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!

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!

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!

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!

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.

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...

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!

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.

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?

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?

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.

Covid Quarantine: Day One

Ok, so we aren't technically quarantined. I am legally allowed to go out in public. I am also in charge of grubby, germy, face-touching, booger-creating little beings - and am terrified they will infect the world with SOMETHING...so we keep to ourselves.

The husband and I did go to a movie over the weekend, while we were still measuring our response to all this outpouring of data. I opened the doors with my sleeve and maintained six feet of space from all people. We brought our own snacks and didn't touch a counter or a cash register. We sat through "I Still Believe" with one of us crying through half of it (I am not allowed to say which one of us) and enjoyed ourselves. Then we both agreed that was our last public outing until this virus plateaus.

This morning, he left for work and I stayed home with the kids and attempted to work. I have worked from home many times with kids and it is always a struggle. Working from home, while trying to educate my 5 and 7 yr old, AND work is something that is going to have a steep learning curve. We will get there - but not today. Today was mostly checking in, seeing if I could help, touching base with my family that are legitimately at risk, and getting my ducks in some kind of scraggily row.

Today was officially my kids first mandated day off school. Friday I kept them home voluntarily due to a field trip - just didn't think it was worth the risk. I always go with Mommy Gut, glad I did. Last night I wrote myself a loose schedule of what our day should look like. My kids thrive on routine and get crabby and emotional without that structure, so I wanted to start today as I mean to go on. I think that probably goes for all of us, running our days differently than normal. Knowing what comes next is the kind of thing that brings me comfort anyway.

Today we tried an hour and a half of 'school' in the morning and an hour and a half in the afternoon - sticking to basics; memory work, spelling words from sight word lists by grade, math facts, reading, and brain teaser puzzles. I downloaded the Khan Academy for free on my phone and whenever I read with one kid, the other played on my phone - which I never let them do - and that worked well for us. We decided to have daily chess matches so they can attempt to beat me. (Not happening suckers.) Something really neat to come out of this enforced home school is all the resources people keep sharing on Facebook. Tomorrow we are going to add in Mo Willems Lunch Break as 'art class' and the daily video lesson from the Cincinnati Zoo as 'science class'. Both of these look very interesting and my kids won't even see them as educational. Win.

In between, we made sure to get outside and get some sun therapy. We walked around the yard, counting spring bulbs popping up. As awful and scary and uncertain as all this is - what a gift to dawdle in the garden with my kiddos and watch spring pop out day after day. And to get extra cuddles and to play boardgames (you need Moles Rats In Space in your lives people, no matter how old you are) and to binge watch Fuller House in sweatpants with Cheeto dust. We are luckier than most in our situation, in that we could adapt. But we are still feeling that feeling of being cut off, of missing out on what our tribe is doing. We are a social bunch and hanging out in our own little corners is not how we roll. We are all craving a little connectivity, so here is my outlet...back to blogging like before I had kids, right? Any mommas at home in the trenches with good ideas, share with us please! We are all going to need a little help, a little online community, to keep us sane for the next few weeks.