain or there is a challenge in front of me that I have to do it because it broadens my horizons. I will learn and grow in some way. In ways we often do not see immediately. 

This journey we are on with our kids will broaden all of our horizons. We are going to work on this every day together. During the first week I had to take my daughter to the couch and just hold her while she cried a little as her stamina waned and her frustration grew. I learned that I have to see the signs along the way to help create balance throughout the day for my children’s emotional well-being. And ultimately for mine, too. 

What an interesting journey we have just begun together. 

(Originally published in the September 3, 2020, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)