Hi! As my username suggests, I am finally registered to post after a lengthy period of reading only. I first started reading the WTM forums in 2008 when I started homeschooling my daughter (now 20!). We only ended up homeschooling for two years for various reasons, but I continued reading because I have always been interested in education and because I found this forum to be a great place to read challenging discussions about topics that are important to me. Since then, I have been here intermittently, but I started reading daily in late January of 2020 with the long coronavirus thread. I have read the entire thread as it happened, along with the other covid-related discussions that have cropped up since then. These forums have become essential to me over the past year, both as a way to keep up with covid-related news and scientific studies, but also as a way to process the broader implications of the pandemic. Posters I have especially appreciated over the past year include Not_A_Number, Ausmumof3, Pam in CT, MercyA, BaseballandHockey, and ktgrok. And many more that I am not recalling offhand 🙂
I briefly taught math a long time ago, but then took time off work due to my (now adult) son's special needs. He has severe autism and cognitive delays. I now work as a substitute teacher and math tutor. My interests are math, taxes, retirement planning, special needs planning, and frugal-ish living. I am married and my daughter (for whom I originally visited the forums) is now in college.
And since no introduction during these times would be complete without the following. . . I have not had covid (that I am aware of), nor has anyone in my household. However, my sister (an ER attending in Detroit) had it in March of 2020 and has some long term cardiac damage. Her son caught it from her and ended up in the ICU for MIS-C. He has some chronic health issues now but is doing reasonably well overall. I am thankful to have already received both doses of the Pfizer vaccine; I qualified early since I work in a school.
Even now that I have de-lurked, I am unsure how often I will actually post. By the time I get to the forums at the end of the day, I find I lack the mental energy to put my thoughts into writing. Having a son with special needs and aging parents with health challenges can be exhausting. However, I wanted to at least take the time to express deep appreciation for the positive influence this board has had on me over the years!
