My family needs to decide whether or not to sign up for virtual school by noon tomorrow. I have an entering 6th and 2nd grader, both will be at new schools. We& #39;ve quarantined since March, with a total of 5 socially distanced interactions w/ others bc husband = essential worker.

My hope was that we had peaked in June after the state reopened in May, and that we& #39;d see a decline that would allow us to return to rates we we& #39;re seeing in May. Sadly, according to @ALPublicHealth and this graph from @BamaTracker, that is definitely not the case.

In fact, our new case 7-day average is 1851, and our 14-day average percent positive is 11.8%, while the state 7-day average percent positive is 17.6%. School is said to start Aug 20th. Masks are required for the older one, only strongly encouraged for the younger one.

I realize that no one can tell me what the right thing to do is, but it infuriates me that were in a position where we have to make a choice like this, months into this pandemic. It& #39;s infuriating that people refuse to wear masks and that mentality may follow into the classrooms.

The same people who have been at the beach, sports tournaments, indoor dining, had playdates and sleepovers, bachelorette parties, and family gatherings, will all be showing up at school with people who have social distanced or exercised care for months. Not fair nor safe.

While I recognize that things will work out in the end, no matter what we decide tomorrow, I& #39;m letting myself feel it all today, ultimately reminding myself over and over again that it didn& #39;t have to be this way.