First week of public school in Florida: the good, the bad and the confusing

As our kids started public school for the first time this week, it's a unique experience for all of us. Florida public schools are going to be a lot to navigate. Did we make the right decision?

This week was back to school for us and it’s been a lot. We’ve had a busy summer of travel (which has been awesome) and got back just in time to get an intro to our two new schools and jump into the year. Today’s newsletter is mostly about what this week has been like for me with just a dash of travel advice because it’s been a big one. In addition to the kids starting high school and a new elementary school, there was a formal announcement this week that gay marriage is going to be reviewed by the US Supreme Court. Great. Not only are we having a big life moment but also the legal status of my family is being challenged.

Do you ever feel like things just are piling up all around you and you’re literally just waiting to see what happens to make your next move? Yeah, that’s me right now. I know that not everyone feels the weight of the world beyond their door, and sometimes all we have the capacity for is the basic impact things are having on our own lives, but being a parent is about feeling what your kids are feeling and making decisions that are for the best in their future. Right now it feels impossible to be all the things for all the people AND enjoy being a parent. I know I’m not alone in that, so below you can hear all of my fears, moaning and what I’m doing to deal with it.

Thank you for taking time out of your day to tune into what’s happening with us and to be open to some travel advice and ideas that can make your world a bit brighter and your world view a bit more broad.

FIRST, WHAT’S NEW ON THE BLOGS!

I had these grand dreams of the kids being back in school and me packing away my ADHS into one of the tiny pouches of their backpacks. Nope. My non-ability to focus is only weaker than my ability to spiral into the pit of a million ideas. Even so, I feel good about getting some solid writing and photo editing done this week. It really does bring me joy, and I love seeing our websites growing!

2TravelDads.com - I’ve really enjoyed putting together our weekend guides for different cities, and I finally have a long weekend plan for New York City up on the blog. We get to visit NYC often, so I polled the audience (my household) and put together what everyone likes to do when we’re in New York. We have a few months until we’re back in NYC, but I’ll keep this updated in the event we find new favs.

And don’t forget, our guide to Visiting the Inside Passage of Alaska WITHOUT a Cruise Ship is live to be a helpful planning tool for anyone that’s not into cruising.

MyAlaskaTrip.com - For the coming months everything new is going to be able Southeast Alaska since we just had two awesome weeks enjoying it. Starting in the Ketchikan area we’ve got fresh articles on the Totem Heritage Center, Tongass Historical Museum and the iconic Creek Street. Moving northward to Juneau, the Goldbelt Tram is one of the most popular attractions in town, but the most epic experience is the Glacier Pack Rafting and Hiking we did.

Continuing up the Inside Passage, the Alaska Fjordlines was our favorite way to get between Southeast Alaska destinations, going between Juneau and Haines. Once in Haines we stayed really busy and got to be out on the water a lot. We’ve got articles about rafting in the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve and kayaking with spawning salmon in Chilkoot Lake State Park. And there is much more to come in the next week or so.

MaineExplored.com - This week I focused on Acadia National Park, which we love, but specifically Biking in Acadia! From bicycle routes to places you can rent bikes, and even a guide to e-biking in Acadia, it’s all up on the blog. There’s a big Maine trip next month, so there’ll be more coming down the pipeline.

StAugustineExplored.com - I don’t know why I struggle to write about our home town. It’s so full of fun and awesome restaurants, but I just can’t get back in the groove. I’m trying though! I did make it through a big Frequently Asked Questions about visiting St Augustine, so that made me happy to finish.

MyAlohaTrip.com - Taking the approach of sharing a little of each island in rotation, this week we’ve got three new pieces up and each is a very different, very unique experience: the Koko Crater Rail Trail hike on Oahu, the Real Noni Farm on Kauai, and the Halawa Valley Cultural Hike on Molokai.

New School, who ‘dis?

Yes, the kids both started in new schools last week. We’ve been so fortunate to have them in a great small school for the last five years and we’ll miss it, but we decided it was time to move them into public schools because they each needed a bit more than what we could hope for from a small school organization. Oliver starting high school meant it would be a new school anyways, and then Elliott being the sporty kid that loves music and must socialize and expand his horizons needed to be in a school with more programs and opportunities for him. So the transition to our zoned schools happened.

We got back from Alaska just in time to do our orientations and meet-the-teacher days, and for Oliver we also got to have a day at school where we navigated the halls with him from classroom to classroom. It was overwhelming for me. He seemed to be fine for the most part, but it was a lot for me. I went to a high school less than half the size of his, so for me this was scary on his behalf. He really kept his cool and did a good job introducing himself to teachers and asking questions about his classes.

We had a big new student night before the school week began where there were administrators and staff telling us all about how the school runs, the rules, who’s in charge of what and so on, and there were Q&A. Part of this included a whole thing about kids not needing or using phones. Yeah no. Teachers absolutely use phones in the classrooms. Every kid has a phone. I called the school to ask a question about arriving late potentially and the response I got was “You student will use their phone to check in when they arrive.” “My kid doesn’t have a phone. We were told he didn’t need one.” “Oohhh, yeah, he needs a phone…” Argh. Well, he’s not getting one anytime soon.

Both kids were successful riding the bus to school each day and even had a day where they bought lunch. They’re having the quintessential public school experience it would seem. Heck, they are even eating lunch by themselves because everyone else knows each other and the reality of public school cliques is still a thing. Seriously people, did no one think to teach their kids about kindness and inclusivity and to NOT repeat what we all went through in school? I’m sure they’ll make friends in time, but to hear that your kids are eating alone and sitting alone on the bus is heart wrenching. They are responsible for making their own friends, but you’d think somebody would see a kid alone and be like “I’ll go be their friend at least for a half hour…”

My Fears of Florida Schools

Sending kids to public school always has a few layers of fear in the USA. My generation was the one to first have drills for active shooters. My generation was the first one to have internet access in the library and to learn about online communication. Well, now that’s all grown into bigger problems, and then add Florida being Florida on top of it, and there’s this whole other concern about bigotry and social issues that makes it even more of a concern for me.

I know that I can’t protect the kids from other humans their whole lives, but I fear for their happiness and the effects others could have on them while they’re still learning and growing. Our family is not the norm and I always have this thought in the back of my mind that somebody is going to make fun of the boys because of our family, or that somebody is going to over-interpret some of Florida’s terrible “family oriented” laws and it’ll hurt all of us. And I worry that my loud protestations about our government and toxic patriotism will come out in conversation and be met with discipline or aggression.

And of course we’ve talked to the kids about things to be wary of and specific topics or phrases to take note of to share with us. We talked about how the Pledge of Allegiance isn’t something we do if we’re not ready to actively mean the words, and that right now our country isn’t in the mode of looking out for our best interests… We talked about letting us know if there are religious topics that come up so we can talk about those things together. And we have had several talks with our 9th grader about the big new world of adult topics that he’s no doubt going to start hearing about. So yeah, a lot of potential for big talks at home. We’ll see how this rolls.

How I’m Dealing with our New School Situation

I’ll be honest, Elliott going off to 5th grade brought a tear, but I was okay with it. Oliver heading off to high school was just too much. I cried a lot all day and it was hard. He’s been by my side, just gone for the short school days of the last five years, for the last 13 years. Now, he leaves for school before 8:30 am and doesn’t get home until almost 5:00 pm. Once he starts his clubs at school, there will be even longer days away. It’s jarring to have such distance all of the sudden.

So, here’s how I’m dealing with it. I’m working extra hard at my desk surrounded by the cats that sit in the hallway and cry because the kids aren’t home. Kidding (kinda). I actually have signed up for different parent volunteer things at both kids’ schools, from PTO to Class Parent (still don’t know what this is) to the high school shop. Hopefully this’ll keep me in the loop and feeling connected, but also, maybe it’s good to have this distance. I don’t know.

“Gay marriage is safe; don’t worry.” - said every fool

And now for me to yell at all the morons who kept saying that we were overreacting about Rump and who said “Project 2025 isn’t his thing. That’s fear mongering.” Well guess what, they were absolute ignorant fools and most of them still are. We’re watching the Dept of Ed get stripped down and destroyed. We’re watching public lands become private sector money makers. Roe v Wade is gone. And now this week it was formally announced that the US Supreme Court will be reviewing Obergefell v Hodges, the landmark gay marriage case.

We knew our marriage wasn’t safe with Christian Nationalists gaining footing and the loudest platforms. We knew that the many bills and proposals in Florida were testing grounds for National reviews and changes. To the people who still don’t think things are that bad, this is literally a case regarding whether our family should legally exist like yours does and where the bounds of government are relating to personal lives. And all this coming from the party that is covering up seemingly endless child s*x trafficking and abu5e cases.

Oh, and on a side note about America really getting dark, they’re trying to lower the age to try somebody as an adult… which means they can lower the age somebody can become a solider… which means that your corps like have been created in other nations (Germany, Israel…) are just a few short legislations away. You guys, it’s all a scary mess.

Upcoming travel: Maine Glamping in Fall

To end on a happy note though, I’m so excited to do a project with Visit Maine next month! I’ve been working on our itinerary with the state tourism team and I think it’s going to be really wonderful to share a different sort of Maine experience than most people might think of.

The travel plan includes all kinds of unique activities and accommodations. We’ll be doing three different glamping spots from Portland to Millinocket (nearly Canada), we’re doing an 18 lighthouse boat trip, kayaking, hiking, visiting several museums, exploring Bangor and Belfast, and so much more. It’s going to be beautiful, arriving to northern Maine at the start of fall colors. I’m hoping for awesome weather and a whole lotta moose!

---

That’s all for now. Thank you for hearing me out and sticking with us through our travels and parenting journey. I hope everyone has a safe, healthy week, and if you’re ever in need of travel advice or recommendations, let us know!