It seems strange how quickly we adapt to a new normal. When schools shut down 5 months ago, we had no idea how long the schools would be shut for, we had no idea how much the country would shut down or the impact all this would have on our mental health. So here we are, a week away from schools returning in England and Wales, and a week or two after schools going back in Scotland.

To be honest, I’m still not convinced it’s all going to happen next week. Today on the radio there have been discussions about wearing face masks in schools in England (it has just been introduced in secondary schools in Scotland for communal spaces) and social media is full of people saying it’s all a hoax, or that it’s never going away. There are reports about the R number rising, and scientific advisers telling us that this new normal is probably going to be here for at least a year. My gut says something is brewing in the media or government and there will be an announcement in the next few days……

But, for now, let’s ignore my gut and assume the schools go back. The teen is anxious and apprehensive, but not much more than in other years. He’s worried about going in to Y11, he’s worried about Y11, GCSEs and what teachers he will have, and he’s worried about the changes that will inevitably happen when he goes back, but he’s not actually worried about the virus (however, he woke up with a runny nose, and had a bit of a wobble, but he doesn’t have a temperature, isn’t coughing and his sense of smell is as sensitive as ever, so it is just a cold). I trust his school to do everything they can to protect the students and teachers, and it helps that it’s relatively small with lots of outside space. Unless we have to isolate, or there’s a local lockdown I won’t be keeping him at home as he wants to be back and learning. He’s spent the summer looking up degree courses and he knows what results he wants next summer, knows his A-level choices and knows what grades he needs to get into the courses he’s interested in. Although I teach and tutor, I don’t have the facilities to get him the grades he needs (unless anyone has an empty science lab I can borrow??), so for his long term mental health, he needs to go back.

However, I understand that many parents and children are worried. I also understand that many parents and grandparents will be torn right now. They need a little down time, they have been juggling home life, work life, home schooling and lockdown, and in a week or so, they may get a little bit of breathing space and are probably counting down the days. They will also be worried about what happens when their children go back to school. Will the children come into contact with the virus? Will they get ill? Will they bring it home? Will they cope with the new normal in school with bubbles and staggered timetables? Will they have done enough work at home? Will they be behind? Will there be extra homework? What exactly will the new school routine feel like?

So many questions, so many feelings, so many worries and mixed emotions – and that’s just the adults! There is an inevitability to the anxiety and feelings that we are feeling at the moment. In our house, we talk about our feelings and thoughts and it helps. This came from a need to articulate emotions and how we process feelings that I first blogged about here. We acknowledge that there is often no logic to anxiety – although I think there is logic to being worried at the moment – and that we all cope with anxiety in different ways. It’s OK to worry, and at the moment, it’s to be expected.

I’m afraid there are no words of wisdom to end this post – just to let you know that we’re all in the same boat; mixed emotions, worries, uncertainty and the juxtaposition that we want to wrap our kids in cotton wool while letting them go back and be kids again. It’s going to be interesting, it’s going to be tough at times, but the virus isn’t going anywhere, and we need to find the new educational normal to let our children be children. If that means they go back next week with masks and face shields, that’s fine. If that means that you have decided home schooling is the way to go, good for you. If that means that you’re just going to spend too much time looking at the news, school websites, and eat too many biscuits, hey, that’s where I am right now too!