Is anyone else starting to lose it over back to school? My kids are going back to schools in two weeks where there are no vaccine or mask mandates, no distancing, no cohorts, nothing. And I'm going back to a campus of over 70,000 people that is expected to be operating at pre-pandemic levels: again, no mask or vaccine mandates, no smaller classes, nothing. One kid is vaccinated, one is not because he's only eight years old.I wrote a blog post on my very neglected and ancient blog about the way it feels to be told that 'the odds' are good, that kids don't get as sick, don't die (https://marchisfordaffodils.wordpress.com/2021/08/23/the-odds/). I'm just feeling this huge rage bubbling up inside me about all this odds talk. The odds are always that someone dies, and that someone IS a someone and matters, their life MATTERS, and all of us here on this site know what it is like to be on the losing side of the odds. I'm just so mad. And scared, but somehow holding the scared at bay, keeping the rage at the forefront, because I think I know that if I let myself really examine the fear it's going to be just awful. And also because I can't tell if being scared is silly: am I overreacting? How do I know? One thing I do know: the anxiety of it all is brutal.

Oh wow Jen that is brutal. I’m feeling anxious about my son starting kindergarten, taking the bus etc…but the place where I live is nothing like yours…the county has an 80+ rate of vaccinations for adults, mask requirements etc…and I’m not going back to the office. I just wanted to say I hear you, your anxiety and stress is entirely justified, and I hope they authorize vaccines for under 12 soon and that it will alleviate things at least a little. Hugs to you.