It should be concerning that I have to write the phrase “I’ve lived through several government shutdowns at this point”, the one most affecting us being the one in 2011 because both of the kids were on WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) and that isn’t mandatorily funded. Everyone who was on it was advised to use their debit cards or vouchers at the start of October because most states had residual funding and could continue the program with it until they ran out of funding, which is exactly what I did… I went to the WIC store in my city and got all of the staples that we could get. All of the other benefits and services that we get fall under mandatory funding, which is affected by the debt ceiling — and oh, we’re bumping up against that. Wonderful. It looks like October is going to be a positively wonderful month for my family. It truly will be.

Meanwhile, I am continuing to homeschool both of the boys in spite of our state funding virtual schooling again. Only 10% of the district’s students can be enrolled in it, which means that there is never a guarantee that either of them would be selected, and there is no prioritizing for disability. The school also has to have or exceed a certain grade to be permitted to homeschool… or maybe that’s the district in general, which makes things even more of a toss-up if I were to consider it. And then there’s the fact that both of the boys would have to go to their respective schools to take the state test, and we know for a fact that Bub is not testable. So they would literally have to go up on campus where the schools and the districts can not mandate masks by executive order from the governor, which means that there is a risk of exposure to COVID-19, and then they could bring it home to each other or give it to me. At any rate, though, even with accommodations (assuming that the school actually gave them), if they did not get or exceed a certain grade on the test, they would not be permitted to continue virtual schooling. I know for a fact that Monster has a confirmed intellectual disability because he is more testable in that regard. If he does, Bub has to. Homeschooling for the long-term just makes more sense in our situation, and it is working well for us. I swear I have ADD or ADHD, though…