Oh my goodness — it’s kind of like a homecoming to be typing up a post for Hellobee again. I was so excited to see that the blog was going to be up and running again. What a year it has been! As a parent and a teacher, it has been a massive upheaval of life. My career had to pivot completely to online learning for a year and a half, plus my own children were at home doing their schooling.

Besides having to live through a pandemic like everyone else, we also took a big leap of faith and added to our family through foster care. It’s not official yet, but it is looking like we will get to adopt her; it’s just a slow process. So for now, and hopefully forever, the Train household is a family of seven. The crazy thing is we have four 12-year-olds in this house.  My oldest is about to turn 13, my twins turned 12 in July, my foster daughter turned 12 two weeks after that, and my youngest daughter will be 10 soon. Heaven help me, and someone please send coffee.

The last time I posted here, I was writing about the process of getting an IEP for my sons. I hope to share more of that journey and how we are navigating schooling now. It’s hard to believe that we are already in middle school, and next year I have to start applying to high schools. Here in Los Angeles the school system is a bit daunting.

I’d love to write about what has saved my sanity and how I have been dealing with massive mental fatigue. Anyone else out there struggling to get through simple tasks because their list is so long, they can’t figure out where to start? Hopefully it’s not just me and maybe we can all help each other get through what has been a very difficult time for parents to navigate.