1
00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:05,880
Speaker 1: Hi. This is Laura Vandercamp. I'm a mother of five,

2
00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:10,240
Speaker 1: an author, journalist, and speaker. And this is Sarah Hartunger.

3
00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:13,480
Speaker 1: I'm a mother of three, a practicing physician and blogger.

4
00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:15,800
Speaker 1: On the side, we are two working parents who love

5
00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:19,320
Speaker 1: our careers and our families. Welcome to best of both worlds.

6
00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:22,400
Speaker 1: Here we talk about how real women manage work, family,

7
00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:25,800
Speaker 1: and time for fun, from figuring out childcare to mapping

8
00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:28,360
Speaker 1: out long term career goals. We want you to get

9
00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:34,000
Speaker 1: the most out of life. Welcome to best of both worlds.

10
00:00:34,159 --> 00:00:37,040
Speaker 1: This is Laura. This is episode two hundred and twelve,

11
00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:39,640
Speaker 1: which is airing in late August of twenty twenty one.

12
00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:42,159
Speaker 1: We're going to be talking back to school though with

13
00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:47,519
Speaker 1: the background of COVID and particularly the delta variant going

14
00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:49,760
Speaker 1: on right now, and how that is going to inform

15
00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:52,519
Speaker 1: this school year, and what we can all do to

16
00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:55,640
Speaker 1: do our best to make sure that our children have

17
00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:59,880
Speaker 1: an uninterrupted year of education, that people are able to

18
00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:03,600
Speaker 1: focus on their work despite this background of the pandemic

19
00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:06,200
Speaker 1: going on. But we'll start with a little bit of

20
00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:10,800
Speaker 1: light stuff, namely back to school shopping. We just got

21
00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:13,440
Speaker 1: an email yesterday. I'm very excited about. So we've done

22
00:01:13,480 --> 00:01:16,399
Speaker 1: back to school episodes for a couple of years now,

23
00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:19,680
Speaker 1: and Sarah has always mentioned how awesome it is that

24
00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:22,720
Speaker 1: her local public school when her kids went there, had

25
00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:26,039
Speaker 1: a fundraiser where you could buy all the prepackaged school

26
00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:29,520
Speaker 1: supplies for the individual classes. It was great. We never

27
00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:31,600
Speaker 1: had that, but this year we do. Like they teamed

28
00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:37,000
Speaker 1: up with Staples to do boxes for the elementary school grades.

29
00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:40,200
Speaker 1: So I'm very excited about that. Possibly my kids will

30
00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:42,520
Speaker 1: be less excited if they're not picking out their own pencils,

31
00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:45,560
Speaker 1: but you know whatever, we'll focus that energy on back

32
00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:48,560
Speaker 1: to school clothes shopping, right, I mean, Sarah, are you

33
00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:51,880
Speaker 1: doing much back to school shopping these days? It's so

34
00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:54,560
Speaker 1: funny because we're flipped because now the school that the

35
00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:57,440
Speaker 1: kids are going to does not have the boxes. So

36
00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:00,880
Speaker 1: we all piled in the car and went to Target,

37
00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:05,120
Speaker 1: and I actually I handed each kid well not Doneevie,

38
00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:06,800
Speaker 1: but I handed Annabel and Camera in their lists and

39
00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:09,400
Speaker 1: kind of helped. They walked around and like found all

40
00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:11,400
Speaker 1: the stuff, and I think they had fun doing it.

41
00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:14,600
Speaker 1: I also like, we were at the mall and I

42
00:02:14,639 --> 00:02:18,160
Speaker 1: allowed Annabel to splurge and buy a Kate Spade pencil case,

43
00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:22,120
Speaker 1: which I kind of cover it. So we had a

44
00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:24,520
Speaker 1: lot of fun doing back to school supplies shopping this year.

45
00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:27,360
Speaker 1: We don't really get to do the clothes shopping because

46
00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:30,919
Speaker 1: our school is uniform only, but they were kind of

47
00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:34,520
Speaker 1: excited when even the uniform clothing arrived from Land's End

48
00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:36,639
Speaker 1: and Gap, you know, had to buy all the bottoms

49
00:02:36,639 --> 00:02:39,600
Speaker 1: and stuff the shirts come from, like the uniform company.

50
00:02:39,639 --> 00:02:43,320
Speaker 1: But yeah, that's been our We're fully prepped. We've got

51
00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:47,960
Speaker 1: new backpacks, locked and loaded. I'm trying to really enjoy

52
00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:50,240
Speaker 1: the parts of back to school that I typically enjoy,

53
00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:53,040
Speaker 1: even with other stressors going on at the same time.

54
00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:59,520
Speaker 1: And you've been buying yourself school supplies, well that's okay.

55
00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:02,440
Speaker 1: First of all, I always basically year round by myself

56
00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:05,960
Speaker 1: what one might consider school supplies, and it tends to

57
00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:10,440
Speaker 1: be like the more angsty I feel, the more shipments

58
00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:12,640
Speaker 1: are headed to my house. And right now I have

59
00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:15,720
Speaker 1: a jet Pens order in as well as an Aeron

60
00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:19,840
Speaker 1: Chondran order in, so that says something. We can gauge

61
00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:24,040
Speaker 1: the stress level by how many different stationary type stores

62
00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:27,000
Speaker 1: are getting Sarah's business. But you guys have some easier

63
00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:28,760
Speaker 1: logistics this year. I mean, this is one of the

64
00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:30,360
Speaker 1: few years this is going to happen, but you have

65
00:03:30,480 --> 00:03:34,119
Speaker 1: all three kids in one school. Correct, Yes, you said

66
00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:35,840
Speaker 1: it was one of the few years. So actually our

67
00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:39,080
Speaker 1: school goes to eighth grade, so if we end up

68
00:03:39,080 --> 00:03:41,360
Speaker 1: sticking with it, I have potentially five years where this

69
00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:44,360
Speaker 1: could happen, which is very awesome and part of why

70
00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:48,280
Speaker 1: we did this. It is one drop off, one pickup.

71
00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:51,080
Speaker 1: You do have to The school is like made up

72
00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:54,520
Speaker 1: of little individual buildings, so you do have to kind

73
00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:56,760
Speaker 1: of go around each circle and drop off each kid separately.

74
00:03:56,840 --> 00:03:59,040
Speaker 1: Especially with COVID they do the whole temp check thing

75
00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:01,360
Speaker 1: and everything. It's not like we get to dump them

76
00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:04,000
Speaker 1: all off at the front door. But still it is

77
00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:07,040
Speaker 1: a million times easier than what we were doing previously,

78
00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:12,040
Speaker 1: and I'm just really excited for that logistics aspect of it. Yeah. Plus,

79
00:04:12,040 --> 00:04:14,960
Speaker 1: if there's a lot of I mean, if individual small buildings,

80
00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:17,400
Speaker 1: the lines for any of them couldn't be too long.

81
00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:20,040
Speaker 1: It can be one of these things that's out blocking traffic,

82
00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:24,040
Speaker 1: like a mile down the highway or some ridiculousness. Correct,

83
00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:27,360
Speaker 1: So I think I had mentioned that the elementary school

84
00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:29,520
Speaker 1: kind of Bell was going to previously. It's a wonderful

85
00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:31,600
Speaker 1: school and it's close to our house, but the carpool

86
00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:34,560
Speaker 1: line was like thirty minutes. So this other school is

87
00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:37,040
Speaker 1: farther from our house, but a much, much, much easier

88
00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:39,320
Speaker 1: drop off, and it is directly on my way to

89
00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:42,040
Speaker 1: work and near one of the hospitals that Josh works at.

90
00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:44,320
Speaker 1: So it's again, there was a lot of logistics in

91
00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:48,920
Speaker 1: our decision making, as I think is warranted, and so

92
00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:52,880
Speaker 1: just excited about that. Yeah, I mean, our logistics are

93
00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:56,400
Speaker 1: going in the opposite direction. We have three different schools

94
00:04:56,760 --> 00:05:01,880
Speaker 1: that we are in this year with different start times

95
00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:03,920
Speaker 1: stop times because it one's a high school, on's and

96
00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:06,680
Speaker 1: middle school. One's an elementary school, and so by the

97
00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:10,120
Speaker 1: nature of public school busing, they have staggered start times

98
00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:12,919
Speaker 1: because you know, you need to run the same buses

99
00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:17,200
Speaker 1: for the different schools. So we'll see how that all goes.

100
00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:22,159
Speaker 1: I am going to say the default will probably be

101
00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:26,560
Speaker 1: the school bus, just because it's going to otherwise. I

102
00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:29,320
Speaker 1: don't see how we could even do pickups for everybody

103
00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:32,040
Speaker 1: or drop offs. It's just not going to work. Yeah,

104
00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:35,280
Speaker 1: So I'm a little bit concerned about the logistics and

105
00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:38,239
Speaker 1: we'll see how it goes. But you know, with everything,

106
00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:41,200
Speaker 1: you figure it out, You get kids to their stuff,

107
00:05:41,279 --> 00:05:44,919
Speaker 1: you work out a schedule and a routine that works,

108
00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:46,960
Speaker 1: and it doesn't have to be perfect on day one,

109
00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:50,240
Speaker 1: but the routine will get there eventually. And you know,

110
00:05:50,279 --> 00:05:52,279
Speaker 1: we're trying to be excited about it too, because you know,

111
00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:54,880
Speaker 1: it's fun to start school and see your friends again

112
00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:58,000
Speaker 1: and start new classes, and especially you know, the kids

113
00:05:58,000 --> 00:05:59,880
Speaker 1: going into middle school and high school have a lot

114
00:05:59,880 --> 00:06:02,920
Speaker 1: of choice over what courses they are taking, and that

115
00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:07,120
Speaker 1: has some cool elements for being excited about the school

116
00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:10,360
Speaker 1: process and learning because you're getting to direct more of

117
00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:13,240
Speaker 1: your learning and that's a pretty cool thing. I can't

118
00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:15,440
Speaker 1: remember if this is your oldest first year of high

119
00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:17,760
Speaker 1: school or so, yeah, it's his first year of high school. Yeah,

120
00:06:17,839 --> 00:06:19,880
Speaker 1: I remember like looking at like the high school like

121
00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:23,120
Speaker 1: course choices and being like, wow, this is so cool.

122
00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:25,880
Speaker 1: That's so exciting for him. It is. It is. And

123
00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:30,719
Speaker 1: Sam's going to one year of the old middle school,

124
00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:33,440
Speaker 1: the one that Jasper went to for three years, and

125
00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:36,200
Speaker 1: then our district is opening a new middle school and

126
00:06:36,839 --> 00:06:39,840
Speaker 1: Sam and Ruth will be at that in another year.

127
00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:43,159
Speaker 1: That they went ahead and decide. Normally, when people open

128
00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:45,080
Speaker 1: a school, they do it one grade at a time,

129
00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:47,400
Speaker 1: but our district has decided to just fully open it,

130
00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:50,800
Speaker 1: and so that's, you know, going to be good that

131
00:06:50,839 --> 00:06:53,240
Speaker 1: the two of them will be at this new school together.

132
00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:56,200
Speaker 1: But it's like a school that doesn't even exist at

133
00:06:56,200 --> 00:06:58,400
Speaker 1: the moment, So we'll see how this all plays out.

134
00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:01,839
Speaker 1: But yeah, we're looking forward to it and looking forward

135
00:07:01,839 --> 00:07:05,200
Speaker 1: to having Alex start his you know, going to our

136
00:07:05,279 --> 00:07:07,760
Speaker 1: local public elementary school. He was supposed to start last year,

137
00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:10,120
Speaker 1: and then we didn't because we weren't sure that things

138
00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:11,840
Speaker 1: would be opening in person, and so we put them

139
00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:13,960
Speaker 1: in a private school that was going to open in person.

140
00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:17,920
Speaker 1: But I mean, it looks like things are opening in

141
00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:21,280
Speaker 1: person for the fall, so let's hope we stick with that.

142
00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:28,360
Speaker 1: So that introduces our COVID version of back to School Sarah,

143
00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:30,680
Speaker 1: you guys, I mean, in Florida, it's just the case.

144
00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:35,400
Speaker 1: Numbers are crazy right now. Right we're recording this mid August,

145
00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:39,200
Speaker 1: and so maybe I'll be super optimistic and in ten

146
00:07:39,280 --> 00:07:41,840
Speaker 1: days when this records, we'll be in a better place.

147
00:07:42,440 --> 00:07:46,520
Speaker 1: I don't know, there is a lot, lot lot of

148
00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:49,080
Speaker 1: COVID down here right now. To the point where our

149
00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:52,480
Speaker 1: hospitals are back in kind of crisis mode again, not

150
00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:56,360
Speaker 1: able to do the regular surgeries that would be taking place.

151
00:07:56,880 --> 00:07:59,920
Speaker 1: You know, my husband's hospital they converted the cafeteria into

152
00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:04,440
Speaker 1: COVID unit. They're worried about like daily oxygen deliveries and

153
00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:06,960
Speaker 1: whether we're gonna have enough for the whole hospital system.

154
00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:11,560
Speaker 1: Like it's it's pretty bad. And the good news is

155
00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:16,720
Speaker 1: that still even with DELTA, most children are not getting

156
00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:19,560
Speaker 1: severely ill from COVID, and I remain grateful for that

157
00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:22,880
Speaker 1: every day, both as a parent and for my patients.

158
00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:26,360
Speaker 1: The number is a little bit more than zero, though,

159
00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:29,760
Speaker 1: And I guess you know, everyone's gonna have to enter

160
00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:32,640
Speaker 1: the school year knowing that there's a chance your kids

161
00:08:32,720 --> 00:08:34,760
Speaker 1: might get COVID and that they're probably going to do

162
00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:37,360
Speaker 1: fine with it, but there are a few kids who

163
00:08:37,360 --> 00:08:39,920
Speaker 1: do get sick from it. Just to like, I'm not

164
00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:44,480
Speaker 1: going to give very specific numbers, but like our hospital has,

165
00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:47,079
Speaker 1: I don't know, well, I don't care. I'll give numbers

166
00:08:47,080 --> 00:08:49,000
Speaker 1: because by the time it's airs, they'll be very old numbers.

167
00:08:49,040 --> 00:08:53,040
Speaker 1: But around ten pediatric in patients with COVID related illnesses,

168
00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:55,360
Speaker 1: and the larger hospital to the south of US has

169
00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:59,600
Speaker 1: about thirty, so it's not zero. And so I'm entering

170
00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:04,480
Speaker 1: this year with like cautious optimism and trepidation. And I

171
00:09:04,679 --> 00:09:07,800
Speaker 1: selfishly am probably a little bit more worried about multiple

172
00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:10,360
Speaker 1: quarantines than I am I don't know, but to say selfishly,

173
00:09:10,400 --> 00:09:12,520
Speaker 1: But then I am about my kids getting COVID in

174
00:09:12,559 --> 00:09:16,640
Speaker 1: part because they're healthy and they're fairly young, and they

175
00:09:16,679 --> 00:09:21,640
Speaker 1: had it before. But everyone's entering the year I think

176
00:09:21,679 --> 00:09:25,400
Speaker 1: a little more anxious than we've ever been before, maybe

177
00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:29,680
Speaker 1: even more so than past COVID years, just because at

178
00:09:29,760 --> 00:09:32,280
Speaker 1: least down here, I think when we had the twenty

179
00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:34,440
Speaker 1: twenty surge, well, I guess the schools were opening virtually,

180
00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:37,560
Speaker 1: so it's just a little bit different. It's pretty much

181
00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:43,120
Speaker 1: all anyone's talking about. And it's stressful. Yeah, and I

182
00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:45,040
Speaker 1: you know, but again we always want to, you know,

183
00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:47,439
Speaker 1: keep risks in mind, as you know, we have to

184
00:09:47,480 --> 00:09:50,320
Speaker 1: weigh risks. As our previous guest, Emily Ostro would say,

185
00:09:50,360 --> 00:09:53,160
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, kids will be some will be

186
00:09:53,200 --> 00:09:56,520
Speaker 1: hospitalized for COVID. Your risks are probably higher of that

187
00:09:56,640 --> 00:10:00,280
Speaker 1: if you have pre existing conditions, right that these are

188
00:10:00,280 --> 00:10:02,680
Speaker 1: the things that are the children who are more likely

189
00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:06,319
Speaker 1: to have bad effects from COVID. Often there's a co

190
00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:10,199
Speaker 1: whatever I'm sorry, I don't know the word. Yeah, comorbidity

191
00:10:10,320 --> 00:10:13,280
Speaker 1: or co occurring condition. I will say that the biggest

192
00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:16,360
Speaker 1: theme for those hospitalized, at least down here right now

193
00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:21,160
Speaker 1: are teens who could have been eligible for vaccination as

194
00:10:21,200 --> 00:10:24,760
Speaker 1: well who are unvaccinated. And also obesity seems to be

195
00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:29,280
Speaker 1: a really salient risk factor for older kids. Yeah, and

196
00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:33,200
Speaker 1: you know, there's it's obviously very scary. There have been

197
00:10:33,320 --> 00:10:35,600
Speaker 1: other things. Of course, kids have been hospitalized for too.

198
00:10:35,640 --> 00:10:37,880
Speaker 1: I know we've brought my kids to the er with

199
00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:41,000
Speaker 1: RSV in the past, so there are still, you know,

200
00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:43,160
Speaker 1: risks for this. There have been risks for other things

201
00:10:43,200 --> 00:10:46,040
Speaker 1: as well. We want to make sure we're always evaluating

202
00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:48,600
Speaker 1: all of them though. Of course Sarah and I are vaccinated,

203
00:10:48,640 --> 00:10:52,320
Speaker 1: and I've vaccinated my fourteen year old. He is fully

204
00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:55,560
Speaker 1: vaccinated and has been for months, and as soon as

205
00:10:55,600 --> 00:10:58,680
Speaker 1: Sam turns twelve, like we will be in the clinic

206
00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:03,400
Speaker 1: the next day. That's how pro vaccine we are here,

207
00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:05,760
Speaker 1: that we really do believe that it is the best

208
00:11:05,920 --> 00:11:10,319
Speaker 1: way to fight this pandemic and how we can get

209
00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:13,679
Speaker 1: back to normal and so if people are, you know,

210
00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:16,240
Speaker 1: thinking about it. If probably a lot of our listeners

211
00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:19,240
Speaker 1: are vaccinated, but if you have not done that yet,

212
00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:22,079
Speaker 1: thinking about the upcoming school year, please go do it.

213
00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:24,280
Speaker 1: Get your kids who are twelve years or old or

214
00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:26,120
Speaker 1: vaccinated as well. I mean, Sarah, if you had a

215
00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:28,920
Speaker 1: twelve year old, you would do it right, absolutely, and

216
00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:31,000
Speaker 1: I plan to do it, you know, to give my

217
00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:34,360
Speaker 1: kids the vaccine as soon as they are eligible. You know,

218
00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:36,360
Speaker 1: to those who have been hesitant in the past, this

219
00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:39,960
Speaker 1: is just maybe a reasonable time to just look at

220
00:11:39,960 --> 00:11:43,880
Speaker 1: things again, just because there may be factor. You know,

221
00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:46,440
Speaker 1: we're now dealing with a slightly more contagious version. We're

222
00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:50,360
Speaker 1: seeing a little bit more in kids. We're really seeing

223
00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:53,000
Speaker 1: more of it in the unvaccinated, and the vaccine's been

224
00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:54,959
Speaker 1: out for a little bit longer, so that might ease

225
00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:57,720
Speaker 1: some people's comfort level if they want to look at data.

226
00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:01,960
Speaker 1: Adverse effects can occur, but they are quite quite rare.

227
00:12:02,040 --> 00:12:05,079
Speaker 1: So just you know, an invitation if this is something

228
00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:09,160
Speaker 1: you weren't quite ready for before, it's okay to reevaluate

229
00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:11,960
Speaker 1: and look at things now, because I think it's kind

230
00:12:11,960 --> 00:12:15,079
Speaker 1: of more and more obvious that it's Number one protective

231
00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:17,000
Speaker 1: of our kids overall, and number two kind of the

232
00:12:17,080 --> 00:12:20,280
Speaker 1: right thing to do because as these kids may be

233
00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:22,800
Speaker 1: spreading it more in schools, and I do think that's inevitable,

234
00:12:22,800 --> 00:12:24,840
Speaker 1: and we're going to get to that next. You know,

235
00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:27,320
Speaker 1: they could bring it home to vulnerable family members, maybe

236
00:12:27,360 --> 00:12:30,120
Speaker 1: somebody who's immunosuppressed and took the vaccine but it didn't

237
00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:32,880
Speaker 1: you know, take full effect, and so whatever we can

238
00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:37,000
Speaker 1: do to perhaps lower that burden, I think is helpful.

239
00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:39,560
Speaker 1: And some good news that we got over the past

240
00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:41,439
Speaker 1: few days which is probably helpful for a lot of

241
00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:44,480
Speaker 1: our listeners if you are pregnant or thinking of becoming

242
00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:47,840
Speaker 1: pregnant in the next few months, that the CDC is

243
00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:52,040
Speaker 1: now recommending that pregnant women do get vaccinated, that there

244
00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:56,000
Speaker 1: is no increased risk of miscarriages in the first twenty weeks,

245
00:12:56,400 --> 00:12:59,200
Speaker 1: and that women who do get COVID while they were

246
00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:03,280
Speaker 1: pregnant are at increased risk of adverse events, including pre

247
00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:07,280
Speaker 1: term births and other such complications. So that on the margin,

248
00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:09,360
Speaker 1: you know, that was something I know that some people

249
00:13:09,400 --> 00:13:12,160
Speaker 1: who hadn't gotten vaccinated that was because they were looking

250
00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:14,120
Speaker 1: to expand their family in the next few months, and

251
00:13:14,360 --> 00:13:17,160
Speaker 1: that is completely understandable, and I feel like that has

252
00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:20,560
Speaker 1: not been brought up enough in the vaccination discussion, that

253
00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:24,880
Speaker 1: of course pregnant women are concerned about putting anything new

254
00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:27,360
Speaker 1: into their bodies, and especially when it is you know,

255
00:13:27,440 --> 00:13:31,320
Speaker 1: emergency authorized. But they have been doing the research now

256
00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:34,200
Speaker 1: and I think that is very compelling and so you know,

257
00:13:34,240 --> 00:13:36,840
Speaker 1: hopefully people will keep that in mind as well. So

258
00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:38,200
Speaker 1: we're going to take a quick ad break and then

259
00:13:38,200 --> 00:13:40,160
Speaker 1: we're going to come back and talk about practical things

260
00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:43,040
Speaker 1: we can do to get through this school year given

261
00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:48,000
Speaker 1: some of the background and you COVID and the issues

262
00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:51,000
Speaker 1: that will cause in schools. So we'll be back right

263
00:13:51,000 --> 00:14:05,840
Speaker 1: after this audbreak. All right, Well, we are back talking

264
00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:10,600
Speaker 1: about back to school with the background of pandemic COVID

265
00:14:10,720 --> 00:14:13,800
Speaker 1: here for a third school year and what that is

266
00:14:13,880 --> 00:14:18,440
Speaker 1: going to wind up meaning. So I think, you know

267
00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:21,640
Speaker 1: what we we want to talk through scenario planning because

268
00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:25,520
Speaker 1: while a lot of the politics and the loudest voices

269
00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:28,800
Speaker 1: are talking about mask mandates, what district has it and

270
00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:32,000
Speaker 1: if they're defying their governor or what have you, the

271
00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:34,840
Speaker 1: masks are going to wind up being less relevant for

272
00:14:34,920 --> 00:14:38,840
Speaker 1: what is going on, you know, than the quarantines, which

273
00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:41,840
Speaker 1: is what is going to wind up happening and disrupting

274
00:14:41,960 --> 00:14:44,960
Speaker 1: in other school years. So, Sarah, what is your school's

275
00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:48,880
Speaker 1: quarantine policy like that you are looking at here. I

276
00:14:48,920 --> 00:14:52,560
Speaker 1: actually don't know, to be completely honest. It previously was

277
00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:57,440
Speaker 1: very strict in that not only if your child is

278
00:14:57,480 --> 00:15:00,560
Speaker 1: in a class and they were wearing masks at least indoors,

279
00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:04,240
Speaker 1: all the entire class would be out for like ten days.

280
00:15:04,280 --> 00:15:05,920
Speaker 1: I don't think they were doing fourteen days. I think

281
00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:10,200
Speaker 1: it was around ten days. And they were also quarantining

282
00:15:10,280 --> 00:15:13,680
Speaker 1: siblings of the exposed. So for example, if annabel was

283
00:15:13,840 --> 00:15:15,840
Speaker 1: masked in a classroom with a kid who got sick,

284
00:15:16,280 --> 00:15:18,200
Speaker 1: then not only could Annabelle not go to school for

285
00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:20,760
Speaker 1: the next week, but neither could Cameron or Genevieve. So

286
00:15:20,840 --> 00:15:25,520
Speaker 1: that's pretty strict. I don't know if that is going

287
00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:28,320
Speaker 1: to be the policy this year. I've not seen anything

288
00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:32,640
Speaker 1: specific to that recommended by the CDC. I know everyone

289
00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:34,840
Speaker 1: listening to this is going to say, oh, I either

290
00:15:34,880 --> 00:15:36,880
Speaker 1: I wish my school had that, or oh my gosh,

291
00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:40,360
Speaker 1: that is completely beyond So, you know, opinions may vary.

292
00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:43,840
Speaker 1: I wish we could maybe, you know, just being editorializing

293
00:15:43,920 --> 00:15:46,160
Speaker 1: a little bit of a middle ground would probably make

294
00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:49,520
Speaker 1: me happier, But that's maybe where we are. They haven't

295
00:15:49,560 --> 00:15:54,240
Speaker 1: released new guidelines for this year, so I'm not entirely sure.

296
00:15:54,840 --> 00:15:58,280
Speaker 1: And even though Laura, I know the mass stuff is distracting,

297
00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:03,000
Speaker 1: but it is also fresh because there's so much uncertainty.

298
00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:06,080
Speaker 1: Like if you read the headlines with Broward School District,

299
00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:08,480
Speaker 1: which is the public school district we were in. Again,

300
00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:10,400
Speaker 1: we're in a private school, but I think they tend

301
00:16:10,400 --> 00:16:13,040
Speaker 1: to align because we're in Broward County. It was like,

302
00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:17,160
Speaker 1: school recommends masks, governor does not allow masks. School's going

303
00:16:17,200 --> 00:16:19,440
Speaker 1: to defy the governor. Governor's going to withhold the salaries.

304
00:16:19,440 --> 00:16:21,400
Speaker 1: School's going to go along with the governor. No, they're not.

305
00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:23,760
Speaker 1: There's a go fundme. I mean, it is like when

306
00:16:23,760 --> 00:16:26,360
Speaker 1: you're in it, it may be irrelevant, but it is

307
00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:30,560
Speaker 1: very hard to ignore. So I guess we will see

308
00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:33,360
Speaker 1: what happens. But I will also admit that I do

309
00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:36,040
Speaker 1: plan on sending my children in masks to school. They're

310
00:16:36,080 --> 00:16:38,520
Speaker 1: very used to wearing them. I am not planning to

311
00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:40,960
Speaker 1: send them in n ninety five masks or kyn ninety

312
00:16:41,040 --> 00:16:45,080
Speaker 1: five masks because I personally find those incredibly uncomfortable and

313
00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:47,920
Speaker 1: do not feel that it is realistic to ask my

314
00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:49,560
Speaker 1: children to wear that all day, and I think it

315
00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:51,960
Speaker 1: could backfire into them wearing no mask when I'm not

316
00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:55,760
Speaker 1: watching them. So just regular cloth, comfortable or disposable masks

317
00:16:56,040 --> 00:16:59,400
Speaker 1: they'll be going in every day. And I am more

318
00:16:59,400 --> 00:17:02,520
Speaker 1: anxious were the quarantines than anything else, in part because

319
00:17:02,560 --> 00:17:05,760
Speaker 1: our policy is quite strict, and you know, we do

320
00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:08,520
Speaker 1: have an anny for that reason, and she's great, but

321
00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:10,480
Speaker 1: you know, part of me is even nervous that she'll

322
00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:12,640
Speaker 1: at some point kind of lose her patience if she's

323
00:17:13,280 --> 00:17:18,119
Speaker 1: having to basically homeschool again, which was terrible for our family. Yeah,

324
00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:20,960
Speaker 1: I mean, I think our district is going to have

325
00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:24,959
Speaker 1: masks required from what I've been reading. And the reason

326
00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:30,280
Speaker 1: is not because of so much masks, you know, whatever

327
00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:32,080
Speaker 1: the data may be on them or not on them.

328
00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:35,119
Speaker 1: It's because it will allow them to limit the quarantines

329
00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:38,760
Speaker 1: because then somebody won't be a close contact if they

330
00:17:38,760 --> 00:17:41,879
Speaker 1: have been wearing a mask around someone, because the definition

331
00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:46,680
Speaker 1: is like unmasked for fifteen minutes with somebody who has

332
00:17:47,240 --> 00:17:50,560
Speaker 1: contracted COVID. So if you have the mask, then you

333
00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:54,000
Speaker 1: can avoid the quarantine of children who most likely don't

334
00:17:54,040 --> 00:17:57,359
Speaker 1: have it, but who were around the person who did.

335
00:17:57,880 --> 00:18:01,000
Speaker 1: Which the scenario planning we want people to work with

336
00:18:01,119 --> 00:18:04,439
Speaker 1: here is you could get a call from your school

337
00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:07,119
Speaker 1: and saying, if you know you have a quarantine policy

338
00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:10,280
Speaker 1: like Sarah's does, your kids can't come in for ten days?

339
00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:13,320
Speaker 1: What are you going to do with that? Now? Hopefully

340
00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:15,480
Speaker 1: there will be virtual options for the kids to keep learning,

341
00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:17,440
Speaker 1: but I'm not sure that every district will do that.

342
00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:20,280
Speaker 1: You know they've committed to in person school, now they

343
00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:22,800
Speaker 1: may not have the setup for doing virtual. So now

344
00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:26,720
Speaker 1: you've just lost ten days of learning and you as

345
00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:29,720
Speaker 1: a family need to figure out the childcare arrangements. So

346
00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:33,199
Speaker 1: hard thing to think about, but got to think about it.

347
00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:36,000
Speaker 1: What are you going to do when this happens? What

348
00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:38,800
Speaker 1: is your backup childcare? Can you or your partner stay

349
00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:41,280
Speaker 1: home with your kids? How are you going to stay

350
00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:43,640
Speaker 1: on top of what is going on in the curriculum

351
00:18:43,920 --> 00:18:46,919
Speaker 1: so that you are able to do some of that

352
00:18:47,040 --> 00:18:50,120
Speaker 1: stuff when that inevitably happens, so that the kids don't

353
00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:53,240
Speaker 1: get too far behind. I would say another good thing

354
00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:57,199
Speaker 1: a lot of districts are doing for older children is

355
00:18:57,240 --> 00:19:01,640
Speaker 1: that if you are vaccinated, you can avoid the quarantine,

356
00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:04,399
Speaker 1: which again then you're not missing school. So that may

357
00:19:04,400 --> 00:19:07,879
Speaker 1: be another nudge if you have adolescents to get the

358
00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:11,040
Speaker 1: vaccine for them, because then they won't miss as much school,

359
00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:13,600
Speaker 1: and certainly missing school when you are over twelve, you

360
00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:15,800
Speaker 1: are you know, there's a lot more that you're not getting.

361
00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:18,320
Speaker 1: I mean, it's obviously annoying to have young kids that

362
00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:20,160
Speaker 1: they're home, that you've got to watch and all that,

363
00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:23,200
Speaker 1: but it's a little less of, you know, the stuff

364
00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:27,200
Speaker 1: that is going to really be hard for Sarah. Sarah's

365
00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:29,159
Speaker 1: making a face. Yeah, I get it. I get it,

366
00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:31,480
Speaker 1: because it's you need to learn. They have to learn

367
00:19:31,520 --> 00:19:33,920
Speaker 1: to read. I mean, like that's you have a kid,

368
00:19:34,119 --> 00:19:37,040
Speaker 1: you're lucky because you're youngest who was affected during this time.

369
00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:38,760
Speaker 1: Well he was able to go in person and he's

370
00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:41,360
Speaker 1: a great reader. Like it's been easy for him. It's

371
00:19:41,359 --> 00:19:43,840
Speaker 1: hard for me to know. You know, in our house,

372
00:19:44,400 --> 00:19:48,200
Speaker 1: we have some struggles with that. And it may have happened,

373
00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:49,719
Speaker 1: it may have been just as much of a struggle

374
00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:52,440
Speaker 1: without the pandemic, but I'll never know, and I can't tell.

375
00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:55,840
Speaker 1: And I what I do observe is that, like, literally,

376
00:19:55,880 --> 00:19:58,720
Speaker 1: sometimes it looks like online learning is zero learning. And

377
00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:02,159
Speaker 1: if you're getting farther and farther behind as a young child,

378
00:20:02,640 --> 00:20:05,159
Speaker 1: one might argue that that's worse than if you can

379
00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:07,120
Speaker 1: at least already kind of read and reason and maybe

380
00:20:07,160 --> 00:20:10,080
Speaker 1: you'll maybe instead of learning calculus, you'll like dive into

381
00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:12,960
Speaker 1: like Greek mythology and do something else useful like these

382
00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:16,440
Speaker 1: foundational skills. Missing out on them, combined with the fact

383
00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:18,960
Speaker 1: that some kids just do so poorly with screen learning,

384
00:20:19,040 --> 00:20:21,600
Speaker 1: I think is just as bad. Yeah, they're both bad. No,

385
00:20:21,640 --> 00:20:23,919
Speaker 1: I totally get that. I totally get that, and I

386
00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:27,439
Speaker 1: agree that, especially for young kids, virtual learning is often

387
00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:30,520
Speaker 1: really really tough, and for some kids more than others.

388
00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:34,600
Speaker 1: We've mentioned in the past that Alex's private kindergirl garten

389
00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:38,000
Speaker 1: class was all little boys because guests who did not

390
00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:42,520
Speaker 1: want to attempt virtual learning with their active little boys

391
00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:45,359
Speaker 1: that there were there was a definite element of this

392
00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:48,080
Speaker 1: that some of the six and seven year old girls

393
00:20:48,119 --> 00:20:51,119
Speaker 1: were better able to sit and pay attention. And I

394
00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:53,479
Speaker 1: don't like gender stereotypes, but I can tell you that

395
00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:56,360
Speaker 1: that is what happened with our school. It's a gender average,

396
00:20:56,440 --> 00:21:00,879
Speaker 1: gender average, Yes, exactly. Well, I'm curious, what are you

397
00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:02,119
Speaker 1: What are you going to do then, I mean if

398
00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:05,000
Speaker 1: you because you think about these things, right Sarah, So,

399
00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:07,480
Speaker 1: I mean, what advice do you have for our listeners.

400
00:21:07,520 --> 00:21:10,439
Speaker 1: If people are you know, facing a situation where you

401
00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:14,760
Speaker 1: are concerned about a child potentially getting behind and there

402
00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:18,240
Speaker 1: could be long quarantines, I mean, what are you planning on.

403
00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:20,639
Speaker 1: We've already had to do some things. I mean, we

404
00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:24,280
Speaker 1: have a reading tutor that we're working with, sometimes some

405
00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:26,600
Speaker 1: of it in person and some of it via zoom,

406
00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:28,640
Speaker 1: because one on one via zoom is a little bit

407
00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:32,280
Speaker 1: different than an entire class via zoom. And also we

408
00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:35,600
Speaker 1: found that an outsider is better than a parent sometimes

409
00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:38,399
Speaker 1: with certain things, or you know, that may be unique

410
00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:40,119
Speaker 1: to our family, or maybe just be that my husband

411
00:21:40,119 --> 00:21:44,240
Speaker 1: and I are not good tutors, but whatever it may be,

412
00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:48,000
Speaker 1: that's that's been helpful. So I could see expanding that

413
00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:51,359
Speaker 1: supplemental help in the future if needed. You know, again,

414
00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:53,359
Speaker 1: we do have a full time nanny, so we will

415
00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:56,560
Speaker 1: lean on her likely during some of these quarantine periods.

416
00:21:56,600 --> 00:21:58,560
Speaker 1: You know, at some point she could burn out, and

417
00:21:58,600 --> 00:22:02,000
Speaker 1: I think if it became dire, I would think about

418
00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:04,760
Speaker 1: also like hiring like a college student to maybe come

419
00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:07,960
Speaker 1: in for a few hours and do some tutoring, particularly

420
00:22:08,320 --> 00:22:11,000
Speaker 1: for Cameron so that she can entertain Genevieve and animals.

421
00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:15,280
Speaker 1: Is pretty independent. So yeah, I've certainly thought through a

422
00:22:15,320 --> 00:22:18,600
Speaker 1: lot of this. I mean, there's always that catastrophizing that

423
00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:21,400
Speaker 1: happens where I'm like, screw it, I'm just gonna quits

424
00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:25,000
Speaker 1: much job. But then I think about that and it

425
00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:27,239
Speaker 1: doesn't make any sense, and it also wouldn't be very

426
00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:29,679
Speaker 1: nice to my colleagues and patients who really continued to

427
00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:33,159
Speaker 1: need medical care. So we will not be doing that.

428
00:22:33,320 --> 00:22:36,119
Speaker 1: But it sometimes crosses my mind. So if that's also

429
00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:39,679
Speaker 1: you your normal, Yeah, you're normal, and it's it is

430
00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:44,080
Speaker 1: so stressful the way I'm thinking about what the quarantines

431
00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:45,960
Speaker 1: that people are going to be dealing with this year.

432
00:22:46,119 --> 00:22:49,320
Speaker 1: It's like having a baby in daycare during the winter,

433
00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:54,760
Speaker 1: is how I'm thinking about it. Because the first year

434
00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:57,880
Speaker 1: that when Jasper was a baby and we went through

435
00:22:57,880 --> 00:23:00,760
Speaker 1: the first winter in daycare, it was literally only five

436
00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:03,080
Speaker 1: weeks out of about three or four months that he

437
00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:05,879
Speaker 1: was not able to attend. And that is a pretty

438
00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:09,560
Speaker 1: hard burn rate to sustain as a working parent. Of

439
00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:13,120
Speaker 1: a coverage of you know, needing to have your kid

440
00:23:13,119 --> 00:23:15,880
Speaker 1: at home during this time, and figure out, well, how

441
00:23:15,920 --> 00:23:19,639
Speaker 1: can I keep advancing in my career, how can I

442
00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:23,240
Speaker 1: even meet the basic expectations of my job when I

443
00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:27,200
Speaker 1: have these sudden absences that can be extended. You don't

444
00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:30,280
Speaker 1: know how long they'll be, that can happen very suddenly,

445
00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:35,280
Speaker 1: and that are hard to cope with. So, you know,

446
00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:38,639
Speaker 1: I think it's just make sure you got backup plans,

447
00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:41,560
Speaker 1: make sure you've thought about what you're going to do,

448
00:23:42,119 --> 00:23:45,400
Speaker 1: make sure you've had a family conversation if there are

449
00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:49,399
Speaker 1: two of you, how you plan to split. Hopefully not,

450
00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:52,240
Speaker 1: but if they do happen, the extended periods at home,

451
00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:56,760
Speaker 1: if there is professional support from elsewhere you can bring in,

452
00:23:56,840 --> 00:24:01,760
Speaker 1: whether that's other family members or hired caregivers like a nanny,

453
00:24:02,280 --> 00:24:05,040
Speaker 1: a sitting service, a backup sitting service of people who

454
00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:08,040
Speaker 1: are obviously fully vaccinated because they wouldn't want to be

455
00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:11,800
Speaker 1: around potential exposures otherwise. But you know just what you're

456
00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:14,280
Speaker 1: going to do, whether you can work from home, like

457
00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:16,960
Speaker 1: what sort of scenario you can set up with your

458
00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:21,359
Speaker 1: manager to possibly have extended periods of working from home

459
00:24:21,760 --> 00:24:23,800
Speaker 1: Suddenly if it needs to happen, and if you are

460
00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:26,320
Speaker 1: in a job that does not allow for that, you

461
00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:30,399
Speaker 1: need to figure something out because it could totally happen.

462
00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:33,600
Speaker 1: And I want to just give my feeling like I

463
00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:37,200
Speaker 1: really wish this wasn't happening for a third school year

464
00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:41,760
Speaker 1: in a row, and it is so frustrating, and I

465
00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:44,720
Speaker 1: feel like what parents have been through over the past

466
00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:50,080
Speaker 1: few years is just so much rough. We can all

467
00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:53,360
Speaker 1: just sympathize to gather that we have all been through this,

468
00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:55,800
Speaker 1: and obviously some people have had it much worse than others,

469
00:24:56,520 --> 00:24:59,680
Speaker 1: but it hasn't been easy for anyone. So we want

470
00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:02,840
Speaker 1: to just give a note of encouragement for everyone as

471
00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:04,919
Speaker 1: we're going into this school year to think about what

472
00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:09,119
Speaker 1: can go wrong, but also try to be as upbeat

473
00:25:09,160 --> 00:25:13,159
Speaker 1: as you can to give the kids some element of

474
00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:16,520
Speaker 1: normalcy and make it feel like as much of an

475
00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:19,120
Speaker 1: adventure as you can, even if there are so many

476
00:25:19,119 --> 00:25:21,800
Speaker 1: things that are so tough right now, Yeah, the whole

477
00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:25,480
Speaker 1: one day at a time, and I think looking forward

478
00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:30,159
Speaker 1: rather than back is really helpful right now. I of

479
00:25:30,200 --> 00:25:32,919
Speaker 1: course am very pro vaccine, as we've discussed, but I

480
00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:36,120
Speaker 1: think I'm tired of hearing people say preventable. I mean,

481
00:25:36,119 --> 00:25:38,120
Speaker 1: who cares. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. We don't

482
00:25:38,119 --> 00:25:41,600
Speaker 1: even know. It's not really relevant to what we're dealing

483
00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:46,280
Speaker 1: with now, And I think it does take away from, like,

484
00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:48,680
Speaker 1: you know what, be grateful for the fact that we

485
00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:52,040
Speaker 1: still are starting school, be grateful for every day, and

486
00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:55,119
Speaker 1: take one day at a time and kind of focus

487
00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:58,200
Speaker 1: on strategizing and moving forward. And I'm preaching to myself

488
00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:01,520
Speaker 1: because I was very much stuck in a spiral. But

489
00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:05,040
Speaker 1: I think the more that kind of like the early

490
00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:07,160
Speaker 1: days in the pandemic, we can just zoom into each

491
00:26:07,280 --> 00:26:12,719
Speaker 1: day and celebrate the good things and be safe within reason,

492
00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:17,400
Speaker 1: the better off we're all going to be exactly all right. Well,

493
00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:20,320
Speaker 1: on that note, let's go to our listener Q and

494
00:26:20,359 --> 00:26:23,440
Speaker 1: a part of this episode. So did you want to

495
00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:26,200
Speaker 1: take this one? Or did you yes? Because I want

496
00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:28,800
Speaker 1: you to answer it because I don't have I don't

497
00:26:28,840 --> 00:26:30,520
Speaker 1: have as many thoughts as you do. Well, why don't

498
00:26:30,560 --> 00:26:33,679
Speaker 1: you read it? Then? Sure? I like this phrase. My

499
00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:37,720
Speaker 1: question is should I leave my gilded cage but stagnant job.

500
00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:41,399
Speaker 1: I have fifteen years of work experience, including five years

501
00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:44,320
Speaker 1: at a top management consultancy and an MBA from a

502
00:26:44,359 --> 00:26:48,040
Speaker 1: top school. I work at a large organization in organizational

503
00:26:48,119 --> 00:26:51,600
Speaker 1: development middle management, which is my preferred field. The big

504
00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:53,920
Speaker 1: pros at my job are that I have amazing work

505
00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:57,040
Speaker 1: life balance, very good pay, and very little stress. I

506
00:26:57,119 --> 00:26:59,960
Speaker 1: enjoy my coworkers and overall are very comfortable and able

507
00:26:59,960 --> 00:27:03,960
Speaker 1: to handle my mom responsibilities, which is wonderful. The problem

508
00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:06,800
Speaker 1: is that our company is shrinking and promotion opportunities are

509
00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:09,280
Speaker 1: very few and far between. We are also going back

510
00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:11,280
Speaker 1: to the office, which is a huge negative due to

511
00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:14,280
Speaker 1: my long commute and will significantly impact my work life balance.

512
00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:17,399
Speaker 1: I have some flexibility, but not as much as I prefer.

513
00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:21,320
Speaker 1: At my company, I'm considered a great performer, but fairly green,

514
00:27:21,359 --> 00:27:24,800
Speaker 1: with only only in quotes fifteen years of experience. Most

515
00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:26,760
Speaker 1: likely it would be another five years before I was

516
00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:30,080
Speaker 1: up for promotion to an executive level. I fear that

517
00:27:30,119 --> 00:27:32,879
Speaker 1: staying at the company will stagnate me and my skill

518
00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:35,359
Speaker 1: growth and make me less marketable. I don't want to

519
00:27:35,359 --> 00:27:38,280
Speaker 1: lose out on future potential income or career growth, but

520
00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:40,800
Speaker 1: I also recognize I have a pretty good setup. I

521
00:27:40,800 --> 00:27:44,400
Speaker 1: would appreciate your insights. Yeah, well, this is a good question,

522
00:27:44,440 --> 00:27:45,840
Speaker 1: and we get a version of this one a lot.

523
00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:47,760
Speaker 1: I feel like we've been doing a lot of best

524
00:27:47,800 --> 00:27:50,720
Speaker 1: of both worlds. Frequently asked questions light life, which is

525
00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:53,000
Speaker 1: that you know, people have worked really hard to get

526
00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:56,840
Speaker 1: to a place of good work life balance, and that's great,

527
00:27:57,240 --> 00:28:00,399
Speaker 1: but life is not built on work life balance alone.

528
00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:02,360
Speaker 1: And sometimes people start saying, well, you know, I'm still

529
00:28:02,359 --> 00:28:05,560
Speaker 1: an ambitious person. I want to figure out what to

530
00:28:05,640 --> 00:28:09,240
Speaker 1: do with myself, and yes, I can handle all my responsibilities,

531
00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:12,480
Speaker 1: but I would like to be challenged too. So my

532
00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:16,199
Speaker 1: general thought is that there is zero downside to looking

533
00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:20,840
Speaker 1: around for other opportunities. There is no law against job hunting,

534
00:28:20,960 --> 00:28:23,679
Speaker 1: especially now, there's probably a lot of opportunities out there.

535
00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:26,080
Speaker 1: We keep hearing about, you know, how many people are

536
00:28:26,560 --> 00:28:29,919
Speaker 1: trying to scale up hiring and are having trouble doing so,

537
00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:32,840
Speaker 1: the perks that people are offering. It's good to look

538
00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:35,480
Speaker 1: and see what's out there, and this is true for everyone.

539
00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:40,160
Speaker 1: There is zero downside to looking around, to boosting your

540
00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:42,600
Speaker 1: network with the goal of seeing what is out there.

541
00:28:42,880 --> 00:28:44,920
Speaker 1: So what I would recommend this person do is really

542
00:28:44,960 --> 00:28:48,720
Speaker 1: start working through your contacts, have those lunches, have those coffees,

543
00:28:48,760 --> 00:28:50,360
Speaker 1: call the people you haven't talked to in a while,

544
00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:53,959
Speaker 1: figure out what's going on in your industry, which organizations

545
00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:56,560
Speaker 1: are scaling up, or maybe related industries that you might

546
00:28:56,600 --> 00:29:00,200
Speaker 1: find interesting. As you see what is out there, as

547
00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:01,960
Speaker 1: you see what is available, as you see what you

548
00:29:02,040 --> 00:29:04,640
Speaker 1: might be qualified for, you might decide that what you

549
00:29:04,720 --> 00:29:06,760
Speaker 1: have is awesome and you want to stick with it.

550
00:29:07,120 --> 00:29:10,040
Speaker 1: But you also might decide to try something else. It

551
00:29:10,080 --> 00:29:12,880
Speaker 1: is also always possible that you will get a job

552
00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:16,160
Speaker 1: with even more work life balance and even better pay,

553
00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:18,920
Speaker 1: and that's more exciting. Like you don't know, people haven't

554
00:29:18,920 --> 00:29:22,000
Speaker 1: optimized for everything in their jobs because we tend to

555
00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:24,440
Speaker 1: take what job we see and that is convenient and

556
00:29:24,480 --> 00:29:26,320
Speaker 1: that is being offered at the time we are looking,

557
00:29:26,600 --> 00:29:28,800
Speaker 1: which means it's highly unlikely that it is perfect on

558
00:29:28,880 --> 00:29:32,320
Speaker 1: every dimension except one, right, So it's always possible that

559
00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:35,600
Speaker 1: you will find a even better job. I would also

560
00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:38,320
Speaker 1: say that you don't know for sure that you won't

561
00:29:38,320 --> 00:29:41,000
Speaker 1: get promoted with your own organization too. I mean, people

562
00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:45,200
Speaker 1: can often just assume things and not say anything, But

563
00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:47,640
Speaker 1: if it is a goal of yours to move up

564
00:29:47,680 --> 00:29:50,760
Speaker 1: the ladder, then have a conversation with your manager and say, like, listen,

565
00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:53,400
Speaker 1: I would like to be challenged more. I would like

566
00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:57,480
Speaker 1: to have more responsibilities. Here are some things I've thought

567
00:29:57,480 --> 00:29:59,320
Speaker 1: about doing. What do you think of any of this?

568
00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:02,080
Speaker 1: And your manager might say, hey, that sounds great, Yes,

569
00:30:02,120 --> 00:30:04,240
Speaker 1: go do that, or they might say, hey, by the way,

570
00:30:04,360 --> 00:30:06,680
Speaker 1: did you know that Joe is retiring next week? And

571
00:30:06,720 --> 00:30:10,000
Speaker 1: they're like, his job is coming up? Who Now that

572
00:30:10,040 --> 00:30:12,080
Speaker 1: I know you're interested in it, let's talk about whether

573
00:30:12,080 --> 00:30:13,400
Speaker 1: it would be a good fit for you. You You know,

574
00:30:13,720 --> 00:30:17,880
Speaker 1: you just don't know until you have this conversation, so

575
00:30:18,240 --> 00:30:20,960
Speaker 1: there's no downside. Go ahead and have it. Go ahead

576
00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:23,840
Speaker 1: and look around. You may not decide to rock the

577
00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:27,080
Speaker 1: boat at all, but you may decide to and maybe,

578
00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:29,360
Speaker 1: you know, give yourself a couple of months to figure

579
00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:32,920
Speaker 1: this out and we'll see how it goes. Love it.

580
00:30:33,840 --> 00:30:35,240
Speaker 1: I don't have much to add to that one. I

581
00:30:35,280 --> 00:30:37,640
Speaker 1: think that was I just liked your answer. Great answer,

582
00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:39,840
Speaker 1: And I hope this listener gets back to us maybe

583
00:30:39,880 --> 00:30:42,120
Speaker 1: in a couple of months, and lets us know what

584
00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:44,400
Speaker 1: she does. But she does stay in the gilded cage

585
00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:47,160
Speaker 1: or find something else, all right, So our love of

586
00:30:47,280 --> 00:30:51,880
Speaker 1: the week mine is going to be morning runs. I

587
00:30:52,120 --> 00:30:54,480
Speaker 1: don't run in the morning all that often in the

588
00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:57,000
Speaker 1: early morning because it's just hard with a baby who

589
00:30:57,040 --> 00:31:00,680
Speaker 1: wakes up early and sort of is trading off with me. Michael,

590
00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:03,600
Speaker 1: I often want to sleep during my trade off part

591
00:31:03,720 --> 00:31:07,640
Speaker 1: of the morning. But this morning I got up went

592
00:31:07,680 --> 00:31:11,520
Speaker 1: for a run. I went past this beautiful mist over

593
00:31:11,680 --> 00:31:14,880
Speaker 1: a field. It was just gorgeous and it was only

594
00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:17,400
Speaker 1: seventy degrees. It'll be ninety five by the middle of

595
00:31:17,440 --> 00:31:20,360
Speaker 1: the day. But running in seventy degrees with the mist,

596
00:31:20,360 --> 00:31:21,840
Speaker 1: it was just so nice. It was a great way

597
00:31:21,840 --> 00:31:23,520
Speaker 1: to start the day. And yes, I'm tired because I

598
00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:26,520
Speaker 1: didn't get enough sleep last night, but maybe I'll take

599
00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:28,360
Speaker 1: a nap later and then I could get my nap

600
00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:30,480
Speaker 1: and the run in the morning. So that's that's my

601
00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:33,200
Speaker 1: love of the week. Oh I wish we had any

602
00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:35,080
Speaker 1: time of the day here that you could run in

603
00:31:35,120 --> 00:31:38,760
Speaker 1: seventy degrees. It's not possible because it never gets to

604
00:31:38,800 --> 00:31:41,960
Speaker 1: seventy degrees, sadly, All right, Well, my love of the

605
00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:44,640
Speaker 1: week is so you know how you'll have like a

606
00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:46,200
Speaker 1: phone background, then you leave it there for like three

607
00:31:46,240 --> 00:31:47,440
Speaker 1: years and you realize you have a picture of like

608
00:31:47,440 --> 00:31:49,120
Speaker 1: your two year old and they're actually five and blah,

609
00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:52,680
Speaker 1: blah blah. Well, I had subscribed to some email newsletters

610
00:31:52,680 --> 00:31:54,320
Speaker 1: and I think it was like the simplified one and

611
00:31:54,360 --> 00:31:56,640
Speaker 1: she's like, I have a summer free phone background, and

612
00:31:56,680 --> 00:31:58,520
Speaker 1: I was like, why not? So I put it on

613
00:31:58,600 --> 00:32:00,800
Speaker 1: for summer. It was this cute little summer wave scene.

614
00:32:00,840 --> 00:32:03,400
Speaker 1: It was awkwa. It was very nice. And then August

615
00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:05,840
Speaker 1: hit and I got another newsletter from a different person.

616
00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:07,840
Speaker 1: This one was from inkwal Press, with who we had

617
00:32:07,880 --> 00:32:10,320
Speaker 1: on the Tanya Dalton on the podcast a couple of

618
00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:13,760
Speaker 1: years ago, and I put on her calendar as the background,

619
00:32:13,800 --> 00:32:15,760
Speaker 1: the free thing, and it's you know, these free ones

620
00:32:15,760 --> 00:32:18,640
Speaker 1: are polished and pretty because some designer made them, and

621
00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:21,440
Speaker 1: I just think I might be like a seasonal phone

622
00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:24,640
Speaker 1: background person. Now it's kind of fun. Yeah. No, I

623
00:32:24,680 --> 00:32:26,960
Speaker 1: didn't change mine for years, and then you know, last

624
00:32:26,960 --> 00:32:29,120
Speaker 1: spring I put on a nice flowery scene and I'm

625
00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:31,440
Speaker 1: enjoying looking at that, but I guess, yes, I should

626
00:32:31,520 --> 00:32:33,760
Speaker 1: change it again at some point. You can get it

627
00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:36,040
Speaker 1: autumn leaves. When it turns out you look at it

628
00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:37,760
Speaker 1: so many times a day, can you know if you

629
00:32:37,800 --> 00:32:40,520
Speaker 1: put something inspiring it could actually affect your mood, which

630
00:32:40,560 --> 00:32:42,880
Speaker 1: would be kind of cool. So something to think about.

631
00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:45,280
Speaker 1: All right, well, this has been best of both worlds.

632
00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:48,240
Speaker 1: We've been talking going back to school during the time

633
00:32:48,320 --> 00:32:51,040
Speaker 1: of COVID. We are wishing all the best for our listeners,

634
00:32:51,640 --> 00:32:55,400
Speaker 1: happy and healthy school year with lots of good things,

635
00:32:55,440 --> 00:32:57,680
Speaker 1: even if there will be some challenges. So we will

636
00:32:57,720 --> 00:32:59,560
Speaker 1: be back next week with more on making work in

637
00:32:59,600 --> 00:33:04,760
Speaker 1: life fit. Thanks for listening. You can find me Sarah

638
00:33:04,920 --> 00:33:08,760
Speaker 1: at the shoebox dot com or at the Underscore Shoebox

639
00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:12,520
Speaker 1: on Instagram, and you can find me Laura at Laura

640
00:33:12,640 --> 00:33:15,880
Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. This has been the best of both

641
00:33:15,880 --> 00:33:19,400
Speaker 1: worlds podcasts. Please join us next time for more on

642
00:33:19,520 --> 00:33:21,480
Speaker 1: making work and life work together.