I came across this tweet by my friend Thaddeus Bourassa last night and it hit home.

Trying our best to stay connected is so very important, but if there has been distance as of late…

Don't feel guilty.
Connect when you can.
No one is judging.

This is STILL hard, so please be kind to yourself and show grace for those you haven't heard from in a while. pic.twitter.com/VkPRT60qWe

— 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐮𝐬 𝐁𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐚 🇨🇦 (@ThaddeusBTeach) April 28, 2021

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been struggling for the last…. oh say… 13 months. There have been ups and downs through the pandemic, although I feel like the valleys have been far more frequent. And the peaks? Well, let’s just say they’re probably at sea level at best.

And here we are, at the tail end of April, and I haven’t blogged yet this month. Not once. I’ve been racking my brain trying to find a topic that could uplift others, or a topic that would help someone else even if just a little. And… I’ve got nothing.

Nothing.

And do you want to know why I’ve got nothing? It’s because we’ve been living the same kind of life for the last 13 months! No interesting experiences to write about. Nothing exceptionally exciting going on in my classroom to share. I’m not feeling par I’ve already written about giving grace and the importance of self care, and ALL of this being so hard, and running (I’ve probably written too much about running…)

And yes… I should write about Bill 64, but I don’t have it in me yet.

Or… I could write about the announcement made today by our premier; “Manitoba Teachers will be able to get vaccinated in North Dakota.” In case you’re not great in geography like me, let me just help you for a second. Manitoba is in Canada. North Dakota is in the United States. So instead, read: On their own time, Manitoba Teachers will be able to travel by car for anywhere between 2 to 6 hours (or more if they live outside of Winnipeg) and cross an international border, in order to get vaccinated, but will have to drive there alone, get vaccinated, and come back immediately, oh and we will be super generous and exempt them of the 14 days of quarantine rule that usually stands for anyone travelling outside of the province, because really, we need them in the classrooms.

And… I could mention that our government is also still very adamant about the fact that transmission is not happening in schools when THREE schools have had to shut down and go to remote learning this week because of high Covid cases and not being able to fill substitute positions.

Or… I could write about how at my school alone, we’ve had many fail to fill sub positions which has resulted in many staff members going above and beyond their typical work duties in a day (which we all know is already ridiculously heavy on the best of days and unbearable during the pandemic). As if we weren’t stretched thin already?

I am tired. Really tired.

And so, I am taking Thaddeus’ advice. I am going to hang in there. And when the mood strikes, maybe I’ll have a blog that can inspire and help others. Today, this is all I’ve got. Hopefully May will be better.