Hello again. How are you feeling on this gloomy Monday? We've just been told about the schools being closed through April, but we pretty much knew that was coming. We are doing ok over here. The girls' school work is becoming a bit easier to sort and maintain. We've designated certain areas for work to be done, finished work and a place for all of the daily school supplies needed. They both seem to have accepted that this is how things are for now. We are all doing our best to make everything feel as normal as possible. Abnormally normal. Counting our blessings every day!
It was a pretty good weekend here. Very productive yet restful and quiet. We listened to the new Pearl Jam album which I like a lot, made a nice Italian meal and got outside a bit. Capped it all off with a pretty decent thunderstorm last night that had Rummy (our cat) and Scarlett on edge. She tried to play it cool like the thunder was "distracting her" from her nightly reading but I got her number. I also started watching Castle Rock which I was sucked into from the start. I lovvvve Stephen King and I feel like I've been waiting for something like this since I was ten. Looking forward to ending each night with an eerie little episode or two. Check it out if you haven't already and are into that sort of thing.
Oh, wonderful! Daisy just broke up the day by renting two My Little Pony movies from the Fire Stick. Thanks, Dais! I felt like pissing away $10 and fooling with the parental control settings this afternoon. Worth noting: there are at least seventeen thousand other My Little Pony movies that she could've viewed for zip. Upside? She's actually watching the movie and being still.
I guess I'll end here for today. I hope you are all adjusting and finding this week to be less stressful and a little more easy going. Keep a positive attitude, look for the silver linings, hug a care bear or whatever. Just don't let it get you way down. It's not forever!
xo
March 30, 2020
March 24, 2020
Tomorrow we're starting fresh!
Well, here we are. Day 7 of home schooling. I'd say it's going as expected. There are a lot of emails. A lot of assignments. There's a lot of searching for a pencil with an eraser. Followed by a lot of searching for an eraser. (Didn't we all buy like thirty pink erasers at the beginning of the school year?! I bet they're all piled up in an old vitamin container in Scarlett's room). There are lessons in not coloring with a highlighter. Repetitive teaching moments showing Daisy how to properly hold her scissors. There's a lot of running from the bedroom to help Scarlett on the computer to the dining room to explain worksheets to Daisy and back again. There is some regret over not having a laptop... or an iPad. Some pondering over whether to buy another whole bunch of school supplies. Agonizing over whether I'm driving them too hard or not pushing enough. A bunch of complaining ... by all of us, ultimately ending up in OK, we are done for today, go outside and run around!
Pause. Take a breather. Regroup. Watch them play. Laughing on the swings. Running around the yard. Falling down the hill. Throwing gravel. Some yelling. Oh, Daisy's crying. She's hit her head again. We blow her nose and back she goes. It was after this that I saw an opportunity to put a little patch on our day. I went outside with a tennis ball and the three of us played catch for forty minutes. I expected maybe ten or fifteen but they were so engaged they just wanted to keep at it! I was more than happy to play, it was one of my favorite things to do when I was a kid. We will certainly be adding more activities like that into our curriculum.
These days have been challenging but after the tense moments I remind myself that this is difficult. It's difficult for everyone. The stress of what is going on in the world is enough to wear us down mentally. Adding new mandatory tasks and routines creates extra tension. Our children, who may seem like nothing is worrying them, are trying to figure out their new normal. Why can't they leave the house? Why aren't they allowed back at school? Why can't they see their grandparents? When can they play with their friends again? Why the hell are they constantly wearing pajamas!? How LONG is this going to last? The answers aren't easy for any of us to hear. I'm sure it's all taking a toll on their fragile minds. Scarlett is a deep over-thinker, a bit of an anxious kid, and she's quiet about it. (Until about 9:20 pm when she's ready to host a two hour interview about my childhood). So, tomorrow we are going a bit easier. We will get all of the work done but without the rigidness. I will try harder to not let my stress level spill out in the form of sighs. I will try to channel the patience of a teacher. I'll probably eat more Cadbury mini eggs. Those are on my list of "essentials" with good reason. I vow to better plan our day to cut back on whatever is making it feel like a rusted out roller coaster track with that one cart in which the seat belt was cut clean off.
We will alllllll figure it out! It's going to be just fine in the end. That's a fact.
You can always feel free to vent to me about your stressful days, we are in it together, friends! Keep going!
xo
Pause. Take a breather. Regroup. Watch them play. Laughing on the swings. Running around the yard. Falling down the hill. Throwing gravel. Some yelling. Oh, Daisy's crying. She's hit her head again. We blow her nose and back she goes. It was after this that I saw an opportunity to put a little patch on our day. I went outside with a tennis ball and the three of us played catch for forty minutes. I expected maybe ten or fifteen but they were so engaged they just wanted to keep at it! I was more than happy to play, it was one of my favorite things to do when I was a kid. We will certainly be adding more activities like that into our curriculum.
These days have been challenging but after the tense moments I remind myself that this is difficult. It's difficult for everyone. The stress of what is going on in the world is enough to wear us down mentally. Adding new mandatory tasks and routines creates extra tension. Our children, who may seem like nothing is worrying them, are trying to figure out their new normal. Why can't they leave the house? Why aren't they allowed back at school? Why can't they see their grandparents? When can they play with their friends again? Why the hell are they constantly wearing pajamas!? How LONG is this going to last? The answers aren't easy for any of us to hear. I'm sure it's all taking a toll on their fragile minds. Scarlett is a deep over-thinker, a bit of an anxious kid, and she's quiet about it. (Until about 9:20 pm when she's ready to host a two hour interview about my childhood). So, tomorrow we are going a bit easier. We will get all of the work done but without the rigidness. I will try harder to not let my stress level spill out in the form of sighs. I will try to channel the patience of a teacher. I'll probably eat more Cadbury mini eggs. Those are on my list of "essentials" with good reason. I vow to better plan our day to cut back on whatever is making it feel like a rusted out roller coaster track with that one cart in which the seat belt was cut clean off.
We will alllllll figure it out! It's going to be just fine in the end. That's a fact.
You can always feel free to vent to me about your stressful days, we are in it together, friends! Keep going!
xo
March 22, 2020
Hello again!
Hi friends!
I just blew the dust off of this old blog! It's been a WHILE... and to be honest, I've been sitting here for over 20 minutes trying to figure out how to change up the formatting a bit and I've had zero success. Haha. Blogger has changed quite a bit since my last go. Also I've forgotten how some of these things work in my older age. SO, until I feel like renovating the entire thing we will just continue in the old familiar. You all couldn't care less about a font choice anyway, right? (Why is it so small?? Ohhhhh, because my eyesight has also changed quite a bit since my last go).
So... WHAT'S NEW??
You can feel my smirk I'll bet.
Ugh. I'm assuming the lot of you are reading this from the comfort of your home. You know, what with the Global Pandemic and such. I hope you are all faring well during these insane times. We are holding it down over here. Gregg is still working at this time and I am home with the two young'ns. They are both missing school much more than I would've ever thought! Scarlett received school work all week long and I made sure that Daisy had a few daily worksheets to keep her from feeling left out. She is getting her REAL school work tomorrow. And so we begin our new temporary normal.
I give so much credit to all of our amazing teachers who, in a pinch, figured out how to make virtual learning readily and easily available to all. Well done! I also want to thank every single healthcare worker, grocery/retail/restaurant worker, first responder and anyone who isn't sitting in a recliner right now due to playing a necessary part in keeping our world moving. Forever grateful.
All that being said... I'm feeling a little strange these days. Can't fully explain it. Not scared. Not really sad, although the thought of missing some special events and days - like my father's upcoming 70th birthday, Easter dinner with the family and Scarlett's first communion have me a bit deflated. Last week was an ANXIOUS time. I read way too many articles about Covid-19 (so I could sift through them all and figure out what I believe to be the real deal) and was setting up online schoolwork for Scarlett, trying to make the girls' days feel somewhat normal while passing out snacks every thirteen seconds and coming up with new crafts and new couch forts. I marveled over the fact that toilet paper was sold out across the country because some people are straight insane. I worried about limited trips to the grocery store and all of these small businesses that will have no choice but to close their doors. I was suddenly thrust into a world of Zoom lessons and Face Time sessions. All of which make me incredibly uncomfortable. I realize these are great options to keep socialization going... but I also realize my level of social participation has declined some over the years! These new orders asking the public to stay home made it crystal clear to me that I am very, very, very good at being home. I spent fifteen straight years spending the least amount of time at home as humanly possible - only to have children and realize home is the bees knees. Don't get me wrong, I do love sitting around a table with friends and a couple of drinks, listening to music and laughing for hours. But those nights are few and far between and I actually LIKE it that way. I think it makes me appreciate those times even more! I find myself often making plans and then when the day comes I almost DREAD it. That sounds so awful, I know. I guess I've become a true introvert. Or maybe I've always been an introvert but didn't realize it due to the amount of alcohol I consumed in my younger years. Who's to say? Nowadays, I'm a gal who enjoys her leggings and beat up "house hoodies," ambient light and The Golden Girls on the screen. That is how I unwind at the end of the day. Not quite a hermit yet... but a lot closer to an 80 year old than I would've guessed I'd be at this point. I do fill a lot of my time with independent, yet enriching activities. Graphic design, creative writing and playing guitar. It's this trio that has transformed my life and given me such a satisfied soul. You know when you feel like something is missing? I found what was missing. And I now do those things as much as possible.
One last thing I would like to share...
I MIGHT loathe You Tube toy videos even more than a tuna sandwich. And man do I hate tuna. WHO STARTED THESE VIDEOS!?!?!?!! The voice that I hear coming out of that television right now??? Stop. Just STOP IT. Why do my children want to WATCH some kooky-ass lady, who probably has an Apple Brown Betty burning in the oven, unwrap and play with little figures and playsets!?!?!?! It is maddening!!!!
Anyway, I hope you all find things that satisfy your soul in these uncertain times...
Stay well, friends!
xo
I just blew the dust off of this old blog! It's been a WHILE... and to be honest, I've been sitting here for over 20 minutes trying to figure out how to change up the formatting a bit and I've had zero success. Haha. Blogger has changed quite a bit since my last go. Also I've forgotten how some of these things work in my older age. SO, until I feel like renovating the entire thing we will just continue in the old familiar. You all couldn't care less about a font choice anyway, right? (Why is it so small?? Ohhhhh, because my eyesight has also changed quite a bit since my last go).
So... WHAT'S NEW??
You can feel my smirk I'll bet.
Ugh. I'm assuming the lot of you are reading this from the comfort of your home. You know, what with the Global Pandemic and such. I hope you are all faring well during these insane times. We are holding it down over here. Gregg is still working at this time and I am home with the two young'ns. They are both missing school much more than I would've ever thought! Scarlett received school work all week long and I made sure that Daisy had a few daily worksheets to keep her from feeling left out. She is getting her REAL school work tomorrow. And so we begin our new temporary normal.
I give so much credit to all of our amazing teachers who, in a pinch, figured out how to make virtual learning readily and easily available to all. Well done! I also want to thank every single healthcare worker, grocery/retail/restaurant worker, first responder and anyone who isn't sitting in a recliner right now due to playing a necessary part in keeping our world moving. Forever grateful.
All that being said... I'm feeling a little strange these days. Can't fully explain it. Not scared. Not really sad, although the thought of missing some special events and days - like my father's upcoming 70th birthday, Easter dinner with the family and Scarlett's first communion have me a bit deflated. Last week was an ANXIOUS time. I read way too many articles about Covid-19 (so I could sift through them all and figure out what I believe to be the real deal) and was setting up online schoolwork for Scarlett, trying to make the girls' days feel somewhat normal while passing out snacks every thirteen seconds and coming up with new crafts and new couch forts. I marveled over the fact that toilet paper was sold out across the country because some people are straight insane. I worried about limited trips to the grocery store and all of these small businesses that will have no choice but to close their doors. I was suddenly thrust into a world of Zoom lessons and Face Time sessions. All of which make me incredibly uncomfortable. I realize these are great options to keep socialization going... but I also realize my level of social participation has declined some over the years! These new orders asking the public to stay home made it crystal clear to me that I am very, very, very good at being home. I spent fifteen straight years spending the least amount of time at home as humanly possible - only to have children and realize home is the bees knees. Don't get me wrong, I do love sitting around a table with friends and a couple of drinks, listening to music and laughing for hours. But those nights are few and far between and I actually LIKE it that way. I think it makes me appreciate those times even more! I find myself often making plans and then when the day comes I almost DREAD it. That sounds so awful, I know. I guess I've become a true introvert. Or maybe I've always been an introvert but didn't realize it due to the amount of alcohol I consumed in my younger years. Who's to say? Nowadays, I'm a gal who enjoys her leggings and beat up "house hoodies," ambient light and The Golden Girls on the screen. That is how I unwind at the end of the day. Not quite a hermit yet... but a lot closer to an 80 year old than I would've guessed I'd be at this point. I do fill a lot of my time with independent, yet enriching activities. Graphic design, creative writing and playing guitar. It's this trio that has transformed my life and given me such a satisfied soul. You know when you feel like something is missing? I found what was missing. And I now do those things as much as possible.
One last thing I would like to share...
I MIGHT loathe You Tube toy videos even more than a tuna sandwich. And man do I hate tuna. WHO STARTED THESE VIDEOS!?!?!?!! The voice that I hear coming out of that television right now??? Stop. Just STOP IT. Why do my children want to WATCH some kooky-ass lady, who probably has an Apple Brown Betty burning in the oven, unwrap and play with little figures and playsets!?!?!?! It is maddening!!!!
Anyway, I hope you all find things that satisfy your soul in these uncertain times...
Stay well, friends!
xo
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