Maskless at Last!

FINALLY, our children headed off to school this morning without being required to wear a face mask.  It is exactly two years to the day when everything started to shut down across the country due to the Covid pandemic.  My kids' last day of school was March 13, 2020 and within in a matter of weeks, we were required by our governor to wear face masks in every indoor, public space.  With the exception of a 2-month break between June to August 2021, we have never been given a break from masks unlike many states in our country.  In fact, several states never required their students to wear masks to school this entire school year.  But our Washington kids have carried on and have been total troopers, wearing their face masks for 6.5 hours every day on top of almost every other activity and sport that they have been able to participate in since the pandemic began.  I have been so proud of how well my three older children have dealt with this as they have barely ever complained to me.  In fact, I have had to remind Ella and Logan many times to take off their face masks in the car after I pick them up from the bus stop.  Regardless, our governor finally announced a few weeks ago that he would be lifting the mask mandate on March 12th.  As a result, March 11th was the last day that they had to wear one to school.  Washington state was the 2nd to last state out of all 50 in our country to lift this mandate as Hawaii is not set to lift theirs until March 26th.  It's crazy to think that out of all of the states, we just happened to live in one of the strictest ones during this pandemic.  Oh well.  There is nothing that I can do about that except rejoice in the fact that my children will finally be able to see their friends' and teachers' entire faces again after almost two years.  How amazing it will be for them to be able to do things that they used to take for granted like seeing a person smile or read lips while someone is talking or participate in a sport without a cloth covering their mouth!  I can't wait to hear how great their day was today when they get home from school!