Kids across the country—and their parents and teachers, too—are celebrating the end of the most challenging school year ever. From pre-K to college age, students have survived a school experience not a single adult alive has ever had to muddle their way through, thanks to Covid.

Sure, parents and teachers had it rough (often beyond rough) making the schooling work somehow, some way. Yet no one over the age of 30 can fully comprehend how it felt and what it meant—and continues to mean—being a kid of any age enduring the wacked out way the 2020-2021 school year went.

Which is why, if you ask me, every single kid across the country is a hero. They made it through something historic, something no adult can claim to fully have a take on.

As those heroes head into a well-deserved summer break, it seems an ideal time for me to share an update on where my personal heroes—my grandsons—are at this time.

Seventh grade has typically been a tough year for kids even in the before time (before Covid, that is) thanks to increased independence and responsibility as well as increased hormones. Add in the on-off-on-off in-person versus online class cyclone, masks, social distancing and isolation of Covid and shew! Brayden survived that. And more: Brayden also kinda-sorta-somewhat figured out how to manage his new diagnosis of Type 1 Diabetes in the midst of all the Covid <cuss>. That, my grandma friends, makes him a hero.

Camden, another student hero of mine, made it through third grade in true Camden style. Despite the challenges, he rolled with it. For the most part. Cam has always been one who doesn’t back away from telling it like it is, and Covid couldn’t change that. Neither could teachers who don’t appreciate his refusal to quietly conform to pointless rules or rigid instruction. Let’s just say Camden’s teacher may be as thankful as he is that Covid couldn’t keep him from acing third-grade academics and moving on to fourth grade come fall

And Declan … oh, my. To have been a kindergartner attending school for the very first time in the year of Covid has to have been the worst of all. Tears and frustration marked many a day for my little guy. Though Declan didn’t thrive in kindergarten, he did survive … and even learned a thing or two—including what to do when your computer screen goes upside down in the middle of a Zoom session with the entire class. (Short answer: Have Mom call Grandma and she’ll scramble to walk you through the steps to get ya back in class right-side up.)

With the cruddy Covid year complete, Brayden, Camden, and Declan are on their way to more exciting lessons—surfing lessons in San Diego, to be specific, to celebrate school’s end!

James, on the other hand, has a few more class sessions to go before the final bell, yet his school experience can be considered another seventh-grade success story. James attends a pretty awesome sort of school that focuses on character development and technical skills through hands-on learning. A big feature of that is 90 minutes of shop class (welding, wood working, etc) every day that incorporates all that’s learned in English, math, science, and history classes. Well, how does that work when classes are online? Not the greatest, to be honest. Yet James managed to muddle his way through the mucked-up year. Success for sure!

That’s where all the school boys are at this time. Yet I’d be remiss if I didn’t include an update on my other favorite boys, the two who are learning at a pace likely more fast and furious than those who attended cobbled together classrooms of varied sorts during Covid. Those two life-learners being Benjamin and Robert.

Benjamin, at two and a half years old, relishes learning new things of all sorts, especially anything outdoors and active. Go, go Gadget’s got nothing on him.

Last but not least there’s Robert, who will be six months old on Sunday. My youngest hero now rolls over, gets up on his knees to rock, and will undoubtedly be crawling to catch up with his brother in no time. The kiddo continually giggles and grins and is pretty much considered the embodiment of pure joy by anyone who crosses his path.