Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can I be honest on this anonymous forum and say I totally don't get it. I see so many people saying it is awe inspiring, amazing, gives goosebumps so I believe them of course but totally don't understand why it is so cool to be in the dark for three minutes. What am I missing?

Ok for you, not a once in a lifetime experience, lol.

It's not even super dark by any means. Like a 360 degree dusk.

My older teens (saw totality in 2017) are not interested in driving to my SIL's house for this event.

We're pulling our K and 2nd grade kids out of school Monday and Tuesday for this.

Anonymous wrote:Can I be honest on this anonymous forum and say I totally don't get it. I see so many people saying it is awe inspiring, amazing, gives goosebumps so I believe them of course but totally don't understand why it is so cool to be in the dark for three minutes. What am I missing?

Ok for you, not a once in a lifetime experience, lol.

Anonymous wrote:My parents live in a city that is very close to the path of totality for the solar eclipse on 4/8. Like maybe a 20-30 minute drive away from totality and even at their own place they will be extremely close and should see most of it. Is it worth pulling the kids from school to see it? K and 2nd grade but the 2nd grader has missed a lot of days already this year (I think 6 so far?) due to illness and we’d have to miss 4/9 as well for a travel day. Maybe I could have him write a science report on it, hah.

Good lord, yes - a once in a lifetime experience and your kids are so young the absences are not that important. It’s a great learning/teaching moment and could be a great memory for your kids.

My kids are older and saw the eclipse in 2017 so I gave them the option. They decided to skip it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are definitely pulling out. It's a once in a lifetime experience

Why Jan ?

Did you just learn about Jan recently and want to (mis)use it all of the time now?

I am pulling my twin 6th graders from school for Monday-Wednesday. We are flying to the Dallas area and combining the trip for the eclipse with a visit to two family relatives (one of my spouse's side, one on my side). For us, it was not a question of if we would pull our kids from school, but how long and where we would go to see the eclipse.

It's not a once in a lifetime, but the next full eclipse that is easily viewable during daylight hours is 21 years away. We will not be able to do something like this again as a family as my kids will be adults and have their own lives by that time.

Anonymous wrote:We are definitely pulling out. It's a once in a lifetime experience

Anonymous wrote:We are definitely pulling out. It's a once in a lifetime experience

Why Jan ?

Can I be honest on this anonymous forum and say I totally don't get it. I see so many people saying it is awe inspiring, amazing, gives goosebumps so I believe them of course but totally don't understand why it is so cool to be in the dark for three minutes. What am I missing?

We're pulling our 6th and 9th grader out. It's an extremely unique and awe-inspiring experience. (Maybe not once in a lifetime, but pretty darn close!)

But I can't stress this enough - DRIVE TO TOTALITY!
It makes an enormous difference in the experience. Shadows and dimming and crickets chirping are all cool in a 98% region, but not remotely like actually seeing the corona.

If the timing were a bit different, we probably would, as my parents live in the path of totality. But we have a busy week prior to that and the weather is unpredictable there that time of year. It was very cool a few years ago and I know my 2nd grader would like it.

Anonymous wrote:They're a little too young to really be into it at K and 2nd.

They definitely won't remember it at those ages.

I’m pulling my K and 3rd grader out for that Monday and Tuesday. They’ve had plenty of sick days this year, but they’re both doing really well in school.

Anonymous wrote:They're a little too young to really be into it at K and 2nd.

Honestly if you're there it's pretty hard not to be into it. Thankfully you'll be able to tell them the world isn't ending.