I have mentioned in previous posts that we have become middle aged bird watchers. We have stepped up our game and have multiple seed types and jelly and oranges and hummingbird feeders. I pretty religiously fill up the bird bath and I may even trim our evergreen bushes so they have places to perch. We were super excited a few weeks ago when a house wren and his wife moved into a mostly decorative bird house on our deck. Baby Girl and I sat on the bench super quiet and watched them fly back and forth building their nest. Apparently, male wrens build multiple half-ass nests around an area to try and lure several females to come mate with him. The nest is supposed to impress her - like he is a good provider. So when he lures one, his new wife immediately throws all his sticks and twigs out and makes him help her find smaller twigs and fuzz and stuff to build a softer, better nest to have babies in. That sounds slightly familiar....
So this week, we upped our game and gave our birds names. It seemed the practical thing to do. After all, we are already talking to them all the time anyway - and 'hey birdie' seems so impersonal for a creature that lives in our yard and we talk to daily. In addition to our wren family on the deck, we have a colony of sparrows that live above the treehouse in what was supposed to be a purple martin house, but instead has become sparrow condos. As far as we know, these are the only birds residing in our yard specifically...although the neighborhood is home to a pair of finches and a pair of blue jays that frequent our feeders, as well a collection of teeny, tiny chickadees that will practically sit in my lap.
Baby Girl named the sparrows "Cheesy Potatoes". I am still not completely sure if she intentionally calls ALL sparrows Cheesy Potatoes or if she believes she continually sees the exact same sparrow over and over again. I am not going to ask. Today she said "Hi, Cheesy Potatoes!" to a sparrow in my dad's backyard, apparently believing he followed us to Grandpa's for the afternoon. So all of the sparrow colony is Cheesy Potatoes. I got to name the wren husband. He is Mo. Baby Boy names the wren wife Rose. So Mo and Rose live together on the deck by the house and Cheesy Potatoes 1-6 live about 30 feet away on top of the tree house. They remind me of cranky old neighbors that have been living side by side for forty years. They sit on their porches and squawk at each other all day..."Get off my grass!". They scold me when I go out to weed the pepper plants or harvest salad. Cheesy Potatoes keeps dropping sunflower seeds in my pea teepee and I have a bazillion baby sunflowers sprouting that are not strong enough to ever grow, but are just strong enough to choke out my pretty purple pees. "Get off my peas!" Crazy birds.
We are quite the ecosystem.
Thursday, June 11, 2020
Wednesday, June 10, 2020
The Day We Hugged People
So I am not really going to be quick to jump into regular life, even though things are opening up. However, we are loosening up a bit and expanding our circle. We decided that any immediate family member that feels the same as us is welcome to be part of our circle - which means our kids get their cousins back. And their aunts and uncles. And their grandparents. Baby Girl was so incredibly excited to hug Busia and Grandma. She very sweetly asked them both if she could hug them - not so shockingly, they both said yes. So began a few days of her asking me who she could hug, what she could touch, where she could go...it is a little heartbreaking to see how much it really affected my kids - especially Baby Girl who is, by far, the most social of us all. Our bigger kids get a few select friends back, our Graduate gets her boyfriend back and our Sophomore gets his dude pack back. Our little kids don't get friends back quite yet, but we are thinking of trying a few outdoor playdates in the next week or two.
I know that we can't live cooped up in quarantine all summer, fearing what the fall may or may not bring. I struggle with this. I struggle with handing this anxiety and unease and NOT KNOWING over to God and just living our best lives over here. What if....what if....what if. Not my strong suit. I believe that there will be a second wave and navigating this middle part is tricky. I just don't want to make a bad decision while waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Soooooo...we are just going to work on better behaviors for the things we CAN control. Washing our hands before we sit down to eat anything. Washing our hands properly, not just getting them wet for a second. Using antibac when we are out in the world and wearing masks if we go inside anywhere. Sanitizing things that venture out in the world with us - phones, purses, car door handles. Not touching our freaking faces. Ugh. We are a family of nail biting nose pickers apparently. How did I never see this??? Work in progress...don't shake hands with my kids.
Next week I am going to try going physically into work for a few hours. I miss my partners and our staff and my desk with the snack drawer and my office with no kids in it. I miss participating in adult conversations without having to hide in a dark closet or barricade myself in the bedroom. I typically work from home most of the time in the summers anyway, so this isn't a huge obstacle for me but it will be nice to get to the point where I can run into the office and pick up what I need and have face to face conversations with the people I plan with. While it is a giant blessing to work from home, it is also a little isolating. I am pretty geeked up to head back in when I can.
All in all, we are well. We survived school at home, we are all healthy and mostly sane, Husband is totally back to work and I am creeping slowly back into work. Our kids have at least some of their tribe back in their lives and some places they can go for a change of scenery. And perhaps most importantly...we have grandmas to hug.
I know that we can't live cooped up in quarantine all summer, fearing what the fall may or may not bring. I struggle with this. I struggle with handing this anxiety and unease and NOT KNOWING over to God and just living our best lives over here. What if....what if....what if. Not my strong suit. I believe that there will be a second wave and navigating this middle part is tricky. I just don't want to make a bad decision while waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Soooooo...we are just going to work on better behaviors for the things we CAN control. Washing our hands before we sit down to eat anything. Washing our hands properly, not just getting them wet for a second. Using antibac when we are out in the world and wearing masks if we go inside anywhere. Sanitizing things that venture out in the world with us - phones, purses, car door handles. Not touching our freaking faces. Ugh. We are a family of nail biting nose pickers apparently. How did I never see this??? Work in progress...don't shake hands with my kids.
Next week I am going to try going physically into work for a few hours. I miss my partners and our staff and my desk with the snack drawer and my office with no kids in it. I miss participating in adult conversations without having to hide in a dark closet or barricade myself in the bedroom. I typically work from home most of the time in the summers anyway, so this isn't a huge obstacle for me but it will be nice to get to the point where I can run into the office and pick up what I need and have face to face conversations with the people I plan with. While it is a giant blessing to work from home, it is also a little isolating. I am pretty geeked up to head back in when I can.
All in all, we are well. We survived school at home, we are all healthy and mostly sane, Husband is totally back to work and I am creeping slowly back into work. Our kids have at least some of their tribe back in their lives and some places they can go for a change of scenery. And perhaps most importantly...we have grandmas to hug.
Tuesday, June 9, 2020
The Day We Practiced Empathy
I have thought about this post, letting the thoughts about it ramble around my brain a bit - hoping if the things that I want to say will be better if they marinate first, like a good steak or pot of stew. I don't know if that really works, but it is my process...
I couldn't be more white. I did an Ancestry DNA and the most southern part of my DNA is from....Michigan. I am highly Slavic, Scottish, Eastern European, French....I am blue eyed and fair haired...I grew up in an entirely white family, in a mostly white town, going to a church where it is rare to see a person of color and going to school in the middle of corn fields with another group of white kids. I don't know if most families handled the issue of race like mine did back then, but it followed the school of thought that we don't see race. Everyone is equal, everyone is made by God exactly the way he wanted them to be, and skin is just a characteristic like hair color. As a kid in school, black history was a week or so of information that never really sunk in. It was awful, but so far removed from what I knew that it was impossible to sink in. I 100% grew up believing race was not an issue anymore, that everyone felt like I did. I had no clue of the bigotry and the hatred and the bias that permeated our country - and still does.
As I grew up, my world expanded. I met and shared conversations and experiences with people of many backgrounds and ethnicities and color. I followed current events and traveled to other cities much more worldly than my humble beginnings. It shifted my lens that I saw race through - showed me that while actual plantation slavery is a thing of the past, many other awful things followed from then up to where we are now. Fear of someone different, fear of something unknown, prejudice that is taught through careless words or racist jokes....so many little things that are woven into our psyche. Some that we know of and some that we just assimilated somewhere along the way.
As a parent, I have never HAD to think about talking about race to my kids. My kids don't face any danger from not having had a race talk. I packaged my race talk in with my be-kind-to-others and God-makes-us-all-different talks, thinking that was enough. We talk a lot about inclusion, about never leaving anyone out. But before this May, I had never sat down and shared so much truth about race in America as I did yesterday. I thought about it for a while. How much is too much for a 6 and 7 year old to understand? As their mom, I want to shield them as long as I possibly can from losing their innocence and trust in people. But if I were a black mom, with black kids...this conversation wouldn't be optional, right? It would be necessary. And if these kids have to lose their innocence, how can I say I stand with them if I continue to hide the truth of this from my own children? I want my kid to be the one on a playground standing by a kid getting picked on - for race or funny clothes or crazy hair or whatever...so my kid has to be armed with the knowledge of why some kids have it harder than others. He has to know his own privilege and use that platform that he has to help stand up for those that are marginalized.
So I did what I always do when I need to undertake something. I bought books.
I researched online and sought recommendations and bought myself four kids books on diversity and inclusion and kids that live in different cultures. We skipped all our regular home school yesterday and got cozy on the couch and read through all of them. It took a long time. My kids had lots of questions. There were things I never realized they had never seen - like a Muslim woman in a hijab. They thought I was joking that cows were sacred in India. We read this really beautiful book called "The Color of Us" that had a young artist going out into her community to see all the different shades of brown in her neighbors. It was gorgeous. We learned what the word 'diversity' means. And then I told them that in America, a black man had been killed by a white man just because of the color of his skin. I explained that even though it was wrong, there are still people out there that believe they are better than others. My kids were utterly confused - my son summed it up best by saying, "if we know this already as kids how can there be adults that don't know?" We talked about how this prejudice makes it harder for kids of color - and how we need to be the best partners that we can be to make the world a place where everyone feels heard. It was a hard conversation, where my mind was just whirring to hopefully say the right words to all these questions.
I hope that I made the right choices and said the right things, but even if I made a mistake - I am sure that starting the conversation and widening their world view was the right way to begin. And if my kids start talking to you about race - whether you are black or white or any shade in between - I hope that you appreciate their curiosity and help me encourage them to ask questions and hear the answers and continue to make this a moment of real change. A change that I truly believe we all have a share in making in whatever way we can.
I couldn't be more white. I did an Ancestry DNA and the most southern part of my DNA is from....Michigan. I am highly Slavic, Scottish, Eastern European, French....I am blue eyed and fair haired...I grew up in an entirely white family, in a mostly white town, going to a church where it is rare to see a person of color and going to school in the middle of corn fields with another group of white kids. I don't know if most families handled the issue of race like mine did back then, but it followed the school of thought that we don't see race. Everyone is equal, everyone is made by God exactly the way he wanted them to be, and skin is just a characteristic like hair color. As a kid in school, black history was a week or so of information that never really sunk in. It was awful, but so far removed from what I knew that it was impossible to sink in. I 100% grew up believing race was not an issue anymore, that everyone felt like I did. I had no clue of the bigotry and the hatred and the bias that permeated our country - and still does.
As I grew up, my world expanded. I met and shared conversations and experiences with people of many backgrounds and ethnicities and color. I followed current events and traveled to other cities much more worldly than my humble beginnings. It shifted my lens that I saw race through - showed me that while actual plantation slavery is a thing of the past, many other awful things followed from then up to where we are now. Fear of someone different, fear of something unknown, prejudice that is taught through careless words or racist jokes....so many little things that are woven into our psyche. Some that we know of and some that we just assimilated somewhere along the way.
As a parent, I have never HAD to think about talking about race to my kids. My kids don't face any danger from not having had a race talk. I packaged my race talk in with my be-kind-to-others and God-makes-us-all-different talks, thinking that was enough. We talk a lot about inclusion, about never leaving anyone out. But before this May, I had never sat down and shared so much truth about race in America as I did yesterday. I thought about it for a while. How much is too much for a 6 and 7 year old to understand? As their mom, I want to shield them as long as I possibly can from losing their innocence and trust in people. But if I were a black mom, with black kids...this conversation wouldn't be optional, right? It would be necessary. And if these kids have to lose their innocence, how can I say I stand with them if I continue to hide the truth of this from my own children? I want my kid to be the one on a playground standing by a kid getting picked on - for race or funny clothes or crazy hair or whatever...so my kid has to be armed with the knowledge of why some kids have it harder than others. He has to know his own privilege and use that platform that he has to help stand up for those that are marginalized.
So I did what I always do when I need to undertake something. I bought books.
I researched online and sought recommendations and bought myself four kids books on diversity and inclusion and kids that live in different cultures. We skipped all our regular home school yesterday and got cozy on the couch and read through all of them. It took a long time. My kids had lots of questions. There were things I never realized they had never seen - like a Muslim woman in a hijab. They thought I was joking that cows were sacred in India. We read this really beautiful book called "The Color of Us" that had a young artist going out into her community to see all the different shades of brown in her neighbors. It was gorgeous. We learned what the word 'diversity' means. And then I told them that in America, a black man had been killed by a white man just because of the color of his skin. I explained that even though it was wrong, there are still people out there that believe they are better than others. My kids were utterly confused - my son summed it up best by saying, "if we know this already as kids how can there be adults that don't know?" We talked about how this prejudice makes it harder for kids of color - and how we need to be the best partners that we can be to make the world a place where everyone feels heard. It was a hard conversation, where my mind was just whirring to hopefully say the right words to all these questions.
I hope that I made the right choices and said the right things, but even if I made a mistake - I am sure that starting the conversation and widening their world view was the right way to begin. And if my kids start talking to you about race - whether you are black or white or any shade in between - I hope that you appreciate their curiosity and help me encourage them to ask questions and hear the answers and continue to make this a moment of real change. A change that I truly believe we all have a share in making in whatever way we can.
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
The Day Alexa Woke Me Up
So anyone who pays even the slightest attention to my blog or Facebook is probably aware that sleep is a hot commodity around the Larive household. Our children hate sleep. Many, many people have offered solutions...sleep routines, less screen time, baths before bed, less sugar...so.many.things. I have tried them all. ALL. Sometimes at one time. Some help, but none solve. Both of my littles have sun blocking curtains, white noise machines, and echo dots to play music and/or bedtime stories in soothing tones. We do meditation apps - which my son likes and my daughter hates. We turn on bedtime playlists - which my daughter likes and my son hates. No matter what combo we use...the end result is the same 90% of the time. I wake up at 3 am with my 7 yr old son laying with his feet in my face and his head at the foot of my bed. And my 6 yr old daughter is horizontal with maximum limb spread between my husband and I.
I know. I will miss this someday. But in the here and now? Mama gets cranky when a string of crappy sleep nights catch up to her.
I am also a terrible sleeper. I wake up at every noise and movement. I sleep next to the exact opposite - the snoring log. I love him and he is gorgeous but it is a wonder I haven't murdered him in his sleep yet. So this is how our morning went today....
Four in the morning, I am jarred awake by Lauren Daigle singing 'Rescue' from an echo dot somewhere in the upstairs. After the initial startle, I sink back in my pillows - all four of them - and wonder half asleep if our 7 yr old accidentally set a music alarm on his. He is a giant Daigle fan. I figure it will just end and sort of doze back off. As I am drifting to sleep, the song changes to 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow'...the really groovy bongo drum version? Yeah. I don't know in what world these two songs end up on the same station, but I am frankly too tired to investigate and no one else has even stirred.
That ends and I hear a hushed conversation and then muffled responses from Alexa that sound confused - and then a random hard rock song starts screaming through the second story...
My six year old daughter wanted to talk to Alexa. Apparently they had a miscommunication at some point. I then made, what I thought, was a very rational decision and disabled her Alexa. This caused her to cry forlornly that she loves Alexa and she is too lonely to be without anyone in her room if she can't talk to Alexa....so she jumps into our bed, narrowly averting landing on her brother who has been camped out at my feet since two. She does NOT go to sleep, but instead spoons me from behind so she can stage whisper in my ear, "It is morning. Can we get up? I see the sun. It is morning!" over and over again.
My husband hears NONE of this. NONE!
His alarm goes off at 545-ish and our daughter sits up straight next to him and yells, "Good Morning!" and then proceeds to get up for the day. I held strong til about three o'clock and then just frankly gave up on the day. Just did the necessary and sat my new cushier quarantine butt into the recliner. Tonight as I put her to bed, with her Alexa playing bedtime music, I reminded her - a little nicely, a little threatening-ish - that Alexa doesn't wake up til eight.
I know. I will miss this someday. But in the here and now? Mama gets cranky when a string of crappy sleep nights catch up to her.
I am also a terrible sleeper. I wake up at every noise and movement. I sleep next to the exact opposite - the snoring log. I love him and he is gorgeous but it is a wonder I haven't murdered him in his sleep yet. So this is how our morning went today....
Four in the morning, I am jarred awake by Lauren Daigle singing 'Rescue' from an echo dot somewhere in the upstairs. After the initial startle, I sink back in my pillows - all four of them - and wonder half asleep if our 7 yr old accidentally set a music alarm on his. He is a giant Daigle fan. I figure it will just end and sort of doze back off. As I am drifting to sleep, the song changes to 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow'...the really groovy bongo drum version? Yeah. I don't know in what world these two songs end up on the same station, but I am frankly too tired to investigate and no one else has even stirred.
That ends and I hear a hushed conversation and then muffled responses from Alexa that sound confused - and then a random hard rock song starts screaming through the second story...
My six year old daughter wanted to talk to Alexa. Apparently they had a miscommunication at some point. I then made, what I thought, was a very rational decision and disabled her Alexa. This caused her to cry forlornly that she loves Alexa and she is too lonely to be without anyone in her room if she can't talk to Alexa....so she jumps into our bed, narrowly averting landing on her brother who has been camped out at my feet since two. She does NOT go to sleep, but instead spoons me from behind so she can stage whisper in my ear, "It is morning. Can we get up? I see the sun. It is morning!" over and over again.
My husband hears NONE of this. NONE!
His alarm goes off at 545-ish and our daughter sits up straight next to him and yells, "Good Morning!" and then proceeds to get up for the day. I held strong til about three o'clock and then just frankly gave up on the day. Just did the necessary and sat my new cushier quarantine butt into the recliner. Tonight as I put her to bed, with her Alexa playing bedtime music, I reminded her - a little nicely, a little threatening-ish - that Alexa doesn't wake up til eight.
Monday, May 18, 2020
The Day It Rained for 24 Hours
What have we been up to?
Glad you asked...
My kids have played a zillion games of Roblox and watched a trillion tv shows. They have had a boatload of video conferences where other households probably see waaaay to much of our seedy underbelly. They have made videos of themselves playing guitars and dancing and telling stories. And then sent them to everyone they know. It has been a lot. And that is with me kicking them off them still to do homework and eat and talk to the humans that live in this actual house with mouths that have brushed teeth in them. I need the Great Flood to be over...
Hubby went back to work and seems better for it. He is a man who likes to be moving so this is good. He has been bitten by my project bug though- I just found him in the basement at 8 at night using the saw to cut beams for a squat tower for the new workout area. Beams that he STOLE from my garden, mind you. Just because I hadn't given it a home yet, doesn't mean I didn't have a future plan for it...
I am in a quest to see how many days I can go between hair washes. I have very dry, and now very long, hair so I have been an every-other-day hair washer for years. Sometimes I stretch to three days if I am super lazy on day 3. I have long been intrigued with this group of people that claim to have 'trained' their hair into not needing shampoo...at all. This is true. They call it 'no-poo' Not sure I am buying that exactly, but the idea that ingredients in shampoo require you to reuse shampoo again over and over have me interested. Apparently Pantene is cocaine for your hair - who knew? So I bought a set of Burt's Bees natural shampoo and conditioner and set out on my quarantine haircare journey. Less for the all natural choice and more for the time value that I would gain from only having to blow dry and tame this beast once a week. It literally takes me an hour to blow dry my hair. On a related note, I rarely blow dry my hair. Thus my perpetual mom ponytail. I have made it to SIX days last week before it really felt like I needed to wash it. I will keep you updated...
School from home is going...well it is going. We spend 2-3 hours a day doing work and about 2 hours a day complaining about doing work. I am 98% certain that they will be retaining NONE of this information for next year. (Other than our kindergartener learning how to read - that one will probably stick.) You would think by now they would give in and understand school starts at 10, buckle up and prepare to LEARN...but no. Last minute snacks, half an hour to brush our hair, extra potty breaks, not sharp enough pencils....the pre-school is probably harder than the school at this point. We do have it down to a pretty good system of half teacher-worksheets and half-mommy apps and zoo journals. One is on the computer while I work with the other and then we flip flop. Then I shanghai their father into helping with bedtime reading and we call it good. It isn't awful. That is about as much accolades as it is going to get I think. I have made my peace with it.
We did quiet time after lunch today - which is when I put on Netflix and let them binge watch Fuller House so I can go upstairs and get my work done in the afternoons. Mondays get a little stressful because my phone and email blow up every Monday morning while we do school work. So Monday afternoons are pretty much free for alls while I get caught up and set up for the week.
We got our garden all planted before the rain - so either it will be awesome and things will germinate quickly OR it is all going to drown and turn to mush. Our 7 year old is pretty convinced this is the year he is going to grow an edible watermelon. This will be year 3 he has attempted it. Everyone pray for a baby watermelon for this child please. Our 6 year old just wants peas and sunflowers...she just walks along all the pea sprouts asking when she will be able to "eat them all up!" She is hilarious.
Our big kids went back to their mom's house for the week. We feel pretty safe letting them freely traverse between our houses now. Both houses are taking it pretty seriously and our kids know how to keep safe. That makes it a lot easier on them and us - it was hard to go without them for long time spans. This is way better. We are starting to think about when to re-schedule our senior's grad party, kinda waiting on the stay safe order expiration to see where things fall. The only thing worse than not having it now would be to have it - and have no one feel safe coming. We would rather wait later so everyone can come and have a great time together - especially since so many things were taken from these seniors this year due to covid - we really want her to get this party the right way.
Baseball has been cancelled. ugh. None of us really know what a Larive spring looks like without baseball...so that will be new.
Lots of new things this year...not many of them awesome, but some. Find the silver linings, right? As much as we want normal right now...our house is going to be moving very, very slowly toward normal life. Even when things begin to open up, I think we are going to go with the wait-and-see plan for a while. No point in doing all this for so long and then just rushing out and jumping in a stinking pile o' germs and spreading them all around the first day...we are going to take our time to smear our germs on y'all. You are welcome.
Glad you asked...
My kids have played a zillion games of Roblox and watched a trillion tv shows. They have had a boatload of video conferences where other households probably see waaaay to much of our seedy underbelly. They have made videos of themselves playing guitars and dancing and telling stories. And then sent them to everyone they know. It has been a lot. And that is with me kicking them off them still to do homework and eat and talk to the humans that live in this actual house with mouths that have brushed teeth in them. I need the Great Flood to be over...
Hubby went back to work and seems better for it. He is a man who likes to be moving so this is good. He has been bitten by my project bug though- I just found him in the basement at 8 at night using the saw to cut beams for a squat tower for the new workout area. Beams that he STOLE from my garden, mind you. Just because I hadn't given it a home yet, doesn't mean I didn't have a future plan for it...
I am in a quest to see how many days I can go between hair washes. I have very dry, and now very long, hair so I have been an every-other-day hair washer for years. Sometimes I stretch to three days if I am super lazy on day 3. I have long been intrigued with this group of people that claim to have 'trained' their hair into not needing shampoo...at all. This is true. They call it 'no-poo' Not sure I am buying that exactly, but the idea that ingredients in shampoo require you to reuse shampoo again over and over have me interested. Apparently Pantene is cocaine for your hair - who knew? So I bought a set of Burt's Bees natural shampoo and conditioner and set out on my quarantine haircare journey. Less for the all natural choice and more for the time value that I would gain from only having to blow dry and tame this beast once a week. It literally takes me an hour to blow dry my hair. On a related note, I rarely blow dry my hair. Thus my perpetual mom ponytail. I have made it to SIX days last week before it really felt like I needed to wash it. I will keep you updated...
School from home is going...well it is going. We spend 2-3 hours a day doing work and about 2 hours a day complaining about doing work. I am 98% certain that they will be retaining NONE of this information for next year. (Other than our kindergartener learning how to read - that one will probably stick.) You would think by now they would give in and understand school starts at 10, buckle up and prepare to LEARN...but no. Last minute snacks, half an hour to brush our hair, extra potty breaks, not sharp enough pencils....the pre-school is probably harder than the school at this point. We do have it down to a pretty good system of half teacher-worksheets and half-mommy apps and zoo journals. One is on the computer while I work with the other and then we flip flop. Then I shanghai their father into helping with bedtime reading and we call it good. It isn't awful. That is about as much accolades as it is going to get I think. I have made my peace with it.
We did quiet time after lunch today - which is when I put on Netflix and let them binge watch Fuller House so I can go upstairs and get my work done in the afternoons. Mondays get a little stressful because my phone and email blow up every Monday morning while we do school work. So Monday afternoons are pretty much free for alls while I get caught up and set up for the week.
We got our garden all planted before the rain - so either it will be awesome and things will germinate quickly OR it is all going to drown and turn to mush. Our 7 year old is pretty convinced this is the year he is going to grow an edible watermelon. This will be year 3 he has attempted it. Everyone pray for a baby watermelon for this child please. Our 6 year old just wants peas and sunflowers...she just walks along all the pea sprouts asking when she will be able to "eat them all up!" She is hilarious.
Our big kids went back to their mom's house for the week. We feel pretty safe letting them freely traverse between our houses now. Both houses are taking it pretty seriously and our kids know how to keep safe. That makes it a lot easier on them and us - it was hard to go without them for long time spans. This is way better. We are starting to think about when to re-schedule our senior's grad party, kinda waiting on the stay safe order expiration to see where things fall. The only thing worse than not having it now would be to have it - and have no one feel safe coming. We would rather wait later so everyone can come and have a great time together - especially since so many things were taken from these seniors this year due to covid - we really want her to get this party the right way.
Baseball has been cancelled. ugh. None of us really know what a Larive spring looks like without baseball...so that will be new.
Lots of new things this year...not many of them awesome, but some. Find the silver linings, right? As much as we want normal right now...our house is going to be moving very, very slowly toward normal life. Even when things begin to open up, I think we are going to go with the wait-and-see plan for a while. No point in doing all this for so long and then just rushing out and jumping in a stinking pile o' germs and spreading them all around the first day...we are going to take our time to smear our germs on y'all. You are welcome.
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
The Day It Was May
Hello world! It has been a hot minute...I can't believe it is May already. Nine more days til our 'stay home, stay safe' order expires. It feels like I have my quarantine game down strong now. We have a rhythm of sorts. It plays along a pretty bipolar melody of highs and lows....there is no middle of the road here in Larive Land. We either have strong, productive, fun days....or we sit around in our pajamas and eat Cheetos all day missing our tribe. Or maybe that is just me. But in all honesty, it does seem like days feel extreme right now - everything flows together and I get work and school and parenting and cleaning done all together....or nothing clicks and everything pulls and tugs all day leaving me feeling like I have fought wars in the length of a day.
Members of our household have developed odd habits and interests in this strange time. My now six year old daughter has developed a very cavalier attitude toward clothing - creating the need for the new house rule that we must have underwear on before video calling anyone in the morning. When she does get dressed, her clothes are all inside out. To be very clear - they are NOT inside out in her closet. She puts them inside out and then puts them on. She just started it about a week into quarantine...no announcement, no discussion....she just walked down the stairs one morning and shrugged when I asked her, stating 'she just likes it this way now.' A few weeks later she started wearing just one sock - on purpose. Unless we had to put on shoes. Last week, she started wearing two socks again but BOTH ON THE SAME FOOT. Double socks. One foot. Other foot - bare. She insists on doing her own hair by putting as many barrettes and random pieces of string she can find in there. I am not sure how her re-entry to society is going to go, to be very honest.
My seven year old son keeps rearranging the living room and dining room knick knacks and pillows and what not. Our piano bench is now covered with an afghan and is serving as our 'coffee table' with coasters on it. I came home from the grocery store and the wooden lazy susan that sits in the middle of my dining room table had three empty plates balanced on it. Normally it holds the caddy for pencils and crayons and random school-at-home stuff. That was sitting to the side of it and just three empty plates were arranged on it. I still have no idea why.
My husband has gone through approximately ten pounds of candle wax in his melt warmers. I say 'his' because all I do with them is remember to turn them off at night when everyone else has gone to bed. His morning routine consists of coffee, feeding the fish, and picking out the scent of the day. Tomorrow he does get to go back to work so I can reduce the budget in that column now though.
I have just dug my heels hard into my existing rabbit holes...puzzles, gardening, thinking of projects to cajole my husband into helping me do. We got a lot of things done while he was off because he just does not sit still. So he rocked out a lot of things on the list with the unspoken understanding that I would school our kids while he kept himself busy- which made both of us happy. Marriage win. We have really leaned hard into...bird watching. Yup. Middle age is upon us. Stay with me...this gets good...we got a new feeder with a feed mix of nuts and berries and seeds and nature exploded! All of a sudden we have birds besides sparrows - black birds and woodpeckers and even a pair of finches. We also have a pair of blue jays that keep trying to peck through the roofs of all the neighborhood houses. Scared the crap out of us one day as our flue liner kept echoing this jack hammer noise. Dumb blue jay. We have seen him attempting the same thing at several rooftops since. Apparently he wants to be a house blue jay. I talk to them now...as I walk around the yard talking to my plants. Yup. Crazy nature lady or burgeoning Cinderella? You decide.
Our house flips around again this weekend as we get our big kids back under our roof. The littles are very excited to see their counterparts. Apparently they are bored of Mom and Dad. Dad will be back at work, which means getting up early again - which is definitely going to hurt him a bit the first week. That means the house gets quiet earlier again - which is definitely going to hurt me as I tighten up the bedtime leash, which has gotten pretty slack. I have a coronovirus to-go kit set up for the husband to keep in his work truck, since I definitely don't trust a construction site to be super strict with social distancing. He has Clorox wipes, homemade masks, and a big bottle of sanitizer all ready to go, right next to his lunch box. I let him know he would have to strip naked in the backyard before he can come in the house - he refused for some reason. Weird. We compromised on an immediate shower while I washed everything he wore or used all day in hot water. We are as ready as we can be for sticking a toe back out into the world. I will let you know how it goes - stay safe out there my friends...
Members of our household have developed odd habits and interests in this strange time. My now six year old daughter has developed a very cavalier attitude toward clothing - creating the need for the new house rule that we must have underwear on before video calling anyone in the morning. When she does get dressed, her clothes are all inside out. To be very clear - they are NOT inside out in her closet. She puts them inside out and then puts them on. She just started it about a week into quarantine...no announcement, no discussion....she just walked down the stairs one morning and shrugged when I asked her, stating 'she just likes it this way now.' A few weeks later she started wearing just one sock - on purpose. Unless we had to put on shoes. Last week, she started wearing two socks again but BOTH ON THE SAME FOOT. Double socks. One foot. Other foot - bare. She insists on doing her own hair by putting as many barrettes and random pieces of string she can find in there. I am not sure how her re-entry to society is going to go, to be very honest.
My seven year old son keeps rearranging the living room and dining room knick knacks and pillows and what not. Our piano bench is now covered with an afghan and is serving as our 'coffee table' with coasters on it. I came home from the grocery store and the wooden lazy susan that sits in the middle of my dining room table had three empty plates balanced on it. Normally it holds the caddy for pencils and crayons and random school-at-home stuff. That was sitting to the side of it and just three empty plates were arranged on it. I still have no idea why.
My husband has gone through approximately ten pounds of candle wax in his melt warmers. I say 'his' because all I do with them is remember to turn them off at night when everyone else has gone to bed. His morning routine consists of coffee, feeding the fish, and picking out the scent of the day. Tomorrow he does get to go back to work so I can reduce the budget in that column now though.
I have just dug my heels hard into my existing rabbit holes...puzzles, gardening, thinking of projects to cajole my husband into helping me do. We got a lot of things done while he was off because he just does not sit still. So he rocked out a lot of things on the list with the unspoken understanding that I would school our kids while he kept himself busy- which made both of us happy. Marriage win. We have really leaned hard into...bird watching. Yup. Middle age is upon us. Stay with me...this gets good...we got a new feeder with a feed mix of nuts and berries and seeds and nature exploded! All of a sudden we have birds besides sparrows - black birds and woodpeckers and even a pair of finches. We also have a pair of blue jays that keep trying to peck through the roofs of all the neighborhood houses. Scared the crap out of us one day as our flue liner kept echoing this jack hammer noise. Dumb blue jay. We have seen him attempting the same thing at several rooftops since. Apparently he wants to be a house blue jay. I talk to them now...as I walk around the yard talking to my plants. Yup. Crazy nature lady or burgeoning Cinderella? You decide.
Our house flips around again this weekend as we get our big kids back under our roof. The littles are very excited to see their counterparts. Apparently they are bored of Mom and Dad. Dad will be back at work, which means getting up early again - which is definitely going to hurt him a bit the first week. That means the house gets quiet earlier again - which is definitely going to hurt me as I tighten up the bedtime leash, which has gotten pretty slack. I have a coronovirus to-go kit set up for the husband to keep in his work truck, since I definitely don't trust a construction site to be super strict with social distancing. He has Clorox wipes, homemade masks, and a big bottle of sanitizer all ready to go, right next to his lunch box. I let him know he would have to strip naked in the backyard before he can come in the house - he refused for some reason. Weird. We compromised on an immediate shower while I washed everything he wore or used all day in hot water. We are as ready as we can be for sticking a toe back out into the world. I will let you know how it goes - stay safe out there my friends...
Saturday, April 25, 2020
The Day I Dug for Four Hours
So 'dug' is maybe a bit of an exaggeration....more like raked and tilled and then got down on my hands and knees and pulled chunks of grass for four hours. And it was GLORIOUS. We are putting a garden in this year -an actual in the ground garden, rather than another raised bed creation. We are putting it in right next to the street. Technically...this is in the hell strip between the street and the sidewalk and the city has all claim to it - except when it is time to mow it. However, it just looks like wasted space and opportunity to me - so we rotatilled it up and I am going to plant somewhat short plants and see if anyone gives me a hard time. Tomorrow we are going to put some logs around it and fill it up with mulch - and then I am good to start planting.
Our first week of distance learning was pretty brutal - but we made it through. Our kindergartner has a pretty good handle on the things she has to do - her teacher does cute videos and she only gave the kids a lesson or two a day. My first grader? His teacher is fantastically old-school and I love it - but she is trying to continue a full day worth of curriculum at home and we just can't do it and keep from having mental breakdowns. So I did end up calling her and negotiating to a schedule that is more manageable for our house right now. I feel a lot better having talked with her and adjusted our schedule a bit, hopefully next week will be a much better week for us.
Today was the day our high school daughter should have had her senior prom. She is with her mom right now and they got her all dressed up and went for car visits to family and took pictures in her dress. She looked just gorgeous. I keep waiting for her school to come up with some kind of senior send off plan for all these kids to make up for these missed milestones, but I think they are waiting just like the rest of us to see what the future brings. We are already plotting about holding a hillbilly prom for her and some friends out in my sister's pole barn once we are free to move around the world again. Just tough not knowing when that will be. Her grad party is planned for mid-June and it isn't looking like that is going to work out right now either, so we will have to adjust again. I should be fantastic at adjusting by now....
We have done some fantastic things in these last few weeks - there is much to be said for silver linings. My husband is going gangbusters on projects we have been talking about for a while. He has our basement almost completely remodeled. What once was a bedroom and a giant holding space for all our stuff is now two bedrooms, a workroom, a family room, and a workout space. It makes me super happy. It almost didn't happen. He and I have a pattern we go through. I am a dreamer and a planner and a reworker - I am always looking at stuff and thinking how it could work better. He always half listens to my ideas, tell me they are ridiculous and/or impossible, and then eventually comes around while complaining still, and then at the end tells me how fantastic it is. We make a good team of vision and know-how... we just have to iron out the middle part of the process to be more efficient. So the basement is almost done, we have a new garden in, he rebuilt the downstairs shower, he retiled in front of the fireplace, he painted twenty different things outside red, and has burned a lot of stuff in the fire pit. A LOT. None of this EVER would have happened right now normally. Normally spring is the beginning of crazy season for him, normally I have to hunt him down to have a conversation and run the house pretty much alone while he is out bringing home the spring bacon. So silver lining....my honey to do list is getting decimated.
Also on this silver lining list...waking up without an alarm clock, movie nights cuddled with my kids, Zoom Catan, family meals, as many campfire nights as we want, going out on a Thursday night to watch the stars, all the acts of kindness I see happening all over the community, unlimited garden time, reading an entire book, puzzling with my husband on my new puzzle board, bike rides....and on and on and on. We have belly laughed every day and are spending time on our family and our home together. I miss many things, but keeping focused on all these silver linings is going to keep me going.
Our first week of distance learning was pretty brutal - but we made it through. Our kindergartner has a pretty good handle on the things she has to do - her teacher does cute videos and she only gave the kids a lesson or two a day. My first grader? His teacher is fantastically old-school and I love it - but she is trying to continue a full day worth of curriculum at home and we just can't do it and keep from having mental breakdowns. So I did end up calling her and negotiating to a schedule that is more manageable for our house right now. I feel a lot better having talked with her and adjusted our schedule a bit, hopefully next week will be a much better week for us.
Today was the day our high school daughter should have had her senior prom. She is with her mom right now and they got her all dressed up and went for car visits to family and took pictures in her dress. She looked just gorgeous. I keep waiting for her school to come up with some kind of senior send off plan for all these kids to make up for these missed milestones, but I think they are waiting just like the rest of us to see what the future brings. We are already plotting about holding a hillbilly prom for her and some friends out in my sister's pole barn once we are free to move around the world again. Just tough not knowing when that will be. Her grad party is planned for mid-June and it isn't looking like that is going to work out right now either, so we will have to adjust again. I should be fantastic at adjusting by now....
We have done some fantastic things in these last few weeks - there is much to be said for silver linings. My husband is going gangbusters on projects we have been talking about for a while. He has our basement almost completely remodeled. What once was a bedroom and a giant holding space for all our stuff is now two bedrooms, a workroom, a family room, and a workout space. It makes me super happy. It almost didn't happen. He and I have a pattern we go through. I am a dreamer and a planner and a reworker - I am always looking at stuff and thinking how it could work better. He always half listens to my ideas, tell me they are ridiculous and/or impossible, and then eventually comes around while complaining still, and then at the end tells me how fantastic it is. We make a good team of vision and know-how... we just have to iron out the middle part of the process to be more efficient. So the basement is almost done, we have a new garden in, he rebuilt the downstairs shower, he retiled in front of the fireplace, he painted twenty different things outside red, and has burned a lot of stuff in the fire pit. A LOT. None of this EVER would have happened right now normally. Normally spring is the beginning of crazy season for him, normally I have to hunt him down to have a conversation and run the house pretty much alone while he is out bringing home the spring bacon. So silver lining....my honey to do list is getting decimated.
Also on this silver lining list...waking up without an alarm clock, movie nights cuddled with my kids, Zoom Catan, family meals, as many campfire nights as we want, going out on a Thursday night to watch the stars, all the acts of kindness I see happening all over the community, unlimited garden time, reading an entire book, puzzling with my husband on my new puzzle board, bike rides....and on and on and on. We have belly laughed every day and are spending time on our family and our home together. I miss many things, but keeping focused on all these silver linings is going to keep me going.
Wednesday, April 22, 2020
The Day I Did Math
Ok, so what exactly are the consequences for NOT doing distance learning? Apart from all of social media either shaming me for my poor parenting choices and/or hailing me as their new hero?
I am distance learning -with worksheets- with a 6 and 7 year old. Just old enough to have to do homework but young enough to not really be able to do it independently. And apparently their teachers do not read my blog, because if they did they would have seen that I specifically requested NOT to distance learn with worksheets because it is torture and I do not want to be an alcoholic. My kids loathe worksheets. We were very content bumping along with our learning apps and reading out loud. We like Zoom and Google Classroom. Worksheets are just soul crushing. For example...
My 7 yr old is a math whiz. Has been since he was tiny. Fought phonics and reading every single step of the way and couldn't blend a word to save his life, but asked me to quiz him on math facts for fun at 4. I should take him to a bar and make some money off his mental math game. He just has this number brain. So he can do a 'math minute' app that I bought and get all 15 right in under a minute for anything adding or subtracting to 20. ONE MINUTE. His first grade math worksheet? Twenty simple addition facts? It took him FIFTEEN MINUTES. Because he hates it and whines and complains. Or because his brain doesn't work on paper...in our house...for me. Which is also possible.
But alas...we must press on...for now.
I keep trying to adjust it so it goes more smoothly. I did part in the morning, part in the afternoon. Then I took them out star gazing and ruined their sleep schedules and started late today. Tomorrow we are going to try doing one big block of time. We have moved locations - from the very structured table to the reading nook on pillows to their desks in their room. Eventually....something is going to click. I am sure. We just aren't there yet. Today I bribed them with snacks, which seemed to work well. My kids are highly food motivated.
It just feels like so much right now. So many hats to wear, all of them half falling off...not one of them too much on its own... but all of them -all at once -during such a stressful time- it feels HEAVY.
Soooooo...I give it next week still and then things may just have to drop off. Or get turned into summer school. I will be calling and negotiating with teachers. How about I turn in half of those worksheets....but bump up reading by 50%? That sounds like perfect distance learning math to me.
I am distance learning -with worksheets- with a 6 and 7 year old. Just old enough to have to do homework but young enough to not really be able to do it independently. And apparently their teachers do not read my blog, because if they did they would have seen that I specifically requested NOT to distance learn with worksheets because it is torture and I do not want to be an alcoholic. My kids loathe worksheets. We were very content bumping along with our learning apps and reading out loud. We like Zoom and Google Classroom. Worksheets are just soul crushing. For example...
My 7 yr old is a math whiz. Has been since he was tiny. Fought phonics and reading every single step of the way and couldn't blend a word to save his life, but asked me to quiz him on math facts for fun at 4. I should take him to a bar and make some money off his mental math game. He just has this number brain. So he can do a 'math minute' app that I bought and get all 15 right in under a minute for anything adding or subtracting to 20. ONE MINUTE. His first grade math worksheet? Twenty simple addition facts? It took him FIFTEEN MINUTES. Because he hates it and whines and complains. Or because his brain doesn't work on paper...in our house...for me. Which is also possible.
But alas...we must press on...for now.
I keep trying to adjust it so it goes more smoothly. I did part in the morning, part in the afternoon. Then I took them out star gazing and ruined their sleep schedules and started late today. Tomorrow we are going to try doing one big block of time. We have moved locations - from the very structured table to the reading nook on pillows to their desks in their room. Eventually....something is going to click. I am sure. We just aren't there yet. Today I bribed them with snacks, which seemed to work well. My kids are highly food motivated.
It just feels like so much right now. So many hats to wear, all of them half falling off...not one of them too much on its own... but all of them -all at once -during such a stressful time- it feels HEAVY.
Soooooo...I give it next week still and then things may just have to drop off. Or get turned into summer school. I will be calling and negotiating with teachers. How about I turn in half of those worksheets....but bump up reading by 50%? That sounds like perfect distance learning math to me.
Sunday, April 19, 2020
The Day We Biked in Parking Lots
So tonight we went for a bike ride with the two little kids and, despite all the neat places within our range, they led us to parking lot after parking lot. Because they could go in big circles really fast. Fact #503 proving that kids are easily entertained - don't waste your money buying them crap. Right??? However, even parking lot circles were exciting for us, too. It felt good after this cold snap to get outside for a while today. We also went to our neighborhood park and ran up and down the big grassy hill while Dad hit golf balls with his pitching wedge and dreamed.
Our household underwent a pretty massive shift this weekend - dropping from 7 to 4 inhabitants. My baby sister was living with us for the last month, keeping away from our parents who are considered higher risk- but part of the generation that apparently thinks they have some built in magic left from the 70's that will keep them from getting anything. So we have quarantined them for their own good, but amid much protest. Anywhoo...my baby sister moved out to my other sister's barn. That sounds rough, but it is heated and has its own fridge and tv, soooooo not really hard living. We played Catan via Zoom yesterday - nothing is going to stand in our way of conquering the world of board games.
Our older two kids switched back to their mom's house this weekend as well. They have been with us for three weeks, but as it becomes apparent that this isn't ending anytime soon we adjusted and sent them off armed with masks to rejoin their mama and family they had been missing. Such a weird world this is right now. So now we are down to just the four of us, which is a very VERY different dynamic than the one we had with seven. Life is adjusted once again. This mama is getting a divine lesson on going with the flow this year. I hear ya, God. I'm trying.
Tomorrow starts our distance learning. Our first grader appears to have a significant amount of actual learning to be done. Our kindergartner....not so much. We sat down all together to agree on 'school time' in an effort to head off complaining and whining - and had a conversation about how this isn't summer vacation yet and we still have work to do. We will revisit how well this goes tomorrow night - but just to be safe, I had the hubby grab me a new bottle of Gentlemen Jack on his grocery run. Self care.
Our household underwent a pretty massive shift this weekend - dropping from 7 to 4 inhabitants. My baby sister was living with us for the last month, keeping away from our parents who are considered higher risk- but part of the generation that apparently thinks they have some built in magic left from the 70's that will keep them from getting anything. So we have quarantined them for their own good, but amid much protest. Anywhoo...my baby sister moved out to my other sister's barn. That sounds rough, but it is heated and has its own fridge and tv, soooooo not really hard living. We played Catan via Zoom yesterday - nothing is going to stand in our way of conquering the world of board games.
Our older two kids switched back to their mom's house this weekend as well. They have been with us for three weeks, but as it becomes apparent that this isn't ending anytime soon we adjusted and sent them off armed with masks to rejoin their mama and family they had been missing. Such a weird world this is right now. So now we are down to just the four of us, which is a very VERY different dynamic than the one we had with seven. Life is adjusted once again. This mama is getting a divine lesson on going with the flow this year. I hear ya, God. I'm trying.
Tomorrow starts our distance learning. Our first grader appears to have a significant amount of actual learning to be done. Our kindergartner....not so much. We sat down all together to agree on 'school time' in an effort to head off complaining and whining - and had a conversation about how this isn't summer vacation yet and we still have work to do. We will revisit how well this goes tomorrow night - but just to be safe, I had the hubby grab me a new bottle of Gentlemen Jack on his grocery run. Self care.
Tuesday, April 14, 2020
The Day My Baby Turned Six
Alternately...The Day We Had a Covid Birthday Party
AKA...The Day We Received Clear Confirmation That Our Littles Get Wild Without Routine...
Ok, we had a great day. I worried a bunch for nothing. Baby Girl woke up this morning super excited to be the birthday girl for the day. She understood right from the start that people wouldn't be coming over and was just excited for her mail and the people that stopped by to say Happy Birthday through the door or from the driveway. She had lots of calls and facetimed with her friends. She loved her birthday cake that her big sister made her. She loved all the letters and packages that came in the mail - there were so many she had to take a break in the middle of opening them all. I can't thank my cyber tribe enough for coming through with all that. She got a big girl gift from Mom and Dad that she probably wouldn't have if it were a normal birthday. So she can thank coronavirus for her makeup and vanity table. Mama probably would've declared that too big for her during normal circumstances, but these are not normal times and some things should be good surprises. It is also why Baby Boy is allowed to play Fortnite with his big brother. Exceptions are being made.
At her request, Daddy made a last minute pinata out of an Amazon box (pinatas are in short supply around here, but Amazon boxes are plentiful) and leftover Easter candy. They beat it with a baseball bat in the front yard - Baby Girl dressed in her fancy, flowered Easter dress and striped pants and snow boots. We picked up pizza for dinner and sang and let her blow out candles. We gave her some extra quarantine gifts, which included a bath doll and she immediately abandoned the cake and ran upstairs for a bath and jammies. And then, after chatting with some more friends and sneaking out of her bed, she curled up on Mama's lap and fell asleep while I watched Thor with Daddy. My baby girl, the youngest one, my brand new six year old. Bittersweet. Let me tell you, I enjoyed that late night cuddle - soaked it right on up.
This girl....she is just walking sunshine. She wakes up excited and ready to start her day. She throw her heart into everything she is doing - even if that thing she is doing is getting into mischief. She has the sweetest heart and thinks of others all the time. She is clever, her brain works in the coolest way. She sees the shape of things, the way they fit...she calls herself the puzzle master and she can sit down with me and work any size puzzle and make pieces fit. She just sees the pattern in her head. She makes up back stories for all her dolls and horses and bunny people. She comes up with the funniest ideas - since we have been quarantined, she has decided to wear all her clothes inside out and backwards 90% of the time. Not sure how I am going to talk her into fixing that when we can leave the house again. She talks to Jesus like he is her close confident and she sings about Him randomly all over the place. She is passionate and loud and exuberant. She just lights up our lives. Can't wait to see how she changes the world in the next 365 days.
AKA...The Day We Received Clear Confirmation That Our Littles Get Wild Without Routine...
Ok, we had a great day. I worried a bunch for nothing. Baby Girl woke up this morning super excited to be the birthday girl for the day. She understood right from the start that people wouldn't be coming over and was just excited for her mail and the people that stopped by to say Happy Birthday through the door or from the driveway. She had lots of calls and facetimed with her friends. She loved her birthday cake that her big sister made her. She loved all the letters and packages that came in the mail - there were so many she had to take a break in the middle of opening them all. I can't thank my cyber tribe enough for coming through with all that. She got a big girl gift from Mom and Dad that she probably wouldn't have if it were a normal birthday. So she can thank coronavirus for her makeup and vanity table. Mama probably would've declared that too big for her during normal circumstances, but these are not normal times and some things should be good surprises. It is also why Baby Boy is allowed to play Fortnite with his big brother. Exceptions are being made.
At her request, Daddy made a last minute pinata out of an Amazon box (pinatas are in short supply around here, but Amazon boxes are plentiful) and leftover Easter candy. They beat it with a baseball bat in the front yard - Baby Girl dressed in her fancy, flowered Easter dress and striped pants and snow boots. We picked up pizza for dinner and sang and let her blow out candles. We gave her some extra quarantine gifts, which included a bath doll and she immediately abandoned the cake and ran upstairs for a bath and jammies. And then, after chatting with some more friends and sneaking out of her bed, she curled up on Mama's lap and fell asleep while I watched Thor with Daddy. My baby girl, the youngest one, my brand new six year old. Bittersweet. Let me tell you, I enjoyed that late night cuddle - soaked it right on up.
This girl....she is just walking sunshine. She wakes up excited and ready to start her day. She throw her heart into everything she is doing - even if that thing she is doing is getting into mischief. She has the sweetest heart and thinks of others all the time. She is clever, her brain works in the coolest way. She sees the shape of things, the way they fit...she calls herself the puzzle master and she can sit down with me and work any size puzzle and make pieces fit. She just sees the pattern in her head. She makes up back stories for all her dolls and horses and bunny people. She comes up with the funniest ideas - since we have been quarantined, she has decided to wear all her clothes inside out and backwards 90% of the time. Not sure how I am going to talk her into fixing that when we can leave the house again. She talks to Jesus like he is her close confident and she sings about Him randomly all over the place. She is passionate and loud and exuberant. She just lights up our lives. Can't wait to see how she changes the world in the next 365 days.
Sunday, April 12, 2020
The Day I Really Missed My Family
Happy Easter all! This was a weird Easter, right? It wasn't just me? It was so...unsettling? unfinished? uneasy? I don't know what the right word is, but family is such a giant part of how we celebrate holidays that it was just eerie without it. There was these huge gaps of time that just lay gaping there - the time we would have spent getting ready and going to church, the time I would've been rushing around getting dinner for 30 set up and served, the time where normally the kids would all run off and adults would break into groups to talk and pull out decks of cards. These big pockets of time that just hung there today like silent reminders of all we can't do.
On a scale of 1-10, how bad of a Christian am I, that on the day that is arguably the most joyous of the year, the day Jesus rose from the dead, I had to grapple with finding my joy? But I did, and there was lots of it. I just had to dig deep for it and not throw in the towel or spend too much time grieving my tribe.
Joy in waking up this morning with Baby Girl bouncing on my bed, yelling, "Let's go find some eggs!" and Baby Boy grumbling from where he was curled up at the bottom of my bed, "Go back to sleep, it's too early, we will find them later." These two couldn't be more opposite.
Joy in watching Baby Boy tell his dad that the Easter Bunny always hides chocolate eggs on the tops of doorframes, remembering I thought the same thing when I was little and my dad would line them up so high.
Joy in watching our big kids giggling about 'the Easter Bunny' and joining in hunting down baskets and bonus quarantine presents. They are such good big siblings to our littles, God really knew what he was doing when he assembled our family.
Joy in our big kids coming home from their moms with bonus Easter gifts for the littles from their mom - bonus family is such an unexpected blessing that you don't think about when you enter into a blended family, but there is just that much more love for all these kids.
Joy in our Easter feast, a fun mix of brunch and dinner that came together perfectly in the end - and in Baby Girl saying grace using the Our Father, skipping a few parts. Different but sweet.
Joy in cuddling for movie time and new scooter tracks in the carpet and boardgames and family messages...
So.Much.Joy.
Hard-fought-for joy still counts as joy. It might even count a little bit more.
On a scale of 1-10, how bad of a Christian am I, that on the day that is arguably the most joyous of the year, the day Jesus rose from the dead, I had to grapple with finding my joy? But I did, and there was lots of it. I just had to dig deep for it and not throw in the towel or spend too much time grieving my tribe.
Joy in waking up this morning with Baby Girl bouncing on my bed, yelling, "Let's go find some eggs!" and Baby Boy grumbling from where he was curled up at the bottom of my bed, "Go back to sleep, it's too early, we will find them later." These two couldn't be more opposite.
Joy in watching Baby Boy tell his dad that the Easter Bunny always hides chocolate eggs on the tops of doorframes, remembering I thought the same thing when I was little and my dad would line them up so high.
Joy in watching our big kids giggling about 'the Easter Bunny' and joining in hunting down baskets and bonus quarantine presents. They are such good big siblings to our littles, God really knew what he was doing when he assembled our family.
Joy in our big kids coming home from their moms with bonus Easter gifts for the littles from their mom - bonus family is such an unexpected blessing that you don't think about when you enter into a blended family, but there is just that much more love for all these kids.
Joy in our Easter feast, a fun mix of brunch and dinner that came together perfectly in the end - and in Baby Girl saying grace using the Our Father, skipping a few parts. Different but sweet.
Joy in cuddling for movie time and new scooter tracks in the carpet and boardgames and family messages...
So.Much.Joy.
Hard-fought-for joy still counts as joy. It might even count a little bit more.
Saturday, April 11, 2020
The Day I Snoozed ALOT of People
There is this beautiful option on Facebook that lets you 'snooze' a friend's posts for 30 days so their 'stuff' doesn't clog up your feed if they are wound up over things. In the past, I have rarely used this feature. In theory, if you are my friend, I am interested in what you are doing. If I am not, I wouldn't have become your friend, right? However...
Coronavirus has brought out the brightest and the ugliest in people, hasn't it? There is so much beautiful, loving, giving vibes going out into the world. People everywhere sewing masks, putting rainbows in all their windows, donating food....businesses giving discounts and holding payments and making sure kids have internet and meals...teachers reaching out to their kids through any means possible. Prayer circles and online churches, birthday car parades and letter writing campaigns....so much good.
And the ugly. The ugly is filling up my feed and it just needs to go. I have snoozed anyone spewing the ugly. Here is my very blunt, very passionate, very measured response to all the people complaining that they can't go boating right now. Grow the fuck up. Yup, used the f-word. Don't even feel bad about it. As of 10 a.m. today, 23993 people in Michigan have Covid and 1392 people in Michigan have died. One hundred and eight THOUSAND, five hundred and three people have died in the world. 108,503. Dead. And you are being asked to sit in your very comfortable, heated home - stocked with plenty to eat, if not your first choices - with delivery and take out available - with Amazon and everyone shipping you anything you could need (but not in 2 days) - with Netflix and internet and smart phones and a hundred other things to do - with the ability to go out and walk or bike or fish from a dock or ROW a boat - safe with your family. But all I have heard in the last 24 hours is....how dare they tell me I can't go out on my boat. Do you hear how incredibly first world self-entitled that sounds?
There are 108,503 problems more important to deal with than your access to a motorboat. First, all the people that died and their grieving families. Second, all the people struggling with the diagnosis right now and hoping to be a positive statistic - and their families that can't be with them and are sitting home worried out of their minds. Third, all the people not affluent enough to own a motorboat - that are probably stretching their dollars hoping to make it until the unemployment shit show sorts itself out. Fourth, all the kids that have had their lives upended - seniors that lost their graduations, athletes that lost their season, all kids that were struggling in school and don't have the support at home to keep up that will start next year way behind. Fifth, all the at risk population like the elderly or handicapped that are isolated and going downhill from it - or worried because they know if they get it, the odds are stacked way against them. Sixth....well, you get the idea.
If you have your bills paid, food in your cupboards, family tucked in and safe - quit complaining about freaking boats. You are beyond blessed. Take all that time you would have spent boating and do something to put some good out into the world. Or at least quit spewing all your negative all over my world. I am trying to hold up my family in strange, uncertain, challenging times and you are shitting on my socially distant parade. Cease and desist.
Coronavirus has brought out the brightest and the ugliest in people, hasn't it? There is so much beautiful, loving, giving vibes going out into the world. People everywhere sewing masks, putting rainbows in all their windows, donating food....businesses giving discounts and holding payments and making sure kids have internet and meals...teachers reaching out to their kids through any means possible. Prayer circles and online churches, birthday car parades and letter writing campaigns....so much good.
And the ugly. The ugly is filling up my feed and it just needs to go. I have snoozed anyone spewing the ugly. Here is my very blunt, very passionate, very measured response to all the people complaining that they can't go boating right now. Grow the fuck up. Yup, used the f-word. Don't even feel bad about it. As of 10 a.m. today, 23993 people in Michigan have Covid and 1392 people in Michigan have died. One hundred and eight THOUSAND, five hundred and three people have died in the world. 108,503. Dead. And you are being asked to sit in your very comfortable, heated home - stocked with plenty to eat, if not your first choices - with delivery and take out available - with Amazon and everyone shipping you anything you could need (but not in 2 days) - with Netflix and internet and smart phones and a hundred other things to do - with the ability to go out and walk or bike or fish from a dock or ROW a boat - safe with your family. But all I have heard in the last 24 hours is....how dare they tell me I can't go out on my boat. Do you hear how incredibly first world self-entitled that sounds?
There are 108,503 problems more important to deal with than your access to a motorboat. First, all the people that died and their grieving families. Second, all the people struggling with the diagnosis right now and hoping to be a positive statistic - and their families that can't be with them and are sitting home worried out of their minds. Third, all the people not affluent enough to own a motorboat - that are probably stretching their dollars hoping to make it until the unemployment shit show sorts itself out. Fourth, all the kids that have had their lives upended - seniors that lost their graduations, athletes that lost their season, all kids that were struggling in school and don't have the support at home to keep up that will start next year way behind. Fifth, all the at risk population like the elderly or handicapped that are isolated and going downhill from it - or worried because they know if they get it, the odds are stacked way against them. Sixth....well, you get the idea.
If you have your bills paid, food in your cupboards, family tucked in and safe - quit complaining about freaking boats. You are beyond blessed. Take all that time you would have spent boating and do something to put some good out into the world. Or at least quit spewing all your negative all over my world. I am trying to hold up my family in strange, uncertain, challenging times and you are shitting on my socially distant parade. Cease and desist.
The Day We Challenged Facebook to a Cake War
Oh yeah...you read that right. Time to make Easter weekend memorable peeps! (Haha...peeps! I crack me up...CRACK! HA!)
My family, who are all still asleep and have no idea what I am signing them up for, is challenging anyone out there to a bunny cake war. When they wake up they will be super excited about this, I promise. If we had two ovens, our house would have had several cake war challenges by now.
Here are the rules:
You must make a cake. You may not buy a cake.
Said cake can be any shape, any size...it can be from a box or from scratch...it can by in the shape of a bunny or any crazy shape with a bunny somewhere on it. It can be a straight up 9x13 pan with a toy bunny shoved in the middle. It can be a disaster of a cake where you over-believed in your skill set and ended up with a mountain of cake pieces held together with frosting...with a bunny mountain climber. Your call.
The final product photo must be posted in the comments of the Facebook post by 10pm.
Here is the criteria for scoring:
1 point for declaring your family in
1 point for a photo of your cake being mixed/baked
1 point for a photo of your cake being decorated
2 points for a video of a family member explaining your creation
5 points for a photo of your end result
It is my deepest hope that we have multiple ties for first place. It is within your grasp my friends. Winners will all get an all-caps winner shout out from me on their Facebook page. I know, contain yourselves. Ready....set....bake!
My family, who are all still asleep and have no idea what I am signing them up for, is challenging anyone out there to a bunny cake war. When they wake up they will be super excited about this, I promise. If we had two ovens, our house would have had several cake war challenges by now.
Here are the rules:
You must make a cake. You may not buy a cake.
Said cake can be any shape, any size...it can be from a box or from scratch...it can by in the shape of a bunny or any crazy shape with a bunny somewhere on it. It can be a straight up 9x13 pan with a toy bunny shoved in the middle. It can be a disaster of a cake where you over-believed in your skill set and ended up with a mountain of cake pieces held together with frosting...with a bunny mountain climber. Your call.
The final product photo must be posted in the comments of the Facebook post by 10pm.
Here is the criteria for scoring:
1 point for declaring your family in
1 point for a photo of your cake being mixed/baked
1 point for a photo of your cake being decorated
2 points for a video of a family member explaining your creation
5 points for a photo of your end result
It is my deepest hope that we have multiple ties for first place. It is within your grasp my friends. Winners will all get an all-caps winner shout out from me on their Facebook page. I know, contain yourselves. Ready....set....bake!
Thursday, April 9, 2020
The Day I Got Shit Done
So today...was productive. Today I got stuff done.
With as much time as I *should* have being at home 24/7, I should be rocking projects out like Ty Pennington. Sadly, that has not been the case thus far. For many reasons. Everyone is here all the time. Kids need things constantly. Mama is the one that creates the schedule for the day and steers the ship...if I step away from the rudder for too long, everyone is on Jetskis acting liking lunatics. Everyone always wants to eat. I am trying to teach these children something, anything for at least part of the day. Added to that, most of the time my job isn't something I can hop in and out of in between tasks. At least 2-3 days, I need to get sunk in and focused for a set period of time. I don't want to say I have it figured out yet (because I make plans and God laughs) BUT...I may have a working theory on how to work at least the weekdays. We are getting there...
Today I really rocked out all the things that I needed to accomplish so I can peacefully enjoy the weekend. I wrapped up a big chunk of a project for work - that is now in someone else's hands for a while. Breathe. I delivered groceries to my tribe that shouldn't be in a grocery store, sanitized and safe. Breathe. I successfully put the two little kids down for bed before 8 - which used to be our normal routine but has gotten off the rails this last week. Breathe. I took out my staple gun and put sheeting over all my vulnerable little tomato plants so this insane Michigan weather doesn't beat them all down and destroy my hard work. Breathe. I wrapped all the bonus quarantine presents I bought for Easter and have finalized my candy requests with the Easter Bunny. Breathe. All Baby Girl's birthday presents are on track to be here in time for her Quarantine Birthday Party on Tuesday. Breeeeeeaaaaathe.
My house is still a work in progress. The kitchen counter hasn't been clean one day this week. I assigned Baby Girl towels to fold and they have are still sitting in the pile on the carpet in the playroom - which reminds me, I need to grab a floor towel before I head to the shower. I have religiously sanitized the mailbox and front door, but am pretty lackluster about the rest of the house this week. But everyone has clean underwear and cereal bowls soooooo....life is good.
The kids are all doing remarkably well still. We had our first sibling yelling match today, but it blew over very quickly and easily. Honestly I am shocked it took this long. Most of the family went fishing yesterday and our almost-high-school grad caught herself the first fish of the year! Baby Girl continues to need her socialization and spends a lot of time talking to her friends on her tablet. Our boys have been pretty immersed in Fortnite, even pulling in the girls from time to time. We are continuing to do an hour of 'school' in the morning - rotating through stations of math, reading, and 'other'. I am really impressed with the Todo Math app we are using. It has a daily lesson and challenges - both kids like it and it is just challenging enough. This week we have been doing letter writing as our 'other' station instead of typing just to change it up. If you get a letter from my 7 yr old son and it says, 'Stay home'...please don't be offended...lol...he really means stay safe, but he is really blunt. He didn't really understand what I meant when I said he could soften it up a bit. He will not be a good politician. Starting on the 20th, the kids all will have actual lessons from their schools - each one looking different depending on the teachers. I have heard from Baby Girl's teacher and they will be using a Google Classroom for some paperwork and doing Zoom storytime three days a week. Then she will have a one on one with her teacher on Zoom once a week. She is in kindergarten. That is pretty much all I know for now. It might get interesting around here with four kids on different schedules all trying to Zoom or Google. It is either going to be great or I am going to need to double my wine and Milky Way order every week. Time will tell.
With as much time as I *should* have being at home 24/7, I should be rocking projects out like Ty Pennington. Sadly, that has not been the case thus far. For many reasons. Everyone is here all the time. Kids need things constantly. Mama is the one that creates the schedule for the day and steers the ship...if I step away from the rudder for too long, everyone is on Jetskis acting liking lunatics. Everyone always wants to eat. I am trying to teach these children something, anything for at least part of the day. Added to that, most of the time my job isn't something I can hop in and out of in between tasks. At least 2-3 days, I need to get sunk in and focused for a set period of time. I don't want to say I have it figured out yet (because I make plans and God laughs) BUT...I may have a working theory on how to work at least the weekdays. We are getting there...
Today I really rocked out all the things that I needed to accomplish so I can peacefully enjoy the weekend. I wrapped up a big chunk of a project for work - that is now in someone else's hands for a while. Breathe. I delivered groceries to my tribe that shouldn't be in a grocery store, sanitized and safe. Breathe. I successfully put the two little kids down for bed before 8 - which used to be our normal routine but has gotten off the rails this last week. Breathe. I took out my staple gun and put sheeting over all my vulnerable little tomato plants so this insane Michigan weather doesn't beat them all down and destroy my hard work. Breathe. I wrapped all the bonus quarantine presents I bought for Easter and have finalized my candy requests with the Easter Bunny. Breathe. All Baby Girl's birthday presents are on track to be here in time for her Quarantine Birthday Party on Tuesday. Breeeeeeaaaaathe.
My house is still a work in progress. The kitchen counter hasn't been clean one day this week. I assigned Baby Girl towels to fold and they have are still sitting in the pile on the carpet in the playroom - which reminds me, I need to grab a floor towel before I head to the shower. I have religiously sanitized the mailbox and front door, but am pretty lackluster about the rest of the house this week. But everyone has clean underwear and cereal bowls soooooo....life is good.
The kids are all doing remarkably well still. We had our first sibling yelling match today, but it blew over very quickly and easily. Honestly I am shocked it took this long. Most of the family went fishing yesterday and our almost-high-school grad caught herself the first fish of the year! Baby Girl continues to need her socialization and spends a lot of time talking to her friends on her tablet. Our boys have been pretty immersed in Fortnite, even pulling in the girls from time to time. We are continuing to do an hour of 'school' in the morning - rotating through stations of math, reading, and 'other'. I am really impressed with the Todo Math app we are using. It has a daily lesson and challenges - both kids like it and it is just challenging enough. This week we have been doing letter writing as our 'other' station instead of typing just to change it up. If you get a letter from my 7 yr old son and it says, 'Stay home'...please don't be offended...lol...he really means stay safe, but he is really blunt. He didn't really understand what I meant when I said he could soften it up a bit. He will not be a good politician. Starting on the 20th, the kids all will have actual lessons from their schools - each one looking different depending on the teachers. I have heard from Baby Girl's teacher and they will be using a Google Classroom for some paperwork and doing Zoom storytime three days a week. Then she will have a one on one with her teacher on Zoom once a week. She is in kindergarten. That is pretty much all I know for now. It might get interesting around here with four kids on different schedules all trying to Zoom or Google. It is either going to be great or I am going to need to double my wine and Milky Way order every week. Time will tell.
Wednesday, April 8, 2020
The Day I Mom-magic-ed Hard
I take my job as bringer of childhood magic pretty seriously. Not in a grandiose, giant-bouncy-house-tables-full-of-candy kind of way...but in a small-pockets-of-sunshine kind of way. There are a couple of days that get the magic ramped up though - Christmas, Easter, birthdays. And in a family that celebrates with our giant tribe - Easter and a six year birthday without our tribe is looming hard on my mama heart.
My side of the family rotates holidays - and my holiday to host is Easter. Obviously, that is not happening this year. And I have been spinning out a bit thinking of how to make this Easter different enough to feel like a true holiday with lots of magic when we are living in a time where every day seems to be bleeding into the next, with nothing to mark the days as different from one another. Normally on Easter, after the magic of the Easter bunny, we get all dressed up in new spring dresses and hairbows. Baby Girl gets a little matching purse. We go sing Hallelujah and then come home to meet our waves of family showing up. We do an egg hunt and run around and then sit down together and feast and drink. At some point, decks of cards come out or a bonfire gets lit and the kids get let wild while the adults relax. This year, the Easter bunny and I have plotted. Normal Easter baskets will be coming, with hidden eggs. Mom and Dad also got each of our kids an extra covid-easter gift that they can use outside during this shelter in place. I have an Easter ham in the freezer so we will have a big Easter dinner. And I have a gazillion plastic eggs floating around in my basement somewhere that can be put into service for an egg hunt in our yard. Easter Mass with the bishop is live streaming at 8am - is it sacrilegious to have the bishop in the background as my kids exclaim over Easter baskets? Cuz that is how I foresee the timing working out. Someone tell the bishop to conference with the Easter bunny next time we have a pandemic and adjust Mass time accordingly.
Two days after Easter and whatever magic I can muster...Baby Girl turns six. Not even going to lie - Mama bought extra presents this year. I think it is a rule. If you have a birthday during quarantine, your birthday budget gets an extra $50. (We will just say it was 50...) I asked my FB friends to send her cards and they have started to come in. Thank you so much to the people who are sending cards and gifts - our virtual tribe :) I ordered some streamers from Amazon last week and after she goes to sleep Monday night, we are going to streamer off the dining room and set up the table with everything everyone mailed in along with breakfast birthday cake - so she can wake up and break down her 'streamer wall' and see all the birthday love first thing in the morning. I am going to try and set up some Zoom video chats with family through the day so she can connect with everyone that would normally have been at our house for her live-in-person party. I think we are going to make homemade pizza dough and let everyone make their own pizzas. And obviously, have more cake and sing and give her our gifts. And then I think we are going to rent a new movie that should be in theaters right now off of Amazon and have a giant family movie night in the living room.
So if anyone has any mama magic tips for making Easter or birthdays special, I would love the ideas. Even if I can't implement them fast enough for this week's upcoming events - it feels like I am going to need some tricks up my sleeve for many weeks to come.
My side of the family rotates holidays - and my holiday to host is Easter. Obviously, that is not happening this year. And I have been spinning out a bit thinking of how to make this Easter different enough to feel like a true holiday with lots of magic when we are living in a time where every day seems to be bleeding into the next, with nothing to mark the days as different from one another. Normally on Easter, after the magic of the Easter bunny, we get all dressed up in new spring dresses and hairbows. Baby Girl gets a little matching purse. We go sing Hallelujah and then come home to meet our waves of family showing up. We do an egg hunt and run around and then sit down together and feast and drink. At some point, decks of cards come out or a bonfire gets lit and the kids get let wild while the adults relax. This year, the Easter bunny and I have plotted. Normal Easter baskets will be coming, with hidden eggs. Mom and Dad also got each of our kids an extra covid-easter gift that they can use outside during this shelter in place. I have an Easter ham in the freezer so we will have a big Easter dinner. And I have a gazillion plastic eggs floating around in my basement somewhere that can be put into service for an egg hunt in our yard. Easter Mass with the bishop is live streaming at 8am - is it sacrilegious to have the bishop in the background as my kids exclaim over Easter baskets? Cuz that is how I foresee the timing working out. Someone tell the bishop to conference with the Easter bunny next time we have a pandemic and adjust Mass time accordingly.
Two days after Easter and whatever magic I can muster...Baby Girl turns six. Not even going to lie - Mama bought extra presents this year. I think it is a rule. If you have a birthday during quarantine, your birthday budget gets an extra $50. (We will just say it was 50...) I asked my FB friends to send her cards and they have started to come in. Thank you so much to the people who are sending cards and gifts - our virtual tribe :) I ordered some streamers from Amazon last week and after she goes to sleep Monday night, we are going to streamer off the dining room and set up the table with everything everyone mailed in along with breakfast birthday cake - so she can wake up and break down her 'streamer wall' and see all the birthday love first thing in the morning. I am going to try and set up some Zoom video chats with family through the day so she can connect with everyone that would normally have been at our house for her live-in-person party. I think we are going to make homemade pizza dough and let everyone make their own pizzas. And obviously, have more cake and sing and give her our gifts. And then I think we are going to rent a new movie that should be in theaters right now off of Amazon and have a giant family movie night in the living room.
So if anyone has any mama magic tips for making Easter or birthdays special, I would love the ideas. Even if I can't implement them fast enough for this week's upcoming events - it feels like I am going to need some tricks up my sleeve for many weeks to come.
Tuesday, April 7, 2020
The Day I Bit My Tongue 100 Times
Here is how to best explain what kind of day I had yesterday...
I angry typed a blog post after I put the kids to bed, with lots of all caps letters and some ranting and a swear word or two. I used the phrases, "for the love of all that is holy" and "educate yourselves" in a mean spirited way. I got intense satisfaction of how impressively I was thwacking the keys on my keyboard - TWO typing classes in high school, take THAT techie millennials! Mama can type! With the right fingers! Without looking! THWACK. THWACK.
I almost hit publish. So close. Twenty year old Stephanie totally would have. Thirty year old Stephanie probably would have. Forty year old Stephanie thought maybe I should just hit save and sleep on it before possibly hurting the feelings of people in my life and sounding like a raving lunatic. Then I went to bed. And then I woke up at 4am, thinking of all the ways I could put this better, more succinctly. More likely to make someone listen. (For the record, if I wrote at 4am every night, I could be a novelist. I am most creative when the bats are out. However, I would be a freaking terrible mother.)
Yesterday, I ended the day seething with angst, bubbling up with frustration and heart wrenching worry. I spent the day working mostly. I manage a medical office - a medical office that is still operational and testing coronavirus patients. I have an entire staff of people I care about deeply that go to work every day afraid. I have staff that we had to lay off that are relieved to be home, but worried about how the government promises of help are overworked and slow to move. I have not stepped foot in the office in three weeks. My partner and our assistant manager are boots on the ground and doing an incredible job. They come from work and strip outside before going in to immediately shower and wash their scrubs so they don't bring any stray, sneaky germ into their homes. My partner sends me home paper packets - which I pick up with gloves or clorox wipes, sanitize the envelope, and then leave in a safe place outside for another 24 hours before opening - just to be safe. We have had to make decisions which we never even imagined would be on the radar and to forward think ten steps ahead to be prepared for something we have never faced.
And I look down my street and see a cable guy hop out of his truck - no mask, no gloves - and walk over to another parked truck and lean in the driver window to talk to the man driving - also not wearing a mask or gloves.
I have a younger sister who works in our office. She lives home with our parents - and my mom is high risk. My mom gets some kind of unshakeable respiratory illness every winter and was in the midst of one when corona came to town. So my sister moved in with me. She upended her normal life- a life that was mostly quiet and calm with lots of privacy- and moved in to my half finished basement rec room on a futon with her dog and my four kids and my cat. There are seven people in this house and one dopey loveable dog that is determined to befriend my arrogant adorable cat. (I know arrogant and adorable don't sound like they go together - you would need to meet my cat - he is awesome, if you aren't a dog) So my sister has made this sacrifice that is difficult on her - flipped her world upside down and has her living out of whatever she grabbed and stashed in her car that first day. My family had adjusted our routine and enveloped her in - but that was also not without growing pains.
And then I go to my parent's house armed with my sanitizers and gloves - and my father mocks me for sanitizing the lid of his trash can. And pokes at me for 'this nonsense' because he isn't going to die.
And then I go to Rite Aid because it is necessary - and I buy the strangest of assortment of goods I have ever bought from a Rite Aid, because if I am chancing going in public then I am damn well going to get every oddball thing we may need. Easter candy, batteries, more Cheetos, shampoo, and three bottles of wine....to name a few. And there are two cashiers sitting on stools side by side. Neither are wearing gloves or masks. The counter has a little bin of what looks like teeny tiny condoms - they are for your finger for the credit card machine. But if I reached in to touch one - I would touch about ten. (I totally had my own gloves on) The cashier probably touched my (gloved) hand three or four times while handing me groceries - he has zero sense of danger or caution.
And I go on Facebook and see people spouting theories - conspiracy theories and misinformation and sharing this like it is fact.
And I have close family members that use the phrases, "We are all going to get it anyway, who cares" and "I am healthy, I will be fine" and "we have probably already all had it and didn't know it anyway".
And I come home and my husband tries to argue something with me that I know to be 100% fact and his entire argument against me is "people know this, it is common sense, look it up" I have! I know I am right! And you sharing your opinion is not just annoying, but potentially harmful to people that need the correct information. And that isn't me needing to be right - it is me being informed and taking the time to find the facts.
And that was the last straw for me. I cannot fight the whole freaking world. I went upstairs, locked myself in the bathroom with every face cream and shower product I have squirreled away in my room and turned the water as hot as I could stand it while stress eating my (sanitized) Rite Aid Cheetos. I turned up some Casting Crowns on my phone, lost my shit a bit, and practiced self care. I came out, put the kids to bed, plugged in my headphones with my Christian friends still singing and found a Jodi Picoult book to lose myself in until I fell asleep. It was a smart decision.
I feel better now. Yesterday is closed. Done. One more day marked off on our corona calendar. Tomorrow starts fresh...in about three hours.
I angry typed a blog post after I put the kids to bed, with lots of all caps letters and some ranting and a swear word or two. I used the phrases, "for the love of all that is holy" and "educate yourselves" in a mean spirited way. I got intense satisfaction of how impressively I was thwacking the keys on my keyboard - TWO typing classes in high school, take THAT techie millennials! Mama can type! With the right fingers! Without looking! THWACK. THWACK.
I almost hit publish. So close. Twenty year old Stephanie totally would have. Thirty year old Stephanie probably would have. Forty year old Stephanie thought maybe I should just hit save and sleep on it before possibly hurting the feelings of people in my life and sounding like a raving lunatic. Then I went to bed. And then I woke up at 4am, thinking of all the ways I could put this better, more succinctly. More likely to make someone listen. (For the record, if I wrote at 4am every night, I could be a novelist. I am most creative when the bats are out. However, I would be a freaking terrible mother.)
Yesterday, I ended the day seething with angst, bubbling up with frustration and heart wrenching worry. I spent the day working mostly. I manage a medical office - a medical office that is still operational and testing coronavirus patients. I have an entire staff of people I care about deeply that go to work every day afraid. I have staff that we had to lay off that are relieved to be home, but worried about how the government promises of help are overworked and slow to move. I have not stepped foot in the office in three weeks. My partner and our assistant manager are boots on the ground and doing an incredible job. They come from work and strip outside before going in to immediately shower and wash their scrubs so they don't bring any stray, sneaky germ into their homes. My partner sends me home paper packets - which I pick up with gloves or clorox wipes, sanitize the envelope, and then leave in a safe place outside for another 24 hours before opening - just to be safe. We have had to make decisions which we never even imagined would be on the radar and to forward think ten steps ahead to be prepared for something we have never faced.
And I look down my street and see a cable guy hop out of his truck - no mask, no gloves - and walk over to another parked truck and lean in the driver window to talk to the man driving - also not wearing a mask or gloves.
I have a younger sister who works in our office. She lives home with our parents - and my mom is high risk. My mom gets some kind of unshakeable respiratory illness every winter and was in the midst of one when corona came to town. So my sister moved in with me. She upended her normal life- a life that was mostly quiet and calm with lots of privacy- and moved in to my half finished basement rec room on a futon with her dog and my four kids and my cat. There are seven people in this house and one dopey loveable dog that is determined to befriend my arrogant adorable cat. (I know arrogant and adorable don't sound like they go together - you would need to meet my cat - he is awesome, if you aren't a dog) So my sister has made this sacrifice that is difficult on her - flipped her world upside down and has her living out of whatever she grabbed and stashed in her car that first day. My family had adjusted our routine and enveloped her in - but that was also not without growing pains.
And then I go to my parent's house armed with my sanitizers and gloves - and my father mocks me for sanitizing the lid of his trash can. And pokes at me for 'this nonsense' because he isn't going to die.
And then I go to Rite Aid because it is necessary - and I buy the strangest of assortment of goods I have ever bought from a Rite Aid, because if I am chancing going in public then I am damn well going to get every oddball thing we may need. Easter candy, batteries, more Cheetos, shampoo, and three bottles of wine....to name a few. And there are two cashiers sitting on stools side by side. Neither are wearing gloves or masks. The counter has a little bin of what looks like teeny tiny condoms - they are for your finger for the credit card machine. But if I reached in to touch one - I would touch about ten. (I totally had my own gloves on) The cashier probably touched my (gloved) hand three or four times while handing me groceries - he has zero sense of danger or caution.
And I go on Facebook and see people spouting theories - conspiracy theories and misinformation and sharing this like it is fact.
And I have close family members that use the phrases, "We are all going to get it anyway, who cares" and "I am healthy, I will be fine" and "we have probably already all had it and didn't know it anyway".
And I come home and my husband tries to argue something with me that I know to be 100% fact and his entire argument against me is "people know this, it is common sense, look it up" I have! I know I am right! And you sharing your opinion is not just annoying, but potentially harmful to people that need the correct information. And that isn't me needing to be right - it is me being informed and taking the time to find the facts.
And that was the last straw for me. I cannot fight the whole freaking world. I went upstairs, locked myself in the bathroom with every face cream and shower product I have squirreled away in my room and turned the water as hot as I could stand it while stress eating my (sanitized) Rite Aid Cheetos. I turned up some Casting Crowns on my phone, lost my shit a bit, and practiced self care. I came out, put the kids to bed, plugged in my headphones with my Christian friends still singing and found a Jodi Picoult book to lose myself in until I fell asleep. It was a smart decision.
I feel better now. Yesterday is closed. Done. One more day marked off on our corona calendar. Tomorrow starts fresh...in about three hours.
Sunday, April 5, 2020
The Day I Cut Her Hair
Haircuts are a funny thing we never gave any thought to before quarantine life. I have been rocking the mom ponytail/bun/half up, half falling out style for many years now, so I am not in any danger of cutting myself bangs or thinking I know how to do fringe. However...my children are apparently very healthy and grow hair like gorillas on steroids. So we are learning new skills, my husband and I.
He used the clippers on our seven year old son - with pretty decent results. His bang line is a little somber - a very serious straight line. Apparently he doesn't want to learn how to do fringe either. But Baby Boy is a little bit of a serious child so he was pleased with it. Our teenage daughter dyed her hair a pretty pink color that washes out. Our teenage boy is refusing to let us touch his hair (he may be the only smart one here, time will tell) and is instead taken to wearing his hair in a little waterfall ponytail on the top of his head - like we used to do to Baby Girl when she was a toddler. Baby Girl has decided to dye her hair blue, but Amazon must not believe hair dye for almost six year olds is essential because it is taking a pretty long time to get here. Her plan was to cut her hair and dye it, but with the delay we went ahead and bobbed it today - and she is ecstatic. Which is great, because it was a pretty 50/50 shot that I was going to blow it and make her cry buckets of tears. So now Baby Girl is bobbed, Baby Boy is happy and serious, and our teenagers are rolling with it. One more covid hurdle jumped.
Today I packed up my to-go bag of covid essentials: hand sanitizer, face mask, sanitized pack of disposable gloves, and giant container of sanitizer wipes. I loaded it into my used-to-be-a-soccer-mom minivan with the two teenagers and we headed off to bleach/sanitize mailboxes and stair railings at mine and Brent's parents house. They live across the street from each other - so I just wandered between houses with my arsenal of virus fighting tools and wiped stuff down while my kids assembled patio furniture for my dad in the backyard...wearing masks and avoiding touching anything. Then we sanitized the entire deck, all the new furniture, and everything we possibly could have touched outside all the way back to the mini-van. If felt....surreal. Like a weird sci-fi movie. My mom waving through the front door as I wiped down her door handles. Having to second guess every thing I may have touched. Wearing masks at my childhood home. Feeling guilty and furtively glancing around like we were skirting the law. This is such a very strange time.
He used the clippers on our seven year old son - with pretty decent results. His bang line is a little somber - a very serious straight line. Apparently he doesn't want to learn how to do fringe either. But Baby Boy is a little bit of a serious child so he was pleased with it. Our teenage daughter dyed her hair a pretty pink color that washes out. Our teenage boy is refusing to let us touch his hair (he may be the only smart one here, time will tell) and is instead taken to wearing his hair in a little waterfall ponytail on the top of his head - like we used to do to Baby Girl when she was a toddler. Baby Girl has decided to dye her hair blue, but Amazon must not believe hair dye for almost six year olds is essential because it is taking a pretty long time to get here. Her plan was to cut her hair and dye it, but with the delay we went ahead and bobbed it today - and she is ecstatic. Which is great, because it was a pretty 50/50 shot that I was going to blow it and make her cry buckets of tears. So now Baby Girl is bobbed, Baby Boy is happy and serious, and our teenagers are rolling with it. One more covid hurdle jumped.
Today I packed up my to-go bag of covid essentials: hand sanitizer, face mask, sanitized pack of disposable gloves, and giant container of sanitizer wipes. I loaded it into my used-to-be-a-soccer-mom minivan with the two teenagers and we headed off to bleach/sanitize mailboxes and stair railings at mine and Brent's parents house. They live across the street from each other - so I just wandered between houses with my arsenal of virus fighting tools and wiped stuff down while my kids assembled patio furniture for my dad in the backyard...wearing masks and avoiding touching anything. Then we sanitized the entire deck, all the new furniture, and everything we possibly could have touched outside all the way back to the mini-van. If felt....surreal. Like a weird sci-fi movie. My mom waving through the front door as I wiped down her door handles. Having to second guess every thing I may have touched. Wearing masks at my childhood home. Feeling guilty and furtively glancing around like we were skirting the law. This is such a very strange time.
Friday, April 3, 2020
The Day School Was Cancelled
How is everyone doing? School is officially cancelled for the year and I don't know whether to be sad because life is so weird and I am not sure how this 'distance learning' thing is going to go - or to be happy because it would have been hell on wheels trying to shove these kids back into a school routine after being off for a month. Also, we have a high school senior in our house - which is heart wrenching. We have all her graduation party announcements sitting ready to go out - but in all reality, we may not be free to congregate in groups on that date so everything is in limbo. We are still hopeful her school district will create some kind of senior send off with a prom and a graduation of some kind. If not, we are improvising with a hillbilly prom in Aunt Em's barn when it is safe - viruses are not going to keep us down!
(
We have tried some fun new things the last few days. We took chalk and went out to graffiti people's cement. Super fun. (PSA: chalk is incredibly hard to find, I couldn't get any online. My husband went to Menards for plumbing supplies for the bathroom and I asked him to check there and he stocked us back up.) We subscribed to Zoom so we can video conference with anyone we can badger into talking to us if we feel cut off. Baby Girl is on my tablet right now with her kindergarten teacher, walking her around our house and showing her our cat - sorry, Mrs. S - you may be seeing way more of my dirty laundry than you wanted to! We have video-ed with our cousins and school friends. We have tried out our two new games - Blokus and Even Steven's Odd. Both fantastic! And both easy enough to play with smaller kids, but still competitive with older people - which is important with our span of ages in this household. As a newly-home-teaching mom, I am very impressed with Todo Math. Both kids have done it now and it is engaging for them and has the repetition and fact skills that I want to see in a math app. Our seven year old's level has word problems, too, which I really like. I highly recommend it - I think I bought it for a year for $40 or something.
Our at-home learning has settled into a groove - just in time for the new 'distance learning' to get organized. I am half ready, half anxious. It feels like I just figured out how this will look at our house and it is getting tossed in upheaval again. If anyone at my kids' schools is listening....PLEASE make this project based and internet accessible....PLEASE don't give me packets of paperwork...please, please, please. I will set up Zoom classrooms for all of you every day if you want to talk to them. I will email you anything they type. Or send you pictures of any project. Please, just no worksheets. I tried this already - and I tried hard. Paperwork at home at this time is just soul crushing, for them and for me. I pinky promise that I am reading with my kids and hitting math facts every day - just don't make me push paper......whine, pathetic sigh, whine. Ok, I am done. I will do what you want - because I am a rule follower. But I may binge eat Milky Ways and drink a lot of whiskey...in the middle of the day. So that is on your head.
Moving on....
Eleven years ago today, we lost my grandpa. He was a great big ray of sunshine in all our lives and we could really use that right now. Every year, on this day, we all go to his beautiful bride's house and drink whiskey with her. She is straight up quarantined in her house right now - she doesn't think that is really necessary, but I think being in your 90's qualifies you as high risk. However, I may go sit in her front lawn with my own bottle of whiskey and toast him from 20 ft away. I am sure he will laugh at us. Love you Gramps.
(
We have tried some fun new things the last few days. We took chalk and went out to graffiti people's cement. Super fun. (PSA: chalk is incredibly hard to find, I couldn't get any online. My husband went to Menards for plumbing supplies for the bathroom and I asked him to check there and he stocked us back up.) We subscribed to Zoom so we can video conference with anyone we can badger into talking to us if we feel cut off. Baby Girl is on my tablet right now with her kindergarten teacher, walking her around our house and showing her our cat - sorry, Mrs. S - you may be seeing way more of my dirty laundry than you wanted to! We have video-ed with our cousins and school friends. We have tried out our two new games - Blokus and Even Steven's Odd. Both fantastic! And both easy enough to play with smaller kids, but still competitive with older people - which is important with our span of ages in this household. As a newly-home-teaching mom, I am very impressed with Todo Math. Both kids have done it now and it is engaging for them and has the repetition and fact skills that I want to see in a math app. Our seven year old's level has word problems, too, which I really like. I highly recommend it - I think I bought it for a year for $40 or something.
Our at-home learning has settled into a groove - just in time for the new 'distance learning' to get organized. I am half ready, half anxious. It feels like I just figured out how this will look at our house and it is getting tossed in upheaval again. If anyone at my kids' schools is listening....PLEASE make this project based and internet accessible....PLEASE don't give me packets of paperwork...please, please, please. I will set up Zoom classrooms for all of you every day if you want to talk to them. I will email you anything they type. Or send you pictures of any project. Please, just no worksheets. I tried this already - and I tried hard. Paperwork at home at this time is just soul crushing, for them and for me. I pinky promise that I am reading with my kids and hitting math facts every day - just don't make me push paper......whine, pathetic sigh, whine. Ok, I am done. I will do what you want - because I am a rule follower. But I may binge eat Milky Ways and drink a lot of whiskey...in the middle of the day. So that is on your head.
Moving on....
Eleven years ago today, we lost my grandpa. He was a great big ray of sunshine in all our lives and we could really use that right now. Every year, on this day, we all go to his beautiful bride's house and drink whiskey with her. She is straight up quarantined in her house right now - she doesn't think that is really necessary, but I think being in your 90's qualifies you as high risk. However, I may go sit in her front lawn with my own bottle of whiskey and toast him from 20 ft away. I am sure he will laugh at us. Love you Gramps.
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
The Day I Fretted Over Allergies
Does anyone else think they have coronavirus everytime they cough or breathe heavy? Two hands up in the air - me too. Can't help it. I am a very black and white, rational person - who has been self isolating pretty strictly and sanitizing her house with bleach water - and I still can't help it. I am totally one of those people who would tell them to stick that swab all the way back just so I could KNOW - even though I haven't been ten feet from any people for two weeks. I want to KNOW. Which is silly of me...because duh...I do know. I just keep playing 'What If' in my head like the worrier that I am.
I have seasonal allergies that seem to get worse every year. I finally got an allergy test this year where they poke you all over your back with allergens and see which ones have a reaction. Apparently, I am allergic to all trees, all grasses, all pollens....also mold, dust, dogs, and cats. So....Mother Nature. We have a cat and I garden most of the year. I am supposed to tell my cat not to sleep on my bed (dude, has anyone ever successfully told a cat what to do?) and avoid the outdoors in the spring and fall. My compliance is low. I also have this cool, rare (annoying, almost killed me) disease that causes swelling and obstructions in my esophagus - and is exacerbated by allergies. So my throat frequently feels...crowded? Skinny? Kinda like breathing is work sometimes? The allergies and this awesome condition work together to screw with my mind...via my throat. Not cool.
I also get short of breath...because I have probably gained 15 pounds in two weeks. Because I have ate my weight (and then some) in Cheeto Puffs. Because I haven't done any exercise, but instead have moved from chair to chair in my house working or teaching kids or watching videos or folding laundry. Because I have forsaken lean chicken and committed to drinking devil's food cake batter. You get the picture. I am comfort eating the shit out of this virus while sitting on my ass. So when I exert myself...I huff and puff like the proverbial magic dragon. Proof to my anxiety that I have coronavirus? Sometimes. If I actually had coronavirus, there isn't much I would do differently - except stay in my room to avoid my family. I could start that now I suppose but my five year old would impart martial law quickly and things could get out of hand. So I just keep taking my allergy meds and using my inhaler and reassuring my hypochondriac self.
The kids are doing great still - they are all working together pretty well and retreating to their rooms when they need a little space. It is pretty encouraging. The last two days have been rainy and cold so the littles got over rambunctious today. I sent the 7 yr old down to lift weights with his brother and put on Frozen yoga for my 5 yr old. Worked well to take it all down a notch. We actually really like this Youtube video we found - it is called Cosmic Kids Yoga. Ava and I did it together, apparently they have lots of them so we will be doing some more. Check it out if you have kiddos.
We keep dragging out board games and harassing the kids into joining in the afternoons. I actually really enjoy it. We have done Clue and Phase 10 and Catch Phrase and this weird game the kids picked out called WTF(what the fish- my teens picked it, go figure)...I ordered a few new family ones recommended by my book club ladies and they come on Thursday so I will let you know how the kids like those. Also, we did virtual book club for adult ladies only this past Saturday and it was SO NEEDED. We all just grabbed a drink, sat in front of our devices and gabbed like moms who haven't seen other adults in weeks. It was beautiful. We are doing it every Saturday night when we are in quarantine so feel free to join in anytime - just shoot me a message and I will make sure you get the link.
Ok, I am off to binge watch The Ranch on Netflix. Night all!
I have seasonal allergies that seem to get worse every year. I finally got an allergy test this year where they poke you all over your back with allergens and see which ones have a reaction. Apparently, I am allergic to all trees, all grasses, all pollens....also mold, dust, dogs, and cats. So....Mother Nature. We have a cat and I garden most of the year. I am supposed to tell my cat not to sleep on my bed (dude, has anyone ever successfully told a cat what to do?) and avoid the outdoors in the spring and fall. My compliance is low. I also have this cool, rare (annoying, almost killed me) disease that causes swelling and obstructions in my esophagus - and is exacerbated by allergies. So my throat frequently feels...crowded? Skinny? Kinda like breathing is work sometimes? The allergies and this awesome condition work together to screw with my mind...via my throat. Not cool.
I also get short of breath...because I have probably gained 15 pounds in two weeks. Because I have ate my weight (and then some) in Cheeto Puffs. Because I haven't done any exercise, but instead have moved from chair to chair in my house working or teaching kids or watching videos or folding laundry. Because I have forsaken lean chicken and committed to drinking devil's food cake batter. You get the picture. I am comfort eating the shit out of this virus while sitting on my ass. So when I exert myself...I huff and puff like the proverbial magic dragon. Proof to my anxiety that I have coronavirus? Sometimes. If I actually had coronavirus, there isn't much I would do differently - except stay in my room to avoid my family. I could start that now I suppose but my five year old would impart martial law quickly and things could get out of hand. So I just keep taking my allergy meds and using my inhaler and reassuring my hypochondriac self.
The kids are doing great still - they are all working together pretty well and retreating to their rooms when they need a little space. It is pretty encouraging. The last two days have been rainy and cold so the littles got over rambunctious today. I sent the 7 yr old down to lift weights with his brother and put on Frozen yoga for my 5 yr old. Worked well to take it all down a notch. We actually really like this Youtube video we found - it is called Cosmic Kids Yoga. Ava and I did it together, apparently they have lots of them so we will be doing some more. Check it out if you have kiddos.
We keep dragging out board games and harassing the kids into joining in the afternoons. I actually really enjoy it. We have done Clue and Phase 10 and Catch Phrase and this weird game the kids picked out called WTF(what the fish- my teens picked it, go figure)...I ordered a few new family ones recommended by my book club ladies and they come on Thursday so I will let you know how the kids like those. Also, we did virtual book club for adult ladies only this past Saturday and it was SO NEEDED. We all just grabbed a drink, sat in front of our devices and gabbed like moms who haven't seen other adults in weeks. It was beautiful. We are doing it every Saturday night when we are in quarantine so feel free to join in anytime - just shoot me a message and I will make sure you get the link.
Ok, I am off to binge watch The Ranch on Netflix. Night all!
Monday, March 30, 2020
The Day I Battled Kid Technology
Hi friends. I took the weekend off. From everything. I read a book - beginning to end in one day while cuddled under a blanket. I planted carrots and zinnia and sunflowers and baby herb plants. I taught my 7 yr old - and my husband- how to play Clue. I avoided technology as much as possible.
Today I felt ready to tackle life again. One of things on my Tackle Life List has been to clean up my kids tablets and make them more education friendly. In the past, when life is busy, I have found apps that are highly recommended but the kids don't like or are buggy. They live in the app graveyard next to the calculator until the tablet yells at me to give them more storage and then they get deleted so my kids can add an app where they drive dune buggies over hills. Rinse, repeat...over and over. So over the last week, I had downloaded newer ones that were recommended (by people I actually knew) and I played with them, set up user accounts, and just generally tried them out. Today, I went through and cleaned up their home screens and deleted all the junk. Then I put everything they can't touch in a 'Mom' folder and all their apps in a 'Game' folder. Then all the apps that I think are brain-users I left on the main screen. I am going to try unlimited screen time on the main screen apps, with limited 'Game' action this week. One other road block that I ran into was that Kindles don't let you add a shortcut to a screen, so if I found something cool online and it didn't have an Amazon friendly app, I couldn't mark it for them easily. So I impulse bought a basic Android tablet that will be 'Mom's Tablet' that I can let them use for things like the Cincinnati Zoo live feeds and bookmarked websites.
In case anyone is interested, these are the things we have settled on for approved anytime right now...
Apps on their kindles...
Minecraft - bought it for them on Amazon appstore
Khan Kids - free on the Amazon appstore
Teach Your Monster to Read - I think it was $1 on Amazon appstore
Apps/Sites on my impulse buy tablet...
Cincinnati Zoo - FB Live daily
Todo Math - I bought a year subscription for $40 - includes both my kids
Epic Books - Free trial for 30 days (some schools have it free) and then $7/mth I think
Mo Willems Lunch Doodles - Live Daily at kennedy-center.org
Desktop...
typing.com - free typing classes
If anybody else has any great apps or sites they use, I would love to check them out and add them into our rotation when they get bored with a few of these ones!
Today I felt ready to tackle life again. One of things on my Tackle Life List has been to clean up my kids tablets and make them more education friendly. In the past, when life is busy, I have found apps that are highly recommended but the kids don't like or are buggy. They live in the app graveyard next to the calculator until the tablet yells at me to give them more storage and then they get deleted so my kids can add an app where they drive dune buggies over hills. Rinse, repeat...over and over. So over the last week, I had downloaded newer ones that were recommended (by people I actually knew) and I played with them, set up user accounts, and just generally tried them out. Today, I went through and cleaned up their home screens and deleted all the junk. Then I put everything they can't touch in a 'Mom' folder and all their apps in a 'Game' folder. Then all the apps that I think are brain-users I left on the main screen. I am going to try unlimited screen time on the main screen apps, with limited 'Game' action this week. One other road block that I ran into was that Kindles don't let you add a shortcut to a screen, so if I found something cool online and it didn't have an Amazon friendly app, I couldn't mark it for them easily. So I impulse bought a basic Android tablet that will be 'Mom's Tablet' that I can let them use for things like the Cincinnati Zoo live feeds and bookmarked websites.
In case anyone is interested, these are the things we have settled on for approved anytime right now...
Apps on their kindles...
Minecraft - bought it for them on Amazon appstore
Khan Kids - free on the Amazon appstore
Teach Your Monster to Read - I think it was $1 on Amazon appstore
Apps/Sites on my impulse buy tablet...
Cincinnati Zoo - FB Live daily
Todo Math - I bought a year subscription for $40 - includes both my kids
Epic Books - Free trial for 30 days (some schools have it free) and then $7/mth I think
Mo Willems Lunch Doodles - Live Daily at kennedy-center.org
Desktop...
typing.com - free typing classes
If anybody else has any great apps or sites they use, I would love to check them out and add them into our rotation when they get bored with a few of these ones!
Thursday, March 26, 2020
The Day We Played in Dirt
Today was even more off script than our new normal - we did a family project for my dad. He needed this yard pond dismantled and filled in for a parking space. He would not have left it alone until April so we took the kids and did it, never going in the house and keeping our distance and spraying down the entire outdoors with bleach. This caused me all kinds of emotions - anxiety that we left our house because even though we literally did not speak or come in contact with anyone, I am a rule follower and the rule is don't leave; fear that we would leave a trace germ floating in my parent's backyard (my children rolled their eyes at me when I told them not to touch a fence and made them bleach the wheelbarrow handles); pride in my kids for pitching in to help Grandpa with a dirty, physical job so he didn't injure himself by being stubborn and doing it himself while we all kept our distance; annoyance that my Dad did not take the 6 ft rule seriously and kept pushing my buttons, and just this general unease that has wound its way inside and twisted me up. Pandemics are NOT good for OCD planners.
By the time we got home from this adventure, my nerves were frayed and I forced my children to watch Netflix in my bed with me so I could take a cat nap. I am going to be honest, the rest of the day was pretty much a free-for-all. We decided when this all went down we would order take out from a local business one night a week, so we had chicken alfredo and garlic knots from Brooklyn Boyz for dinner and have so much left, it will be dinner tomorrow too. Technically, it is a Friday in Lent...but I think Jesus understands using up leftovers in a pandemic so they don't go to waste, right?
My nerves were still squirrelly and my kids were still picking at each other, so I put them to bed at 7:30 and stationed their aunt as guard in the living room. Then my husband and I snuck out the back door with a few drinks, put on some music, and sat by the fire pretending everything in our lives wasn't completely upside down now. We had a really great 40 minutes before Baby Boy wandered out in dino pjs and found us, then curled up and fell asleep in my lap. Not the worst ending to an off the books kinda day.
Now I am going to jump on the Just Pray 2020 FB page, say prayers for any requests, share a little peace if I can, and tuck in to a good movie on Netflix. Night!
By the time we got home from this adventure, my nerves were frayed and I forced my children to watch Netflix in my bed with me so I could take a cat nap. I am going to be honest, the rest of the day was pretty much a free-for-all. We decided when this all went down we would order take out from a local business one night a week, so we had chicken alfredo and garlic knots from Brooklyn Boyz for dinner and have so much left, it will be dinner tomorrow too. Technically, it is a Friday in Lent...but I think Jesus understands using up leftovers in a pandemic so they don't go to waste, right?
My nerves were still squirrelly and my kids were still picking at each other, so I put them to bed at 7:30 and stationed their aunt as guard in the living room. Then my husband and I snuck out the back door with a few drinks, put on some music, and sat by the fire pretending everything in our lives wasn't completely upside down now. We had a really great 40 minutes before Baby Boy wandered out in dino pjs and found us, then curled up and fell asleep in my lap. Not the worst ending to an off the books kinda day.
Now I am going to jump on the Just Pray 2020 FB page, say prayers for any requests, share a little peace if I can, and tuck in to a good movie on Netflix. Night!
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
The Day the Fence Went Red
Soooo...we did the equivalent of cutting bangs when we were bored - and painted our privacy fence brick red. And then our corner fence. And then porch railing strips and stone caps. I will post a FB pic when it is done. We think we like it? We will be more sure in the light of day tomorrow. We had gone to Menards the day before shelter-in-place to get supplies for home projects - which is exactly what everyone else in town did. And the paint department looked like a covid breakout waiting to happen- people everywhere much, much closer than 6 ft...all jockeying for someone's attention. No way. We walked around to the back of the department, found a giant dented can of barn red fence and said, 'looks good'. And off we went. Both the little kids got in on the action, pretty entertaining.
My mental health is better today - probably because I spent six hours outside planting flower seeds and baby seedlings under cloches. Or maybe because I have decided a daily nightcap of Gentleman Jack will make me a better mama. Or at least sleep better. Only time will tell. We are all feeling the stress of living right on top of each other when our normal life carries us in all different directions all the time. I have to believe that as we adjust to this new normal, things will ease up and we will find our groove again. Until then, mama is just taking it day by day - doing my best to balance family time with quiet time and brain time with screen time. There is a learning curve here I have yet to master, but I am working it.
Today, coloring replaced school. I found a giant, detailed coloring page on Amazon. They had different kinds - I picked the world. It is a big cartoon map of the globe. I sharpened every colored pencil I could find (so satisfying) and everyone sat around and colored. I am putting it in the win column with reading and typing and garden projects. So far sitting in the fail column is math worksheets and handwriting. They have been kicked to the curb.
Also, in the last 24 hours, I have been more determined to find ways to connect with people outside of my house. We have a ladies book club that normally meets for dinner and drinks - we will be doing it virtually this Saturday if anyone is interested. I will be wearing my onesie reindeer pajamas and having a Jack and Coke. It will be grand. Message me if you can't find it on my wall on FB and I will shoot you an invite.
Also, again...in that same vein...I started up a virtual prayer group on FB called Just Pray 2020. I don't think you need an invite to join, but if you want to find it and can't - holler at me. Without church or my tribe - I am missing out on a vital piece of my normal life. While I can pray and do devotionals at home - there is something about a faith community that brings peace. In my brain, I see this page as a place people can go for support and to share things that are helping them keep the faith. A place to check in with as the day winds down, to pray for requests, reflect on some well timed Scripture or prayers posted, and settle in with God before going to bed at night. No politics, no religious affiliation, no criticism, no judgement....just a spot to land to find some peace in the strange time. Hope to see some people there!
My mental health is better today - probably because I spent six hours outside planting flower seeds and baby seedlings under cloches. Or maybe because I have decided a daily nightcap of Gentleman Jack will make me a better mama. Or at least sleep better. Only time will tell. We are all feeling the stress of living right on top of each other when our normal life carries us in all different directions all the time. I have to believe that as we adjust to this new normal, things will ease up and we will find our groove again. Until then, mama is just taking it day by day - doing my best to balance family time with quiet time and brain time with screen time. There is a learning curve here I have yet to master, but I am working it.
Today, coloring replaced school. I found a giant, detailed coloring page on Amazon. They had different kinds - I picked the world. It is a big cartoon map of the globe. I sharpened every colored pencil I could find (so satisfying) and everyone sat around and colored. I am putting it in the win column with reading and typing and garden projects. So far sitting in the fail column is math worksheets and handwriting. They have been kicked to the curb.
Also, in the last 24 hours, I have been more determined to find ways to connect with people outside of my house. We have a ladies book club that normally meets for dinner and drinks - we will be doing it virtually this Saturday if anyone is interested. I will be wearing my onesie reindeer pajamas and having a Jack and Coke. It will be grand. Message me if you can't find it on my wall on FB and I will shoot you an invite.
Also, again...in that same vein...I started up a virtual prayer group on FB called Just Pray 2020. I don't think you need an invite to join, but if you want to find it and can't - holler at me. Without church or my tribe - I am missing out on a vital piece of my normal life. While I can pray and do devotionals at home - there is something about a faith community that brings peace. In my brain, I see this page as a place people can go for support and to share things that are helping them keep the faith. A place to check in with as the day winds down, to pray for requests, reflect on some well timed Scripture or prayers posted, and settle in with God before going to bed at night. No politics, no religious affiliation, no criticism, no judgement....just a spot to land to find some peace in the strange time. Hope to see some people there!
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
The Day I Rode the Struggle Bus
Holy crap balls of fire my friends. Today was TOUGH.
I kept trying to grab the fraying seams and hold it all back together...all freaking day long. But that is what we do, right moms? We try and turn crappy, rough, uncertain situations into fun and bliss for our families. We try and batten down our crazy and our anxiety and our (sometimes) rage at the situation and breathe deep and carry on. We hold the line and don't give in and make our children become better people - many times against their own will.
I was told several times today that I was the meanest mother in the whole world. I was screamed at, given the side eye, sassed back at, and trivialized - and I am beat down. Holding that line is freaking exhausting. Having my kids think I am mean while holding them accountable for being kind is frustrating - and ironic. Taking the time to teach them to do a good job - at dishes, at laundry, at reading, at being a good sport....all of it. It is not for the faint of heart. Mom is tired.
There were many good moments today. My family all puzzled together instead of doing homework this morning. Nerd heart happy. I got to dig in the dirt outside and several of my seedlings are starting to sprout. My crocuses are all blooming. We got the giant log pile from the cut down trees all chainsawed up and moved into the lean-to for firewood. We laughed like fools with our cousins as we attempted (badly) to play cards over FB messenger together. PSA: Phase 10 is a great game to play via the internet - with 3 or 4 people that can be quiet. It was not very effective with five kids and a barking dog chasing a hissing cat. All my family is still safe and healthy. I have nothing to complain about, but the reality is I rode the struggle bus hard today.
Soooo..I am giving myself a little grace tonight...crawling into bed early...and taking my rest. So tomorrow I can get back at it.
I kept trying to grab the fraying seams and hold it all back together...all freaking day long. But that is what we do, right moms? We try and turn crappy, rough, uncertain situations into fun and bliss for our families. We try and batten down our crazy and our anxiety and our (sometimes) rage at the situation and breathe deep and carry on. We hold the line and don't give in and make our children become better people - many times against their own will.
I was told several times today that I was the meanest mother in the whole world. I was screamed at, given the side eye, sassed back at, and trivialized - and I am beat down. Holding that line is freaking exhausting. Having my kids think I am mean while holding them accountable for being kind is frustrating - and ironic. Taking the time to teach them to do a good job - at dishes, at laundry, at reading, at being a good sport....all of it. It is not for the faint of heart. Mom is tired.
There were many good moments today. My family all puzzled together instead of doing homework this morning. Nerd heart happy. I got to dig in the dirt outside and several of my seedlings are starting to sprout. My crocuses are all blooming. We got the giant log pile from the cut down trees all chainsawed up and moved into the lean-to for firewood. We laughed like fools with our cousins as we attempted (badly) to play cards over FB messenger together. PSA: Phase 10 is a great game to play via the internet - with 3 or 4 people that can be quiet. It was not very effective with five kids and a barking dog chasing a hissing cat. All my family is still safe and healthy. I have nothing to complain about, but the reality is I rode the struggle bus hard today.
Soooo..I am giving myself a little grace tonight...crawling into bed early...and taking my rest. So tomorrow I can get back at it.
Sunday, March 22, 2020
The Day We Did Home Church
Happy Sunday! Today was a beautiful day. I am not sure what the actual temperature ended up coming in at, but the sunshine was glorious and my heart was happy. As a (mostly) introverted person, today was pretty close to my perfect day. All my kiddos are safe and sound, my husband is home and projecting with me, and my extended family is hunkered down and safe as well. If I end up in bed with a new book to crack open in an hour, I will go to sleep a very happy woman.
Because I went to bed super early last night due to crappy allergy stuff (which is much improved with meds btw) I was up very early today. I had literally almost two hours to myself before the house started to stir - which is unheard of on a regular day, much or less a quarantine day. I did yoga, did a devotion, played with my little seedlings, reorganized the dining room furniture, and tinkered with our meal plan for the week all before Baby Boy sleepily walked down the staircase. I should go to bed early more often.
While our kids woke up slow with cartoons and cereal, the husband and I went out and replaced a section of fence that a tree branch took out this winter. We weighed options - he was highly in favor of just burning it. I think he has a fire bug problem. I wanted to repurpose it for a new gardening spot to grow a second batch of cucumbers. Because I take it as a personal challenge to grow as much as possible in our teeny tiny yard. We compromised - I gave him some other wood I was hoarding to burn and he helped me put up my new garden fence. We both won. Marriage. We actually spent almost all of the day outside, playing in the garden. This weekends' cold snap has delayed my plants actually being outside, but my little garden apprentice and I cleaned up all the beds and her fairy garden. We filled up the compost pile a bit, moved some logs around, and got our trellising all set. We planted a second set of snap peas - just couldn't help ourselves. We should be swimming in peas come June. This quarantine is going to be really good for our garden. And our garden is really good for my mental health. I strongly encourage everyone to get themselves a little garden.
This morning we also had family church. This is the first week our church is actually closed. The other day I thought it would be a good idea to link up with a few family members and have our own informal 'church' service. We had some technical difficulty, too many devices not directly connected - but think we have it solved for next week with an app called Zoom. My sister has tried it and you can all talk and see each other on the computer screen. I am excited to try it out. And even though today was a bit chaotic, it was still a fantastic way to remind ourselves it was Sunday and a day to value family and faith and togetherness. Every household brought a prayer or a Bible verse to share outloud. I found a few timely prayers to use in the beginning and end - and my baby sister read this week's gospel. It was simple and experimental and the dogs barked through a lot of it...but it filled a need and I am very hopeful it will neaten up a bit next week. Stay tuned...
Because I went to bed super early last night due to crappy allergy stuff (which is much improved with meds btw) I was up very early today. I had literally almost two hours to myself before the house started to stir - which is unheard of on a regular day, much or less a quarantine day. I did yoga, did a devotion, played with my little seedlings, reorganized the dining room furniture, and tinkered with our meal plan for the week all before Baby Boy sleepily walked down the staircase. I should go to bed early more often.
While our kids woke up slow with cartoons and cereal, the husband and I went out and replaced a section of fence that a tree branch took out this winter. We weighed options - he was highly in favor of just burning it. I think he has a fire bug problem. I wanted to repurpose it for a new gardening spot to grow a second batch of cucumbers. Because I take it as a personal challenge to grow as much as possible in our teeny tiny yard. We compromised - I gave him some other wood I was hoarding to burn and he helped me put up my new garden fence. We both won. Marriage. We actually spent almost all of the day outside, playing in the garden. This weekends' cold snap has delayed my plants actually being outside, but my little garden apprentice and I cleaned up all the beds and her fairy garden. We filled up the compost pile a bit, moved some logs around, and got our trellising all set. We planted a second set of snap peas - just couldn't help ourselves. We should be swimming in peas come June. This quarantine is going to be really good for our garden. And our garden is really good for my mental health. I strongly encourage everyone to get themselves a little garden.
This morning we also had family church. This is the first week our church is actually closed. The other day I thought it would be a good idea to link up with a few family members and have our own informal 'church' service. We had some technical difficulty, too many devices not directly connected - but think we have it solved for next week with an app called Zoom. My sister has tried it and you can all talk and see each other on the computer screen. I am excited to try it out. And even though today was a bit chaotic, it was still a fantastic way to remind ourselves it was Sunday and a day to value family and faith and togetherness. Every household brought a prayer or a Bible verse to share outloud. I found a few timely prayers to use in the beginning and end - and my baby sister read this week's gospel. It was simple and experimental and the dogs barked through a lot of it...but it filled a need and I am very hopeful it will neaten up a bit next week. Stay tuned...
Saturday, March 21, 2020
The Day of the Sloth
Hello friends! Winter showed back up today -although with sunshine- and it frankly bummed me out a bit. It is one thing to be sequestered together with plenty of outside time. Being sequestered on an inside day felt hard. Also, my spring allergies are kicking my butt -and causing me coronavirus anxiety and also does not seem fair if there is snow flurries outside. Know your role Mother Nature- so perhaps I am just impatient with the world today. My husband brought me home more allergy meds this afternoon so hopefully tomorrow will be better.
Enough whining...
We decided that on weekends we would have morning free-for-alls and just fun activities in the afternoons. So the kids all laid around and napped and played Roblox and ate cookies and, in general, were just giant sloths. I napped and tried unsuccessfully to kill my headache. The day marches on. The kids are learning a great deal about how to do chores on this enforced break. After lunch, they put away towels (any other OCD parents out there will understand how hard I bit my tongue for this one, I will include a photo in the comments of how my upstairs towel cupboard looks. I can't bear to look at it anymore, but this is how they learn...this is how they learn...this is how they learn...right???) and did dishes - both chores taking about five times longer than normal. After that we worked on our posterboard towns, did some typing, and watched the episode on lions on CinnZoo with our journals.
Then more sloth behavior.
Then dinner.
Then an INSANE, but not totally unexpected, burst of energy that wound up with a hockey/basketball game in my living room. Which I squashed. Because I am the ruiner of all the fun.
Then I made our 7 yr old invite his sister for a sleepover in his new room, set them up to read a story to their aunt over FB, and came and crawled into bed - where I now talk to you.
Hope your day was a little more positive - I will take all prayers and good vibes for a better day tomorrow. We have grand plans of having a Facetime church time with a few family members - I will tell you all about it tomorrow!
Enough whining...
We decided that on weekends we would have morning free-for-alls and just fun activities in the afternoons. So the kids all laid around and napped and played Roblox and ate cookies and, in general, were just giant sloths. I napped and tried unsuccessfully to kill my headache. The day marches on. The kids are learning a great deal about how to do chores on this enforced break. After lunch, they put away towels (any other OCD parents out there will understand how hard I bit my tongue for this one, I will include a photo in the comments of how my upstairs towel cupboard looks. I can't bear to look at it anymore, but this is how they learn...this is how they learn...this is how they learn...right???) and did dishes - both chores taking about five times longer than normal. After that we worked on our posterboard towns, did some typing, and watched the episode on lions on CinnZoo with our journals.
Then more sloth behavior.
Then dinner.
Then an INSANE, but not totally unexpected, burst of energy that wound up with a hockey/basketball game in my living room. Which I squashed. Because I am the ruiner of all the fun.
Then I made our 7 yr old invite his sister for a sleepover in his new room, set them up to read a story to their aunt over FB, and came and crawled into bed - where I now talk to you.
Hope your day was a little more positive - I will take all prayers and good vibes for a better day tomorrow. We have grand plans of having a Facetime church time with a few family members - I will tell you all about it tomorrow!
Friday, March 20, 2020
The Day I Ate Too Many Eggs
I should clarify that title....the day I ate too many eggs....in devils food cake batter. I won't tell you how much I ate, but let's just say it was enough that a cake was not made. Also, in case you didn't pick up on it, I am a stress eater. I am going to weigh fifty pounds more after the quarantine unless I unveil my inner yogi quick.
Our big kids came home for the week today and I keep hearing rumblings that a shelter in place order is coming, which would probably keep the husband home as well. If you are counting - that is me, my husband, my sister, our four kids, a dog, and a cat. In one house. And the weather is turning wintery for the next few days. All I can say is thank heaven that we have a good portion of the basement remodel done - everyone will have their own room to retreat to if they need to relax a bit. We have plenty of room to spread out.
We are relaxing into a sort of rhythm over here. Mornings are spent cleaning up rooms and house projects. We are down to about an hour of actual schoolwork - math facts, memory work, and sight words. Outside time before and after lunch if Mother Nature cooperates. Then everyone entertains themselves while Mama gets some stuff done. We meet back up around 3 in the reading nook and watch the day's episode of the Cincinnati Zoo and then journal. The rest of the day is for non-worksheet learning; art projects, tying shoes, cooking, whatever strikes our fancy pretty much that isn't a screen. We have dragged out boardgames and I may have bought more books. (It is a problem, but I don't see it stopping any time soon) The kids interact with friends and family as much as we can via screen time. I can hear our 7 yr old in his room facetimeing with Grandma and showing her his new room. He calls a family member every night to read to them. That Facebook messenger app for kids is really working out beautifully now that they aren't insane with it. We are still pretty close to normal bedtime, because I just can't imagine having to rein that back in if they do end up going back.
We did two new things today that both kids really enjoyed. So if you or your kids are giant dorks like us, you may like them too.
First, I created a teacher account on typing.com and signed up all four of my kids in my homeschool class. It was free and it is just a program that starts from step one and teaches kids how to type with the correct finger placement. Our 7 yr old has been asking me to teach him to type for a while now that he uses computers a bit in school, so he just ate this up like candy - loved it. Did an extra lesson. Our 5 yr old thought it was neat, too, and it actually seemed to be good letter recognition practice for her. She needed me to sit with her and do it, but our 7 yr old could do it independently.
The second cool thing we did is that I took three big pieces of posterboard and made 'town squares' with roads leading off in the middle. The little kids and I each named our town and drew in what we wanted in our town square. Every day we are going to add a new building or two to our cities and extend the roads, maybe add a railroad or a river....who knows where our creative juices will take us. I am finding that little parts of a bigger project every day are better than a big daily project. Our attention spans seem to work better that way.
We are ending our day with movie night in my bed. The kids just walked in with coffee mugs full of Sprite and one of my stoneware trays filled up with random snacks from the cupboard. We are going to watch Frozen II and eat popcorn balls, fruit snacks, and bunny grahams. Not the worst way to end week one.
Our big kids came home for the week today and I keep hearing rumblings that a shelter in place order is coming, which would probably keep the husband home as well. If you are counting - that is me, my husband, my sister, our four kids, a dog, and a cat. In one house. And the weather is turning wintery for the next few days. All I can say is thank heaven that we have a good portion of the basement remodel done - everyone will have their own room to retreat to if they need to relax a bit. We have plenty of room to spread out.
We are relaxing into a sort of rhythm over here. Mornings are spent cleaning up rooms and house projects. We are down to about an hour of actual schoolwork - math facts, memory work, and sight words. Outside time before and after lunch if Mother Nature cooperates. Then everyone entertains themselves while Mama gets some stuff done. We meet back up around 3 in the reading nook and watch the day's episode of the Cincinnati Zoo and then journal. The rest of the day is for non-worksheet learning; art projects, tying shoes, cooking, whatever strikes our fancy pretty much that isn't a screen. We have dragged out boardgames and I may have bought more books. (It is a problem, but I don't see it stopping any time soon) The kids interact with friends and family as much as we can via screen time. I can hear our 7 yr old in his room facetimeing with Grandma and showing her his new room. He calls a family member every night to read to them. That Facebook messenger app for kids is really working out beautifully now that they aren't insane with it. We are still pretty close to normal bedtime, because I just can't imagine having to rein that back in if they do end up going back.
We did two new things today that both kids really enjoyed. So if you or your kids are giant dorks like us, you may like them too.
First, I created a teacher account on typing.com and signed up all four of my kids in my homeschool class. It was free and it is just a program that starts from step one and teaches kids how to type with the correct finger placement. Our 7 yr old has been asking me to teach him to type for a while now that he uses computers a bit in school, so he just ate this up like candy - loved it. Did an extra lesson. Our 5 yr old thought it was neat, too, and it actually seemed to be good letter recognition practice for her. She needed me to sit with her and do it, but our 7 yr old could do it independently.
The second cool thing we did is that I took three big pieces of posterboard and made 'town squares' with roads leading off in the middle. The little kids and I each named our town and drew in what we wanted in our town square. Every day we are going to add a new building or two to our cities and extend the roads, maybe add a railroad or a river....who knows where our creative juices will take us. I am finding that little parts of a bigger project every day are better than a big daily project. Our attention spans seem to work better that way.
We are ending our day with movie night in my bed. The kids just walked in with coffee mugs full of Sprite and one of my stoneware trays filled up with random snacks from the cupboard. We are going to watch Frozen II and eat popcorn balls, fruit snacks, and bunny grahams. Not the worst way to end week one.
Thursday, March 19, 2020
The Day Mommy Puzzled Solo
When I saw the writing on the wall as this all started to unravel, I foresaw the monotony that would soon follow in my house and made an executive decision to go shopping. I spent a few nights shopping ideas online and filling up and emptying...and filling up my Amazon cart online in uncertainty, waffling between what I really wanted and what I was impulse buying - because I can do that. So I got a few fun things....a giant wall sized coloring page that I plan on taping to the living room with painters tape one week, a bead sorting box for Baby Girl to organize all her crafty stuff into, and a few more puzzles to expand our collection. I am a bit of a puzzle snob, although I have been known to jump in on any old thing if it is out - I like to buy Ravensburger puzzles. They have great sizes for kids of all ages - so we just keep upgrading to the next size as the kids get more adept. I am not a paid spokesperson for Ravensburger, but go buy their puzzles. And if they see this and send me free puzzles, so be it.
Anyway...I traded afternoon study time for puzzle time today. I yanked out a new 200 piece dinosaur themed puzzle, broke the seal on the box (soooo satisfying) and sat down to start hunting for edges. My seven year old son ran away while I was engrossed in a sky corner. My five year old was sneakier and told me she would be right back - and then came back with her tablet set to a timer and told me she would watch and just time me. Game on pint size me, game on. So Mama rocked out the puzzle all on her own. And frankly, I am reassured that my brain still functions logically enough to do that in a respectable amount of time. Maybe I should do it every few days to a timer to make sure I don't gradually mentally decline on the quarantine-vacation...
Things that worked well today....the 30 day Lego challenge the school gave us, Cincinnati Zoo and journaling (love this combo, just my fav activity of the day), the kids going on a socially distant walk with their aunt and the dog today so I could do laundry in peace, and spending some me time playing with dirt while I repotted my tomato seedlings into bigger pots.
Things that did not go so well...too much tablet time makes my kids cranky, I am going to have to adjust it even if it is mostly talking with friends. It still wires their little brains weird. Adjustment needed. Working from home - eh, there was a lot of yelling today. My kids do not respect the sanctity of my work desk. Something to work on. But...we are slowly settling into a little bit of a household routine. I still have a few tricks up my sleeve for further down the road, but as of now I think we are holding our own.
Anybody else do any binge shopping to entertain your house in the coming weeks?
Anyway...I traded afternoon study time for puzzle time today. I yanked out a new 200 piece dinosaur themed puzzle, broke the seal on the box (soooo satisfying) and sat down to start hunting for edges. My seven year old son ran away while I was engrossed in a sky corner. My five year old was sneakier and told me she would be right back - and then came back with her tablet set to a timer and told me she would watch and just time me. Game on pint size me, game on. So Mama rocked out the puzzle all on her own. And frankly, I am reassured that my brain still functions logically enough to do that in a respectable amount of time. Maybe I should do it every few days to a timer to make sure I don't gradually mentally decline on the quarantine-vacation...
Things that worked well today....the 30 day Lego challenge the school gave us, Cincinnati Zoo and journaling (love this combo, just my fav activity of the day), the kids going on a socially distant walk with their aunt and the dog today so I could do laundry in peace, and spending some me time playing with dirt while I repotted my tomato seedlings into bigger pots.
Things that did not go so well...too much tablet time makes my kids cranky, I am going to have to adjust it even if it is mostly talking with friends. It still wires their little brains weird. Adjustment needed. Working from home - eh, there was a lot of yelling today. My kids do not respect the sanctity of my work desk. Something to work on. But...we are slowly settling into a little bit of a household routine. I still have a few tricks up my sleeve for further down the road, but as of now I think we are holding our own.
Anybody else do any binge shopping to entertain your house in the coming weeks?
Wednesday, March 18, 2020
The Day of No Hot Dog Buns
Hello world! How is everybody doing? We flipped the script over here in Larive Land today - which I am just going to go ahead and call that the theme of this social distancing endeavor - flipping the script. Everything end over end and off schedule. Guess how much the control-freak over here likes that? Nodda...zero...zilch. I make plans...God laughs.
So late last night we had a little health scare with a close connection of mine- all is good, but it really drove home how differently the healthcare system and society in general is functioning right now. Keep yourself well, my friends. Eat well, keep moving, stay home, stay hydrated, stay positive...you are your best advocate. Tuck in and take care of yourself and your family unit. Reach out electronically to your extended circle - use these crazy screens for good right now to keep your social connections and your mental health. So many people are feeling the weight of this - self care is important now. Tonight, I popped both kids in front of their tablets, had them use their new-found face time skills, and had them call a relative they can't see right now to read them books. And then I took some new minty shower gel I had Amazon deliver and took a long, hot shower. Now I am minty clean and ready to handle tomorrow, right??
So back to our well-intentioned plans...
Larive School? Did not happen today. Today was the day I realized how many more groceries we are going through by all of us being home all day, every day. So I sat down to set up a curbside pick up order at Meijer....and nope. The system is so backed up they aren't taking more orders right now. So I trot my butt over to Meijer with a very flexible meal plan/list in hand. I took my own bags and my own Clorox wipes - which was fortuitous since they were out of cart wipes. My plan was to buy whatever proteins they had in stock and build a two week plan out of that so I didn't have to go back anytime soon. I got my meat, I even got a pack of toilet paper...but there were zero hot dog buns. Who is hoarding hot dog buns??? They were also wiped out of saltine and oyster crackers and 95% of boxed pasta. Apparently we have a lot of local pasta and soup eaters here in town stockpiling.
After I made it home from Meijer without touching anything or anyone (brief sidebar - there were WAY too many elderly people clearly out just walking around - it took all my restraint to not just take their one item and tell them to go home) I came home and had to handle work for my actual job that I am still doing from home. I work in the medical field, managing a primary care office, and there is a lot of changing information to keep up with and watch. My job actually feels like a giant research paper right now, constantly scanning for new information, checking sources, creating flow charts for how things could go if this one thing plays out or the other. This kept me occupied well into the evening.
So Larive School...had a vacation day. On Day 3 already...ugh. Not even a vacation day - but a straight-up-mindless-tv-tablet-so-Mom-can-get-her-shit-done day. We didn't go outside, we didn't do chores, we didn't learn any life skills...they did watch the Cincinnati Zoo video of the day and draw porcupine pictures with their aunt who is living with us for the duration of this craziness. And while we had dinner, I made them do handwriting and a half-hearted attempt at spelling. That is the extent of their brain activity for the day. Less than an hour. And ya know what? Not going to beat myself up over it. Mama can NOT do all the things. And that is ok. We will try again tomorrow....over our bun-less hot dog lunch.
Anybody else come across a random shortage of weird things while they are out?
So late last night we had a little health scare with a close connection of mine- all is good, but it really drove home how differently the healthcare system and society in general is functioning right now. Keep yourself well, my friends. Eat well, keep moving, stay home, stay hydrated, stay positive...you are your best advocate. Tuck in and take care of yourself and your family unit. Reach out electronically to your extended circle - use these crazy screens for good right now to keep your social connections and your mental health. So many people are feeling the weight of this - self care is important now. Tonight, I popped both kids in front of their tablets, had them use their new-found face time skills, and had them call a relative they can't see right now to read them books. And then I took some new minty shower gel I had Amazon deliver and took a long, hot shower. Now I am minty clean and ready to handle tomorrow, right??
So back to our well-intentioned plans...
Larive School? Did not happen today. Today was the day I realized how many more groceries we are going through by all of us being home all day, every day. So I sat down to set up a curbside pick up order at Meijer....and nope. The system is so backed up they aren't taking more orders right now. So I trot my butt over to Meijer with a very flexible meal plan/list in hand. I took my own bags and my own Clorox wipes - which was fortuitous since they were out of cart wipes. My plan was to buy whatever proteins they had in stock and build a two week plan out of that so I didn't have to go back anytime soon. I got my meat, I even got a pack of toilet paper...but there were zero hot dog buns. Who is hoarding hot dog buns??? They were also wiped out of saltine and oyster crackers and 95% of boxed pasta. Apparently we have a lot of local pasta and soup eaters here in town stockpiling.
After I made it home from Meijer without touching anything or anyone (brief sidebar - there were WAY too many elderly people clearly out just walking around - it took all my restraint to not just take their one item and tell them to go home) I came home and had to handle work for my actual job that I am still doing from home. I work in the medical field, managing a primary care office, and there is a lot of changing information to keep up with and watch. My job actually feels like a giant research paper right now, constantly scanning for new information, checking sources, creating flow charts for how things could go if this one thing plays out or the other. This kept me occupied well into the evening.
So Larive School...had a vacation day. On Day 3 already...ugh. Not even a vacation day - but a straight-up-mindless-tv-tablet-so-Mom-can-get-her-shit-done day. We didn't go outside, we didn't do chores, we didn't learn any life skills...they did watch the Cincinnati Zoo video of the day and draw porcupine pictures with their aunt who is living with us for the duration of this craziness. And while we had dinner, I made them do handwriting and a half-hearted attempt at spelling. That is the extent of their brain activity for the day. Less than an hour. And ya know what? Not going to beat myself up over it. Mama can NOT do all the things. And that is ok. We will try again tomorrow....over our bun-less hot dog lunch.
Anybody else come across a random shortage of weird things while they are out?
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
The Day of a Thousand Phone Calls
Ok, my friends. We are wrapping up Day 2 over here in Larive Land. It was gorgeous outside today and we spend lots of time chasing each other over log piles and honing our Frisbee skills - so much time that I fully expected kids to be zonked out as soon as they hit the pillow. Ummmmm....no. The spring air has infused their spirits and they went down hard tonight. But I pushed on...because I believe in structure and because I needed to stress eat from my hidden Milky Way stash.
We did a fun (insane, may-regret-it, shoulda-looked-before-we-jumped) thing today. Last night, I set up the little kids with the FB kids messenger app on their Kindles. So now, they can call or message or send funny pictures to anyone I approve on their list. My logic behind this was that I wanted them to be able to have face time with their buddies and cousins - and I wanted to check in and entertain a few people we know that are on strict lockdown. (Looking at you Busia...) So now they have all their little friends and all our relatives that use the app at the touch of their sticky little fingers. AND THOSE KIDS CAN CALL US. AAAAAAANNNND kids do not know how to have normal phone calls. I went outside for an hour and came back in to thirteen missed messages from just one of my nephews LOL However....my kids loved it, pretty sure all the kids they called loved it as well, and it kept them incredibly entertained. I am going to stick by my original logic and just try and steer them into reading to each other once the novelty wears off in a few days. Feel free to send me a link if you have a kid that would like to chat with my 5 and 7 yr old. One day they can tell their kids how they made new friends over Facebook back in the old days...also, fair warning...my kids do not have the camera angle quite mastered and you will probably see a lot of weird things, including (but not limited to) my triple chin view from 3 ft high people, our cat looking annoyed at the camera in his face, the inside of Baby Girls nostrils, and the collection of plants/garden paraphernalia living all over the house as I pore over weather reports waiting to put them outside.
I spent too much time on Facebook today. I get too worked up about people posting 'calm down' messages that negate all the facts pouring in. I keep trying to do the responsible, adult-y thing and scroll on past, but inevitably I end up commenting RESEARCH FLATTEN THE CURVE! I guess I hope that if they have friends, they will see and wonder what that means and do their own research instead posting a toilet paper meme. Or at least research IN ADDITION to that tp meme. I am using a LOT of capital letters tonight....
Home School went fine today - we cheated a little bit this afternoon since it was so sunny and it is supposed to rain the next few days. But that is allowed. We still stuck with all our basics, reading, and drawing/writing in journals. We did however, add in the FB live feed from the Cincinnati Zoo - and all of us really enjoyed it. They are doing a live feed every day - I think at 3 - from a different exhibit at the zoo. They are all posted so you can watch at a different time, which is how we are doing it. So today we watched the hippo video and tomorrow we will be watching porcupines. By the way, did you know hippos can't swim? I totally did not.
Tomorrow we pick up education packets at the kids' school so that will be new and exciting. It has to be so hard for them to figure out what to send - some kids are home with parents to help, some kids are at a daycare or with family that might not be much help, some kids are on their own with the doors locked. How to create something equal out of such different situations? I am curious to see what kind of things they will have for them to work through. Also, anyone else pretty convinced they won't be going be back until May at the earliest? It will be a big job deciding how to put a school year back together for these kids.
We did a fun (insane, may-regret-it, shoulda-looked-before-we-jumped) thing today. Last night, I set up the little kids with the FB kids messenger app on their Kindles. So now, they can call or message or send funny pictures to anyone I approve on their list. My logic behind this was that I wanted them to be able to have face time with their buddies and cousins - and I wanted to check in and entertain a few people we know that are on strict lockdown. (Looking at you Busia...) So now they have all their little friends and all our relatives that use the app at the touch of their sticky little fingers. AND THOSE KIDS CAN CALL US. AAAAAAANNNND kids do not know how to have normal phone calls. I went outside for an hour and came back in to thirteen missed messages from just one of my nephews LOL However....my kids loved it, pretty sure all the kids they called loved it as well, and it kept them incredibly entertained. I am going to stick by my original logic and just try and steer them into reading to each other once the novelty wears off in a few days. Feel free to send me a link if you have a kid that would like to chat with my 5 and 7 yr old. One day they can tell their kids how they made new friends over Facebook back in the old days...also, fair warning...my kids do not have the camera angle quite mastered and you will probably see a lot of weird things, including (but not limited to) my triple chin view from 3 ft high people, our cat looking annoyed at the camera in his face, the inside of Baby Girls nostrils, and the collection of plants/garden paraphernalia living all over the house as I pore over weather reports waiting to put them outside.
I spent too much time on Facebook today. I get too worked up about people posting 'calm down' messages that negate all the facts pouring in. I keep trying to do the responsible, adult-y thing and scroll on past, but inevitably I end up commenting RESEARCH FLATTEN THE CURVE! I guess I hope that if they have friends, they will see and wonder what that means and do their own research instead posting a toilet paper meme. Or at least research IN ADDITION to that tp meme. I am using a LOT of capital letters tonight....
Home School went fine today - we cheated a little bit this afternoon since it was so sunny and it is supposed to rain the next few days. But that is allowed. We still stuck with all our basics, reading, and drawing/writing in journals. We did however, add in the FB live feed from the Cincinnati Zoo - and all of us really enjoyed it. They are doing a live feed every day - I think at 3 - from a different exhibit at the zoo. They are all posted so you can watch at a different time, which is how we are doing it. So today we watched the hippo video and tomorrow we will be watching porcupines. By the way, did you know hippos can't swim? I totally did not.
Tomorrow we pick up education packets at the kids' school so that will be new and exciting. It has to be so hard for them to figure out what to send - some kids are home with parents to help, some kids are at a daycare or with family that might not be much help, some kids are on their own with the doors locked. How to create something equal out of such different situations? I am curious to see what kind of things they will have for them to work through. Also, anyone else pretty convinced they won't be going be back until May at the earliest? It will be a big job deciding how to put a school year back together for these kids.
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