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Tuesday, March 24, 2020

love in the time of covid 19

“He allowed himself to be swayed by his conviction that human beings are not born once and for all on the day their mothers give birth to them, but that life obliges them over and over again to give birth to themselves.”
― Gabriel García Márquez, Love in the Time of Cholera



Yes. I haven't posted in awhile.

You know. Its like.....I don't know.

I have been so busy. SO DAMN BUSY.

My work is busy (hashtag blessed) but so chaotic, unpredictable. Up until two weeks ago I thought nightly I was having a panic attack. One doesn't really blog when one is in such a season. If I did my posts would consist of .....

HEEEELLLLLPPPPP.

And...

AM DYYYYIIIIINNNNGGGGG.


So. I didn't post. Something about the "strong post-divorce mom" vibe makes me feel like its not allowed.

And then.

THIS.

AlL ThIS CrAP...... iS thE WorLD FaLliNg APART?????

FFS.

I just. I can't even.

And now. I AM A HOMESCHOOLING MOM AGAIN.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Oh. The irony.

But also. I have clients. Who expect me to be on two hour conference calls smack in the middle of the day. And. Two university classes. That now have to be adapted to be online. I swear to God I am getting hourly emails from students about this or that technology that isn't working.

Deep Breaths.

I have come here, back again, June apron on, to express/remind myself about healthy homeschool habits in times of transition.

We, my babes and I, have had a shit-ton of transition in the past few years.

And now. THIS.

So. Reminders for you, for me.....pour a class of wine with me. Let us talk.

1) lower your expectations. Ok. Good. Now lower them again. Keep going. THERE. NICE AND LOW.

2) Don't try to pick up the house until the end of the day. Leave the crafty clutter on the table. The legos on the floor (tread carefully). It is POINTLESS TO SHOVEL IN A SNOWSTORM. Unless you are my over achieving neighbors all good Midwestern folk know this. It also applies to the homeschool life.

3) They can do more than you think they can do. Make a list. Put it on the fridge. Even if you don't follow it the idea of a routine is comforting. Let them wash up the lunch dishes. Pair the socks while listening to music. Etc.

4) Play is learning. Build a tower using different kinds of blocks. Is it easy? Hard? Hand them needle, thread, some cloth, and a small doll and let them try sewing. Set up obstacle courses with the furniture (dont YOU do it. LET THEM). Time who is the fastest.

5) Think creatively about what "education" means. Now, I adore the educators in my life, but a lot of days my kids come home from school with 0.25 hours of schooling to talk about and 3.75 hours of social drama to tell me. This applies here too. For instance:
- Math and home economics (child B made spaghetti for dinner. Child C stirred the chocolate chip cookie dough. Child D "helped" by dropping an entire dozen eggs on the floor - yes they all cracked- and yelled about it for 27 minutes)
-Computer skills (All children learned to google, youtube, and etc. from drawing flowers to what ventilators really do)
-Outside nature exploration (GO OUTSIDE. no other instruction required.)
-Extracurricular - photography (Child A discovered his camera still worked and walked around taking pictures for 15 minutes)
-Music (Child B/C/D made up a routine to some pop song, rehearsed it, until Child D claimed his part was not extensive enough and threw a fit and everyone started crying)
-Art exploration (Child B/C/D spent hours digging through old crafty boxes, painting, taping paper airplanes together, taping paper together, coloring said paper, playing with sand, creating flowers to hang on the door, etc. etc. etc)
-Group dynamics, team play and social interaction (All children got all up in each other's faces over and over again and SURVIVED)
-Social skills/etiquette (Child D was reminded, firmly, that screaming about going poop when Mom is on a client call is not polite)
-Health and cleanliness (this one is a given)
-Physical education. (GO OUTSIDE. no other instruction required.)
-Current Events (Child A spent much too much time on reddit reading pandemic news)

See. Leave out all the remarks in parentheses and TADA, you are a bonafide HOMESCHOOL PRO.

You are welcome.

Seriously though. Parents. Be easy on yourself. Be easy on your kids. Mine are looking for more hugs. We are reading a book at night together again, Mama has been too tired to do that. I sit up late with teenager watching his dorky humor shows (yes, with laptop open). Take a nap with your toddler. Plant some flowers to get ready for spring.

This is tough. Yo. BUT SO ARE WE, DAMMIT.

Love you all.
-Sara









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