How can I complain, it was a non-school day? Only now, after nearly 3 weeks of this new normal (or has it been 4 weeks?), can I clearly see how much more difficult, stressful and draining the weekdays are. It is probably pointless to lament about this, because it's not like I have any choice in the matter. Unless we want to become a bunch of loser primary school dropouts,, which I’ll admit, is tempting, I just have to soldier on for the next 2 1/2 months as an imposter teacher. I understand that this pandemic situation is stressful for everyone in our country and in the world, especially those exposed to it on a daily basis, or worse yet, those who have fallen ill. But for those of us just following the stay-at- home orders and trying to do our best to flatten the curve, as we have been asked, I am realizing how much this homeschooling piece of it is adding to the overall stress-level, of an already stressful life-situation. Enough of my ranting about homeschooling. I wish I could say it was going to be my last rant, but we all know that’s not true. I arrived back from my walk this morning, a short time before it was time for Garin’s highly anticipated and much-dreaded math quiz. He is actually a math wiz, but he is not a distance-learning wiz, so that was the hang-up. I was a nervous wreck before he logged in to take his test. We had a nice chat, I tried to allay his worries and then off he went to the dining room to take his test. He did great, or so we hope. We were all on pins and needles for the 40 minutes he was taking the exam. I kept hushing everyone so that he could concentrate. I was also listening for any sign of distress from that room, so that I could run in and be of assistance. I only got two summons and they were for minor technical questions (yes, our resident I.T. expert was consulting tech-dummy Mommy for advice). I did my best to help and then it was quiet. Once that was over, we could get on with our day and that we did. Today was mostly dedicated to Granny. The kids worked diligently on their homemade cards and projects for her for her birthday, which was yesterday. Garin made the most phenomenal cake box, from a recycled Target box. He had called Granny to query her on all her favorites: Favorite ice cream (butter pecan), favorite dessert (cheescake), favorite flower (sunflower), favorite jam/jelly (orange marmalade), favorite fruit (watermelon), and favorite color (purple). He went on to create the most gorgeous box, depicting all her “favorites,” mostly made from colored construction paper and then affixed to the box. He decorated the inside elaborately and also wrote her a beautiful love note, which he put on the front. Think of a Rose Parade float and you’ll get a sense of what it looked like (I forgot to take a photo before delivering it - ugh!). He spent countless hours on it, starting last evening. While he did that, Catherine, Graham, Miles and I, worked tirelessly in the kitchen to bake her goodies, to put inside his box. We made two loaves of banana walnut bread and also a batch of walnut brownie cookies. The house smelled divine. We took a lunch break and also worked on Catheirne’s speech therapy exercises, for what seemed like hours. Garin tutored Miles on his alphabet, which went fairly well, for a while at least. Around 4, we finally got to escape the house and headed out in front to ride bikes, scooters, etc., while I updated my instagram page (at least I am admitting to it, so no judging). While we were outside, Christmas came early. Our neighbors, The Gold’s, came driving up. It was Max and Sydney. They stopped in front of our house and I couldn’t figure out what was going on. These days, people don’t just drop by, right? A few minutes later, Max hopped out of the car and dropped 6 bottles of hand sanitizer on our driveway. I thought I was dreaming. I jumped up and started calling for the kids to come over and see. All of us were jumping up and down with excitement. It’s a crazy world we’re living in when your neighbors are dropping off bottles of hand sanitizer as gifts and you’re overjoyed by it. It’s the small things, I keep saying…. Stay safe and stay well.
How can I complain, it was a non-school day? Only now, after nearly 3 weeks of this new normal (or has it been 4 weeks?), can I clearly see how much more difficult, stressful and draining the weekdays are. It is probably pointless to lament about this, because it's not like I have any choice in the matter. Unless we want to become a bunch of loser primary school dropouts,, which I’ll admit, is tempting, I just have to soldier on for the next 2 1/2 months as an imposter teacher. I understand that this pandemic situation is stressful for everyone in our country and in the world, especially those exposed to it on a daily basis, or worse yet, those who have fallen ill. But for those of us just following the stay-at- home orders and trying to do our best to flatten the curve, as we have been asked, I am realizing how much this homeschooling piece of it is adding to the overall stress-level, of an already stressful life-situation. Enough of my ranting about homeschooling. I wish I could say it was going to be my last rant, but we all know that’s not true. I arrived back from my walk this morning, a short time before it was time for Garin’s highly anticipated and much-dreaded math quiz. He is actually a math wiz, but he is not a distance-learning wiz, so that was the hang-up. I was a nervous wreck before he logged in to take his test. We had a nice chat, I tried to allay his worries and then off he went to the dining room to take his test. He did great, or so we hope. We were all on pins and needles for the 40 minutes he was taking the exam. I kept hushing everyone so that he could concentrate. I was also listening for any sign of distress from that room, so that I could run in and be of assistance. I only got two summons and they were for minor technical questions (yes, our resident I.T. expert was consulting tech-dummy Mommy for advice). I did my best to help and then it was quiet. Once that was over, we could get on with our day and that we did. Today was mostly dedicated to Granny. The kids worked diligently on their homemade cards and projects for her for her birthday, which was yesterday. Garin made the most phenomenal cake box, from a recycled Target box. He had called Granny to query her on all her favorites: Favorite ice cream (butter pecan), favorite dessert (cheescake), favorite flower (sunflower), favorite jam/jelly (orange marmalade), favorite fruit (watermelon), and favorite color (purple). He went on to create the most gorgeous box, depicting all her “favorites,” mostly made from colored construction paper and then affixed to the box. He decorated the inside elaborately and also wrote her a beautiful love note, which he put on the front. Think of a Rose Parade float and you’ll get a sense of what it looked like (I forgot to take a photo before delivering it - ugh!). He spent countless hours on it, starting last evening. While he did that, Catherine, Graham, Miles and I, worked tirelessly in the kitchen to bake her goodies, to put inside his box. We made two loaves of banana walnut bread and also a batch of walnut brownie cookies. The house smelled divine. We took a lunch break and also worked on Catheirne’s speech therapy exercises, for what seemed like hours. Garin tutored Miles on his alphabet, which went fairly well, for a while at least. Around 4, we finally got to escape the house and headed out in front to ride bikes, scooters, etc., while I updated my instagram page (at least I am admitting to it, so no judging). While we were outside, Christmas came early. Our neighbors, The Gold’s, came driving up. It was Max and Sydney. They stopped in front of our house and I couldn’t figure out what was going on. These days, people don’t just drop by, right? A few minutes later, Max hopped out of the car and dropped 6 bottles of hand sanitizer on our driveway. I thought I was dreaming. I jumped up and started calling for the kids to come over and see. All of us were jumping up and down with excitement. It’s a crazy world we’re living in when your neighbors are dropping off bottles of hand sanitizer as gifts and you’re overjoyed by it. It’s the small things, I keep saying…. Stay safe and stay well.
Graham helping Miles mash the bananas for the banana bread.
Catherine and Graham continuing to work on the banana bread.
Catherine and Miles tending to the mixer with all the ingredients for the brownie cookies.
Graham holding up a handmade sign he made, “I love you Mommy,” it says.
Our Walnut-Brownie Cookies.
Our Banana-Nut Bread.
Working on Miles’ alphabet with him.
Miles riding his big boy bike in the driveway.
Moments after the much-lauded hand sanitizer arrived!
Take-out Italian food from one of our local favorites. Mommy didn’t have to cook dinner and it was only our third time having pizza this week.
Ice Cream Sundaes with our homemade chocolate cookies on the side. Yummy!
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