To the caregivers of children who are going “back” to school next week......Please know that we are thinking about you during these strange and challenging times. Whether you are homeschooling, virtual schooling, face-to-face, or unschooling, we know that there’s no easy choice right now.  Here at The Spark Mill, we want you to know that we fully expect that things will not be back to normal. We know that taking care of kids and being responsible to guide them through a completely different way to learn, socialize, and build the skills they need to be good humans is no small thing. We are expecting you to need longer to return emails and request meetings at 8am or 8pm. We are anticipating and delighted to know that we will see your kids sitting on your lap during zoom meetings or to hear them screaming in the background that they need to poop (oh, just my kid?). We know that your time will be even more limited and we intend to be strategic in how we ask you to participate in partnership with us.

We believe that you shouldn’t have to choose between trying your hardest at parenting and also doing your best work in the world outside your home. It might involve some pivoting and shifting timelines, priorities, and deliverables, but it’s not impossible. We also know that beyond the scheduling and feeling like your “do list” is a mile long, there are a lot of you who will be feeling anxious, and experiencing grief. That when there are such huge changes happening inside your house it’s hard to imagine navigating more change at work. We will give you space, grace, and support to work through it. We can’t control the fact that there is a lot of change happening, but we can work to get you through it.