Today, Thursday, at 13:09 air raid sirens started wailing and we each had vastly different experiences.
I had finished teaching and was sitting with another teacher, friend, and talking about virtual classrooms when we stopped and said, "is that a siren"? After 2 seconds, we understood it was real and leapt to action. She ran to her class. I did not have my phone on me so I went downstairs to stop by the teacher's room on the way to a safe room. Around 450 kids were at school. Although there was initial panicked running, some clear reminders to slow down and breathe, helped to focus the students to act purposefully and thoughtfully while on the way to their designated safe spaces. The kids and staff reacted well. While waiting for the all clear, I started checking for updates on Nickoma and the kids.
Nickoma didn't hear a siren in Jerusalem.
Loowan had been cranky and had just lied down to rest a bit. Although not yet asleep, she was very upset to be picked up and hauled into a safe room. Loowan is in a private in home daycare with a wonderful daycare provider. Her ganenet acted swiftly and got all 6 kids into her home's safe space quickly. Not an easy task for the 2 year old crowd, but to me it shows just how awesome she is.
Siikwan was in a reading lesson with her homeroom teacher. Her classroom is next door to the safe room. Her class was able to calmly enter the safe space. Siikwan reported that she was really brave and even helped console her best friend who was crying. I didn't wait for her school day to end. I came and picked her up as soon as I could safely leave my school and get to hers. She was coloring at her desk when I came and asked me to wait so she could finish. She tried to take her bestie with us, but I made a playdate for later in the day (not having known about the crying or I would have taken her early). On the way home she said, "mommy I was really brave, but really I needed a good mommy hug." I gave her an extra squeeze and we went to pick up some chocolate on the walk home.
Houthis terrorist pirates had launched rockets at us... Again.
Yesterday the population on Gaza finally also got brave and started protesting Hamas. They're demanding an end to war and suffering. Demanding an end to Hamas. Demanding the return of the hostages.
Meanwhile, it happened... Air raid sirens while everyone was awake, out of the house... At school.
Enough.
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