Shane Seems Happier.
The schools have finally – almost mercifully – decided to stay closed for the remainder of the school year.
While states are cautiously opening up, and teenagers are flocking back to the parks to see who gets coronavirus next, we are staying home. We are glad to stay home. We don’t need to be part of this particular petrie dish.
It’s interesting, watching Shane go through this fourth quarter. While we are still waiting to see what happens with grades, Shane seems perfectly content to do virtually nothing all day, every day.
In fact, Shane seems happier than I’ve seen him in a very long time.
Shane spends his days watching videos and TV, like most teenagers – but he also limits himself. He actually places limits on screen time, because he doesn’t want to overdo.
Even at the very beginning of this social distancing stuff, Shane realized he didn’t want to spend his life just sitting in front of a screen. He was the one who suggested family board games and puzzles. He’s also the one who comes up with interesting things to do – even if we don’t do them.
He makes lists on the computer of his favorite songs, movies and bands. He researches stuff on the computer that interests him. And he teaches himself tricks and things he may never have learned, if it hadn’t been for this “extra” time.
Shane took up drumming again, almost with a vengeance. He hadn’t drummed since 7th grade, and he barely touched his drum kit even when he was in band class. But some days, he drums for hours.
He started lifting weights and started a serious workout routine. While he absolutely adored his P.E. class, Net Sports, he’s added his P.E. regimen to his self-prescribed exercise routine.
Shane also takes the dog for long walks, and goes for bike rides by himself. He spends time with us, and with his brother. They’ve made music together. They even combine different games so that we can all have a little bit of an extra challenge. For example, Shane and Dylan decided that while Apples To Apples and Whoonu were okay by themselves, combining them made for a whole new world of fun.
He makes videos every day and posts them on Instagram, and it’s a sheer delight watching what he’s created, and seeing how his mind works. The videos are almost all short videos that poke fun at some societal norm, or some common term that, in spite of being common, make no literal sense at all.
I know Shane still has issues – as every human does – and that he’s still tackling what he needs to tackle. In fact, he spends more time with his youth minister online than he ever did in person – and he’s exploring some pretty deep, philosophical subjects.
It seemed like Shane was happier without school, so I asked him: “Are you happier now than you were when you had school?”
And he said, “The situation is worse now.”
“Well, that’s true,” I said. “But you seem happier now that you’re not in school every day.”
“I’m about the same,” he said, correcting me. “I miss socializing.” This made me sad – and he must have anticipated that, because he quickly added, “But I’m okay.”
If nothing else, he’s certainly exploring new things. And that, alone, has to be a good thing.