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
March 24, 2020
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
June 24, 2019
Ahhhhh, summertime once again...
And so it begins.
The long, bright days filled with popsicles and playgrounds, swimsuits and sleepovers, cookouts and camp-outs. Yeah, no, we only do about 1/3 of those things. And I'm actually terrible at math so that figure is probably generous. Or stingy. Whichever.
Summertime is, of course, when the majority of people pack up the ol' Subaru and head to the shore for an eight hour day of family fun memory making. I imagine these people tossing a beach ball or frisbee, eating watermelon wedges, gleefully splashing each other in the waves and laughing the day away. They might stop for ice cream or a quick dinner at the clam shack on the ride home and after showers they pile into a big bed for a movie night complete with popcorn and junior mints. Sounds dreamy.
We do it slightly different over here. First off, if I am even toying with the idea of a beach day I keep that thought to myself for at least three days. That way I can spend a very fair chunk of my time agonizing over every single detail of how this plan could all go down. Do the girls' bathing suits fit properly? Do we need coverups? Does anyone even wear coverups anymore? Can Daisy handle flip flops in the sand? Maybe she should wear water shoes. Yeah, idiot, that's what you bought them for, isn't it? Should we bring the big cooler? I don't even know where their sand toys are. Time to start stalking the beach forecast and tide chart and what about the seaweed factor. Do the beaches have those little bugs like last year? Vomit. What will we bring to eat? Scarlett only eats PB&J so that's just gonna attract all the bees. We need a new umbrella. Am I wearing a bathing suit this year or should I go with my Dickie's jumpsuit?
And so on.
This goes on pretty much right up until we've got the car packed. The girls, just giddy with excitement, have forgotten how LONG they perceive the ride to be. We will all be reminded of that in a short while. Someone will have to pee on the ride down. I will, for sure due to the previously guzzled six cups of coffee, but I'll keep it to myself until we get there. The bathroom is always a fun treat. Daisy touches every single disgusting surface possible and somehow always manages to put her bare ass on each restroom floor that we encounter. Scarlett remains horrified by hand driers so she just bolts the second she shuts the faucet - regardless of who is indisposed. I'm still slightly sketched out by the giant hole toilet but that's a story for another day.
We manage to make our way to the sand - Gregg doing the majority of the lugging but my shoulders are heavy with bags. I always picture John Candy in Summer Rental as we are navigating that beach. Clumsily maneuvering our way around colored sheets and sandcastles. No matter how early we leave the house we are always disappointed by the number of beachgoers who've scored the best spots. Because I've done my homework I know what that tide is up to so we choose an appropriate place to plop. Umbrella in. Blankets down. Chairs positioned. We did it!
Now, the amazingly peaceful and glorious beach days of my youth are so far in that rearview mirror I can hardly smell the Coppertone anymore. When you bring two little girls to the beach you're not sitting in that little sand chair. Not for ten seconds. Surprisingly BOTH girls love to be in the water. They really don't agree on anything so this is pretty amazing. Neither know how to swim so they require an adult at all times. I do remember that as a kid, you couldn't get me out of that water. The "wait thirty minutes after you eat" rule was such torture. I would swim and flip and play in those waves for hours at a time. LOVED the ocean. Now? I'd rather not go thigh deep. The idea of creatures in the sand, pinching and squirming. Nasty seaweed. The possibility of those gross bugs that cling to your skin. And now that we know that the shark population is growing in these parts (YAY!) I'll just enjoy those headlines from my living room chair. I love me a shark but would lose my shit if I saw a fin within a mile of my sea-covered shins. Clutching the hand of a daughter I wade uncomfortably trying not to let on that I'd rather be back at the blanket. Thank God they're still small so we can't go any deeper. The squeals of joy from the girls are hands down the best part of the day. Well, that and the grapes. I'm always so glad I remember to bring grapes. We let the girls splash and play for a bit then try to coax them into making sandcastles so we could possibly sit for a few minutes. That only lasts a minute or two before they realized they've been duped and the water is where its at. Drat.
We spend a few hours that way. Splashing, snacking, swatting horseflies, hitting the restroom etc. Daisy is usually the one to crack first. She starts to let us know in some super fun ways that she is done for the day and we start the joyous task of packing it alllll back up. Why do we even take sand toys? They literally only used one bucket and one cup. Remember this for next year. The chairs are harder to close up, the umbrella doesn't fit back into the cart, wet towels are heavier, sand has grown hotter. The walk back to the car is a real blast. My feet are burning!!! How far is the car?? This is a long walk! Can we get Brickley's? Pleeeeeeease? I'm so hungryyyyyy. Repeated by the two little ones about seventy thousand times. We find the car, shake out our blankets and do our best to dust off the kids before locking and loading them. We ultimately drive to the Brickley's lot which we had planned to do all along but were soured on the idea after all of the "requests." The post ice-cream ride is far worse. Both girls reeeeeeally need a nap but refuse to close an eye. How come the sun is always on MY side??? I'm hottttttttt. I don't want to take a shower. Can we get Del's? Why are we stopped?? What are we having for dinner?
Ahhhh. Home at last. Time to rela... wait, nope. Not yet! Let's first unpack alllll of the sand covered crap, let's clean out the cooler and toss that moist, disgusting trash, let's bathe the two crankiest children on the planet, let's start a load of laundry, let's finally get ourselves cleaned up. NOW it's time to rela... "I'm HUNGRY!!!!!!"
Son of a.
That's the 'beach day' we've had in past years. There was no frisbee tossing. Do people even do that anymore? Or is that from some random '80s Tom Cruise movie? There was no watermelon wedge. There certainly wasn't a movie night because our kids don't like to watch movies and because bedtime could not have come any sooner. Hey, we tried. We got the ice cream and we had some gleeful splashing. I'm not about to do the fractions on that but I guess it was pretty decent after all. Any day now the pleas for a beach day will ring throughout the house. I should probably dust off that bucket and cup.
xo
The long, bright days filled with popsicles and playgrounds, swimsuits and sleepovers, cookouts and camp-outs. Yeah, no, we only do about 1/3 of those things. And I'm actually terrible at math so that figure is probably generous. Or stingy. Whichever.
Summertime is, of course, when the majority of people pack up the ol' Subaru and head to the shore for an eight hour day of family fun memory making. I imagine these people tossing a beach ball or frisbee, eating watermelon wedges, gleefully splashing each other in the waves and laughing the day away. They might stop for ice cream or a quick dinner at the clam shack on the ride home and after showers they pile into a big bed for a movie night complete with popcorn and junior mints. Sounds dreamy.
We do it slightly different over here. First off, if I am even toying with the idea of a beach day I keep that thought to myself for at least three days. That way I can spend a very fair chunk of my time agonizing over every single detail of how this plan could all go down. Do the girls' bathing suits fit properly? Do we need coverups? Does anyone even wear coverups anymore? Can Daisy handle flip flops in the sand? Maybe she should wear water shoes. Yeah, idiot, that's what you bought them for, isn't it? Should we bring the big cooler? I don't even know where their sand toys are. Time to start stalking the beach forecast and tide chart and what about the seaweed factor. Do the beaches have those little bugs like last year? Vomit. What will we bring to eat? Scarlett only eats PB&J so that's just gonna attract all the bees. We need a new umbrella. Am I wearing a bathing suit this year or should I go with my Dickie's jumpsuit?
And so on.
This goes on pretty much right up until we've got the car packed. The girls, just giddy with excitement, have forgotten how LONG they perceive the ride to be. We will all be reminded of that in a short while. Someone will have to pee on the ride down. I will, for sure due to the previously guzzled six cups of coffee, but I'll keep it to myself until we get there. The bathroom is always a fun treat. Daisy touches every single disgusting surface possible and somehow always manages to put her bare ass on each restroom floor that we encounter. Scarlett remains horrified by hand driers so she just bolts the second she shuts the faucet - regardless of who is indisposed. I'm still slightly sketched out by the giant hole toilet but that's a story for another day.
We manage to make our way to the sand - Gregg doing the majority of the lugging but my shoulders are heavy with bags. I always picture John Candy in Summer Rental as we are navigating that beach. Clumsily maneuvering our way around colored sheets and sandcastles. No matter how early we leave the house we are always disappointed by the number of beachgoers who've scored the best spots. Because I've done my homework I know what that tide is up to so we choose an appropriate place to plop. Umbrella in. Blankets down. Chairs positioned. We did it!
Now, the amazingly peaceful and glorious beach days of my youth are so far in that rearview mirror I can hardly smell the Coppertone anymore. When you bring two little girls to the beach you're not sitting in that little sand chair. Not for ten seconds. Surprisingly BOTH girls love to be in the water. They really don't agree on anything so this is pretty amazing. Neither know how to swim so they require an adult at all times. I do remember that as a kid, you couldn't get me out of that water. The "wait thirty minutes after you eat" rule was such torture. I would swim and flip and play in those waves for hours at a time. LOVED the ocean. Now? I'd rather not go thigh deep. The idea of creatures in the sand, pinching and squirming. Nasty seaweed. The possibility of those gross bugs that cling to your skin. And now that we know that the shark population is growing in these parts (YAY!) I'll just enjoy those headlines from my living room chair. I love me a shark but would lose my shit if I saw a fin within a mile of my sea-covered shins. Clutching the hand of a daughter I wade uncomfortably trying not to let on that I'd rather be back at the blanket. Thank God they're still small so we can't go any deeper. The squeals of joy from the girls are hands down the best part of the day. Well, that and the grapes. I'm always so glad I remember to bring grapes. We let the girls splash and play for a bit then try to coax them into making sandcastles so we could possibly sit for a few minutes. That only lasts a minute or two before they realized they've been duped and the water is where its at. Drat.
We spend a few hours that way. Splashing, snacking, swatting horseflies, hitting the restroom etc. Daisy is usually the one to crack first. She starts to let us know in some super fun ways that she is done for the day and we start the joyous task of packing it alllll back up. Why do we even take sand toys? They literally only used one bucket and one cup. Remember this for next year. The chairs are harder to close up, the umbrella doesn't fit back into the cart, wet towels are heavier, sand has grown hotter. The walk back to the car is a real blast. My feet are burning!!! How far is the car?? This is a long walk! Can we get Brickley's? Pleeeeeeease? I'm so hungryyyyyy. Repeated by the two little ones about seventy thousand times. We find the car, shake out our blankets and do our best to dust off the kids before locking and loading them. We ultimately drive to the Brickley's lot which we had planned to do all along but were soured on the idea after all of the "requests." The post ice-cream ride is far worse. Both girls reeeeeeally need a nap but refuse to close an eye. How come the sun is always on MY side??? I'm hottttttttt. I don't want to take a shower. Can we get Del's? Why are we stopped?? What are we having for dinner?
Ahhhh. Home at last. Time to rela... wait, nope. Not yet! Let's first unpack alllll of the sand covered crap, let's clean out the cooler and toss that moist, disgusting trash, let's bathe the two crankiest children on the planet, let's start a load of laundry, let's finally get ourselves cleaned up. NOW it's time to rela... "I'm HUNGRY!!!!!!"
Son of a.
That's the 'beach day' we've had in past years. There was no frisbee tossing. Do people even do that anymore? Or is that from some random '80s Tom Cruise movie? There was no watermelon wedge. There certainly wasn't a movie night because our kids don't like to watch movies and because bedtime could not have come any sooner. Hey, we tried. We got the ice cream and we had some gleeful splashing. I'm not about to do the fractions on that but I guess it was pretty decent after all. Any day now the pleas for a beach day will ring throughout the house. I should probably dust off that bucket and cup.
xo
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