Two weeks have gone by since we started staying home.
In that time, we have had some great moments and some difficult ones. As I
think on it, it hasn’t been all that bad. We have had to change so much about
our daily lives but at the same time we have adjusted pretty well.
Not spending time with friends and family in person has
been taken over by using various apps like Zoom to hang out virtually. In those
moments and on the phone, I have found that everyone is having the same
struggles. The amount of stress in being thrown together 24-7, the need to be
social, the amount of dishes everyone is suddenly faced with, suddenly becoming
your children’s teacher with no experience in teaching, finding motivation to
do any work, the difficulty in not being able to have and do things that were routine,
the worry and fear about this unknown sickness, those are universal. And by
universal, I mean people around the world are all yearning for the same things.
Whether my friends reside in Italy, China, South America, or the US, everyone
misses their normal lives.
Dinner with friends who are like family. Lapio, Italy
So too, the good stuff is universal. The projects you
suddenly have time to actually finish (not just start), the cleaning out and
organizing, the memories being made, and the precious time together with your
nuclear family are immeasurable in their benefit.
Yesterday was so very fruitful. I did so much work that hadn’t gotten done in the past two years. It felt glorious! It was also exhausting. As I looked at writing this Log yesterday, I was overwhelmed and so Mark stepped up to help me. I hope that when someone reads this, they see that it is good to acknowledge when you aren’t able to do something and how good it is for someone to step in and take care of it. On that note, I am thinking I may only write 3 or 4 of these a week as I am able because, believe it or not I have a lot to do!
Playing with friends in Italy.
Today I came to a conclusion
(or rather something like a conclusion) about homeschooling the boys. As I see
it, nearly every child in America (and much of the world) is missing most or
all of this quarter of school. They are largely being taught by well meaning
parents who have no clue what they are doing. I am fairly certain in some areas
of school Mark and I are not teaching things correctly. That leads me to think
it is stupid for me to teach my kids something that has to be un-taught and then
re-taught later by their capable, professional, and intelligent teachers. Some aspects
I am able to help them through and others cause so much anxiety and uproar that
it is unhealthy for our family.
Finding the motivation to work in a (much) less than ideal learning environment is another issue. The Illinois State Board of Education has stated that students’ grades should not be hindered by their work coming from this period of time. So why then are we doing this? Obviously, I don’t want my kids falling far behind and some things can be learned (at least cursorily) simply from reading a textbook but if it is causing undue strife in an already stressful situation is it really benefitting them? Would it not be as beneficial to teach my kids math by making a recipe and trying to figure out how to double it or triple it? Wouldn’t this time be just as well spent putting what they already know into practical application? Shouldn’t their English class be journaling about what it is like to live through Quarantine? Wouldn’t it be a great lesson to show them how capable they are of taking what they have learned and putting it into practice? This is all taken from the standpoint of having a 7th grader and a 3rd grader. I am sure if they were in high school, I would feel differently. But in the end, why are we spending so much time getting so very little done and causing (something akin to) agony when we could be focused on teaching life lessons, instilling or reinforcing confidence and capability?
I just laid down some heavy stuff so, here are some flowers to brighten things. Paris, France.
Today, for homeschool I
wrote out a list of questions for each of the boys to answer to gain their
deeper thoughts on life in Quarantine. I have asked them to answer one or two
each day. Liam has to answer in 1-3 sentences and Caleb has to answer in 3-5. I
think their putting to paper what they know and understand, love and hate about
this is far more important than answering questions 1-10.
Please don’t think badly of
me for asking such questions, it is simply where I am at right now. Education
has always been a priority in our home. We wouldn’t have taken our children to
50+ countries if we didn’t value learning. Mark is a professor—professors don’t
just value education they are education just like my kids’ teachers. He and
I are constantly studying something. We read ridiculous amounts of books. But winging
homeschooling seems like a lesson in failure to me today. I love and appreciate
my boys’ teachers. They work hard for pennies, they put thought and care into
the lessons they prepare. But I am incapable of taking over their duties with
any kind of confidence and my letting them down seems to be what this is set up
to do.
Learning to work the bellows for blacksmithing with the Datoga in Tanzania.
I am grateful for the time
we have had together to learn more about one another, to make memories, to
laugh with one another and to rely on one another. I am grateful for the opportunity
to do things which would not be done and only serve to weigh me down with guilt.
I am grateful that I can stay home and help defeat the spread of the
covid-cooties.
We have had a great day! Praise God for small miracles.
Here is how it went…
I woke up to a world of fog. I love fog, I love it so
much I should move to London. Our skies have been a blanket of grey for days
and days. But the grey of fog I enjoy. So, when I saw that I was happy. Living
in Illinois can be pretty colorless much of the year—everything goes beige and
grey. Those colors are difficult for me. The fog however, leaves much scope for
the imagination.
Fog leaves much scope for the imagination. ala Anne of Green Gables
Mark and I took a long walk then worked out. I made
breakfast and in doing so, realized a lot of my angst about the lack of
cleanliness in my house comes directly from the number of dishes I am doing every
day. Seriously, I run the dishwasher every night and hand wash at least 2 sinks-full
of dishes every day. Pinpointing a cause is the first step to fixing a problem.
After my great epiphany I vacuumed and mopped; clean
floors always cheer me up. It is incredible how much more quickly things get
dirty with 4 people and a dog at home 24-7. I kept thinking I am like a frontier
woman, I cook, wash dishes, clean, teach the boys then repeat the process again
until the ages of ages I just need some chickens and a goat. It felt so good to
get a lot done in a short amount of time. And Liam helped with the mopping. He
absolutely loves to mop. I have to go back over some spots but, for an 8yo, he
is pretty good at it.
In Dory’s voice, just keep washing, just keep washing.
Both boys got to work at a decent hour and did their
work diligently! I have nothing more to say about this for fear I will jinx it
so, mums the word.
My online groceries came. It is sad and pathetic how
exciting this was for me. It was a good experience though. The woman who was
doing the shopping in store texted me throughout the process and I was able to
add a couple of things and edit things that were unavailable etc. She was super
nice. I needed new dishwashing gloves and they were all out because apparently those
were bought out by the apocalypse pandemic hoarders. (I really dislike those
people. If you are staying home you don’t need ALL the gloves nor all the
toilet paper, all the paper towels, all the Lysol, all the Clorox wipes, and
all the hand sanitizer!) Anywho, she gave me a pair of her extra gloves since
mine had a hole in them. What a kind gesture, people really are good. Except
the hoarders.
The boys played Jenga outside once the sun came out (did I mention that? The sun came out!!) and we all took a long family walk. That was fun until the boys started tackling one another in random people’s yards (for fun, not fighting) and Liam ‘broke his knee joint’ and proceeded to fake cry the whole way home. Our neighbors (whom we have literally seen 5x in the 6 years we have lived here) were staring at us with saucer eyes. Super. If it had been any other neighbors they would have laughed because they know our kids then they would have offered us a beer. Which we would kindly decline because that is probably not approved of in the social-distancing handbook. Just kidding, there isn’t a handbook, that I know of. We got home and Liam decided what he really needed was a nap. Will wonders ever cease?
Today is both the Annunciation and Greek Independence
Day. Things that would normally have been celebrated at church with many other
families. I missed that. So, I am making my Yiayia’s Greek style chicken (yes,
it is Lent and I am not supposed to be eating the meat but, Quarantine). I plan
on having a glass of warm Raki with honey and chamomile tea tonight to celebrate
that part of my heritage.
We are such a nice well behaved family. Athens, Greece
Today also would have been the day I started booking
our accommodations in Greece for this summer. I had such plans! We would stay
in Chania for 5 days or so then venture to Caleb’s godmother’s family home in
the country. After a couple days there, Mark would have headed to Austria to teach
and the boys and I were going to my Papoo’s village. I am the 8th
generation to sleep in the family house. I want my children to experience roots
like that. I am hoping all of that will happen eventually. Our summer was just
packed with family and friends and a couple new countries to visit. Now, I have
no idea what it will be. But it will be summer and that is enough.
Mark has been productive as always and wonderfully
supportive. You learn a lot about your spouse throughout your marriage. Mark
and I have spent so many days traveling with only one another to rely on, this
hiccup isn’t really all that different. Well, the scenery is but, we are
handling it pretty well. There are frustrations and sometimes we lose it a
little but we are good. Even if there are still 20 action figures on my fireplace
mantle.
He is my favorite. Somewhere in Aruba.
Tonight, we have a Live Stream which I always enjoy.
It is really great to be able to be in touch with people from around the world.
One thing I find in our Live streams is the amount of support between our
followers. That support and comradery is stronger and more pronounced than
ever! We mourn together, we are triumphant together and we will all get through
this trial together.
If I can get one good day a week like this, I think I can
continue on with the Quarantine indefinitely without having to be sent to the
funny farm.
Too many emails, relatively happy kids, a rocking
boat, piles of things to be grateful for, too much electronic input, and a
messy house, online groceries and those without groceries. Those are my
thoughts today.
OMGEE! I cannot take all the emails. I cannot keep them straight. About 40% of the stuff in my Inbox this week is needless communications from various businesses I have bought something from in the last oh, 20 years or so. Y’all, just stop for a minute! You are really bugging me. I realize many businesses are struggling right now. The economic impact of this pandemic and subsequent shut down is immense. But could you just please hold off for about 10 days until I can get my feet under me? Then send me all the emails you want.
The onslaught of unnecessary emails is really Bugging me,
I really have to focus on the other 60% because
they are almost entirely from my children’s teachers. Oh, these poor teachers.
Can you imagine how hard it is for them to get all their lesson plans changed
for an online class? Setting up Google Classroom, finding links to videos that
are pertinent and appropriate to grade and age levels? Knowing all the while we
parents will do our best but likely fail miserably? And they will be there to
pick up the pieces when our children go back to school. They are working
overtime and for them I am grateful.
After school time yesterday I thought I had only
missed one email. Bahahaha, I had missed several. I thought we were cruising
on smooth waters but today this boat was definitely rocking. It’s not leaking
yet but we have hit some choppy water by missing assignments and kids rushing
to get done to play video games etc. To alleviate some of that chop, Mark and I
decided there will be no electronics this week until after school ends on
Friday. We have hesitated on this because electronics are the only way our kids
can be social right now. Maybe we will allow them some FaceTime or Zoom in the
evenings in a day or two but, for now, we need them to focus. I say that as my
ADD hits 120 mph. Anyway, I have thus far chickened out on laying down this mandate.
I just don’t want the drama. Pray for me my friends, it may blow an eardrum or
two.
The branches on this Bilbao Tree are what my brain feel like right now.
Despite all the changes and lack of outside human
interaction both boys are relatively happy. I wonder if that is due in part to
our constant travels. In an average year we as a family spend about 14 weeks on
the road, usually abroad. The boys have come to rely on one another for
companionship in a way most siblings don’t. They are often the only kids in a
given place. When we are around other kids it is usually for brief visits. I am incredibly grateful they are as close as
they are.
The boys at our favorite restaurant in Montmartre.
Twice in the past week Liam has shed a tear or two in
worry over the health of his grandparents. He knows they are at higher risk for
CoVid than the rest of us due to their being, well, grandparent age. We calm
his fears as best we can. But it is difficult. Caleb however, always finds a
way to take Liam’s mind off things in a way we can’t. They have built a nest
and a pillow fort and have acted out a book they read together. I fell asleep
the other night to the sound of laughter. Mark waited to sleep until the boys
did…he stayed up far too late doing so. But dang, does that make this Mama
happy.
School today was different. We started even later than
yesterday. Caleb is working on all of his subjects every day. Liam decided to
finish the whole weeks’ worth of Math today and continue to focus on one
subject each day. This is the glory of homeschooling. It is interesting to see
them find what works best for them. They still took their breaks, practicing for
the Fungi Olympics—you know where you sit and become mold-like. I pushed Liam
to do a kickboxing workout with me today. That was great fun for about 10 mins.
Then he decided it would be ‘math’ if he just sat down and counted my reps for
me. Fungi.
My house is a mess. I should just come to grips with that for the next couple weeks, months…does anyone have any clue what timeframe we are looking at here? Anyway, it is a mess and I should just suck it up and love the mess because it means my family is here and active and healthy. But I am not very good at that. Why can’t people just actually get the garbage in the garbage can? If you have to step over something 16 times in one day why don’t you just pick it up? How many action figures does Mark really need to have out at one time? Yes, Mark. He is using them as ‘Easter Eggs’ in his videos for his students to make it more fun. But really it is just an excuse for him to play with them like it is 1986.
This is the state of my mantle right now.
I drove my virtual shopping cart around Meijer today.
It was actually kinda fun. I made a game of it. I tried to order things according
to my usual shopping pattern. Every time I go to the grocery store, I have a
very specific pattern of navigating the store so as to get what I need while
avoiding the sections I get sucked into. Do other people do that? Well, it
helped me remember that I needed dish gloves. And yes, I use gloves when I wash
dishes. Madge ain’t got nothin on me! Am I the only person who remembers Madge
and her dishpan hands?
Photo credit, The Dollar Stretcher
I spent an hour or so sewing a shower curtain for the
children’s bathroom for which I bought fabric a year ago. I got the big parts started
and then realized I need another curtain rod. Shoot, I should have ordered that
from Meijer! It felt good to do something creative. I need to pull out some
paints and things and do more of that. I really should be using my time home
more wisely.
My sewing project for the week.
In all the mundane things I did today I thought about how very lucky I am to be home with my three little pigs, safe and sound. I know that while I am worrying about how I am going to get my kids to do all their school work there are many mothers out there worrying about how they will feed their kids now that school is closed. Mark and I are working on something to support our local foodbank. I imagine all our foodbanks are going to be catering to more people than usual. We need to keep our eyes on one another and do what we can where we can. I am going to spend some time this week working on that…
Last night after we put the kids to bed Mark and I
talked about what we thought today would look like. I was full of trepidation
and assumed that if I was, the boys would be too. I buried the desire to start
with a mimosa (not that I even have the makings for one) and instead decided to
start with a fancy breakfast and some humor. I kept thinking it would be really
funny to walk in to the ‘classroom’ dressed at Miss Trunchbull.
Pam Ferris as Miss Trunchbull. Photo credit, TriStar Pictures
I got up early, showered and tried on four outfits
before settling on one. Then I got to work on that fancy breakfast. The thing
is, I am not going to the grocery very often and my supplies are limited but I
do have eggs and, amazingly, bagels. Well, eggs and bagels isn’t a very fancy dish
but Eggs Benedict is! I couldn’t make the traditional dish but I am the Queen
of Kitchen Improv so, I quick toasted the bagels, dug out the few not rotten
leaves of spinach I had left and set them to sauté. I put water on to boil, and
cracked a few eggs into the pot. I cheated and did the blender method of hollandaise,
which in my opinion, tastes as good as the real thing, and started assembling
everything. Cooking makes me happy. My day was off to a glorious start.
The kids came down to eat at 10:15. So fancy breakfast
became fancy brunch. I have learned to pick my battles. And making them get up
at 7 and be ready for school at 8 when we are 10 days into Quarantine is not
worth the turmoil. They ate the eggs and even the spinach but apparently there is
a reason Eggs Benedict is served on English Muffins and not bagels. The sweet,
chewy nature of the bagel is quite revolting when topped with hollandaise. Oh
well, I am gluten free so my eggs with hollandaise and spinach were delicious!
The boys said I got A’s for effort, and a really good sauce.
Mama’s Makeshift Eggs Benedict, aka Fancy Brunch.
Mark got the boys settled in the classroom with all their things while I went upstairs and changed. I so wanted a prop but couldn’t find a ruler anywhere. Anyway, I walked in and they had a good laugh. I welcomed them to class and promptly took Caleb’s phone and Liam’s nunchucks. Cue the eyerolls, whining and arguing. And let me tell you, my 13yo can argue like a lawyer in front of the Supreme Court! But guess what, this is not a democracy and when Headmistress Mama says no phones, you don’t get a phone. So…things didn’t start off quite as awesome as I would have liked but it was pretty good.
Headmistress Mama welcomes her eager pupils to The Wolters Learning Academy.
I had printed out all the emails and lesson plans
from their teachers and we got to work. The first 15 minutes were wonderful.
Then came the complaints, (insert whiney voices here) this is way more work than
we do in school, I don’t know what this means—read chapter 27 and answer the
questions in your book, why is there so much, why do I need to know Latin
roots, Google Classroom—I don’t remember my login, on and on it went ad
nauseum. It was so much Fun!
I completely ignored them, letting them whine for a while, and once they stopped, we got to work again. I gave them 15 mins free time after every 2 subjects were finished and 20mins free while I made lunch. Did I say I find joy in the kitchen? I really needed to make lunch. We went back to work again, taking breaks as we finished tasks. It really wasn’t all that bad once they got past the need to moan and complain. Liam and I took turns reading aloud from his assigned book (I found it really interesting), Caleb zipped through most of his work and I kept thinking something is missing here. Well, that is because I missed an email from his math teacher. Whatever. My math skills are somewhere around that of a baboon so Dad gets to teach that subject anyway.
These Baboons do math as well as I. Pic from our safari in Tanzania.
The other thing that has struck me about homeschooling
the boys is that I am headmistress, teacher, lunch lady, and batslap crazy mom
all at the same time. We may need to rethink the household duties each of us
carries because I can’t do it all. That also means I am going to have to live
with things not being up to my standards. But really, who is kidding whom here,
my floors may shine and my house may be sparkling but that only lasts as long
as I am home by myself because the minute the three little pigs walk in it is a
muddy-handprints-on-the-wall, jello-on-the-floor, toothpaste-on-the-ceiling
kind of mess.
As to Mark, he has been filming more videos for his
students and really working hard to create a positive learning environment for
them. He keeps saying, this pandemic is going to define their generation, how
do I help them through that? We have talked
a lot about how different things will be for the students, working from home.
Home may not be an ideal learning environment. These students are back home, Sheltering
in Place (SIP) with parents, siblings and maybe other relatives. There is so
much to consider for them, do they have enough computer time away from others, do
they have slow internet, or even no internet? Are they taking care of sick or elderly
relatives or younger siblings?
Mark really does love his students. He is rooting for them and praying they come out of this bigger, better people.
How do you create a productive online learning
environment for a class that was never meant to be online for students who
never meant to take it online? Mark being who he is, polled 300 of his students
before Spring Break and asked them what they felt does and what doesn’t work for
online classes. He got some really good feedback. He is trying to divide each
of his lectures into several short and sweet videos that students can binge
watch. He is having Live office hours several times a week. He has given his
students his Twitter and Insta accounts. The thing he decided is that he would
extend them some grace and hope they would do the same for him because one week
isn’t enough to turn a semester class from in person lecture to online and make
it perfect. But he will be available to them in as many ways as he can ‘in
person’. I think I won the lottery when I married this man.
Overall, today wasn’t perfect but you know what? It wasn’t
awful either. We all did some new stuff. We all messed up. We all succeeded
somewhere. And no one had to go to the hospital. I’ll take that for the 10th
day of Quarantine and the 1st day of homeschool anytime. Now, if I
could just get my dog to stop barking…
Today’s post is going to be as dull as dishwater. You know why? Because I am in a bad mood and I haven’t done squat. All. Dang. Day. I took a shower, got dressed, made breakfast and lunch (so far, so good) and that is where it ends. Mark on the other hand made the last 6 of his videos for one of his classes that will go live next week. The two boys have played video games and watched TV since they woke up. And all three of them are driving me nuts. They are perpetually making messes, Mark is all mushy and annoying, Caleb is in his room being all teenager-y, and Liam keeps asking me where Dad is (HINT: probably IN THE HOUSE where he has been FOR NINE DAYS!).
On a normal Sunday we would have gone to church, come
home and invited friends over for a lunch that would roll into dinner before we
all rushed the kids to bed because they have school in the morning. I would be
chill, happy to watch the kids play with their friends while we adults hang out
in the kitchen snacking and talking with a side of hot wine (because on top of
everything, it’s snowing). Instead, I am cranky, my shoulders are so tense they
are residing somewhere north of my earlobes, and you know what, I have absolutely
NO reason to be a giant cranky B right now.
No church but I have my Icons and Crosses from around the World.
We have a roof over our heads, clean water, nourishing
food to last a week, Mark’s job is stable, and we are all healthy, Praise God!
But being stuck with these wonderful men of mine is too much today. I want to
go back to bed and wake up on the right side. I want to spend some time with a
person who has more estrogen than testosterone. I want to go somewhere and do
something. But I cannot do any of those things and that is why this sucks. And
as I type that I have The Guilt because I know my life is so very good and yet
I want more.
I miss time with my girlfriends. Living with only boys can be um, difficult. -Paris, France
I want my sunny disposition back. The posts on social
media are sucking the Happy right out of me. I went to bed last night angsting
over some troll who virtually screamed about my last blog post being too
lighthearted. I woke up to her making another snide comment. I marked her as
Spam.
My usual Happy Disposition. -Meow Wolf, Santa Fe, NM
You know what? I know how bad it is. I am in contact
with people I love around the world. I am heartbroken for my friends in Italy
and triumphant for my friend in China, I am fearful for my friends and family
members who are high risk and relieved for those who are not. I am writing this
for my descendants, for the sake of history. I am not here to report the numbers,
those will be in the history books. I am here to tell the story of my family
and how this looked to real people in the situation. If I choose to show my
emotion, happy, cranky, mirthful, sad, lackadaisical, overwhelmed, joyful or
maudlin that is my choice—you’ll just get me as I am.
Now that all that is off my chest, I feel slightly better. I am looking to starting school tomorrow with just a little anxiety. We have been cruising so far because it has been Spring Break. Our kids have done little of consequence, unless you call moving up several levels in random video games consequential. Being thrown into some strange amalgamation of homeschool and regular school is not something I look forward to. As a matter of fact, it makes me want to pour a stiff drink. I have tried homeschooling before. It wasn’t the worst thing ever but it wasn’t awesome either. I always thought Liam would do rather well in homeschool. I guess we are about to find out.
A stiff drink.
What I do know is that I am going to do the basics. I
will happily read the lessons with them and answer questions and work through
things. I will not be the mom who creates intricate lessons, I will be the mom
handing them the lesson from their Amazing, Educated, Actual Teachers. I will
not correct their work to make them get better grades. I will support them and
help them find new ways of looking at things. I will not pretend to know what
the heck I am doing. Except in Art. I will totally give them some cool art projects—cue
the dropcloths and turpentine.
I have the idea that the kids should take 20-30
minutes to do each lesson. Their classes are only 50mins long so I figure about
30mins of that is the teacher explaining the theory with discussion and lecture
and the rest is work time. You have permission to laugh at my naivety. I know
it will be like pulling teeth to get Caleb to listen because we are not his
teachers, we are his parents and we do everything the ‘old fashioned’ way.
(This is where I will pour myself an actual Old Fashioned and hand the teaching
off entirely to Mark) Liam, who eagerly soaks up knowledge in the classroom,
will whine every time we ask him to write anything. He will instead want to
tell us the answers and that be enough. But both will get it all finished and
be just fine for next year.
Piles of textbooks, piles of novels, piles of history books. All the piles of books.
I have a sneaking suspicion that we will be doing this
the rest of the school year. I pray we won’t but realistically my kids only
have 7.5 weeks of school left. I can see this continuing that long
unfortunately. We in the US have only just begun this. In China they went on
hard lockdown and got things under control in a few months. A few months takes
us to June…
So, yesterday I started this Quarantine Blog and found it to be emotionally draining. Truly, after writing a week’s worth of weirdness I was kinda spent. I had mentioned yesterday that I thought more government restrictions were coming if people didn’t take this ‘social distancing’ and self-quarantining seriously. Well, as I was writing that Governor Pritzker ordered a ‘Shelter in Place’ mandate for the State of Illinois. I hate it when I’m right.
Shelter in place has begun in Illinos.
Shelter in Place sounds scary, doesn’t it? Like as if
a zombie apocalypse is imminent or something. In, reality it is what we have
been doing for 8 days now. We are supposed to stay home, all essential
businesses are open, i.e. grocery stores, pharmacies, hardware stores, and doctor’s
offices. Heck, they have even deemed the liquor stores and cannabis dispensaries
as essential (insert a myriad of jokes here). Restaurants can still have take-out
and delivery food too. What is shut down are things like gyms, boutiques, shopping
malls, nail salons, and a million other things. I’m not sure about services
like insurance companies and accountants, they are probably closed too. On that
note, the Federal Government has pushed back Tax Day until July 15 (our State
hasn’t though so we still have to do the work now).
We haven’t been frequenting anything other than the Grocery
Store so ‘Shelter in Place’ hasn’t changed anything for us except that, being
government mandated and not my own free choice is kind of scary. In all honesty
it makes me mad. If people had just stayed home, been prudent, educated themselves,
and not panicked we could have just done this without being ‘mandated’. Again,
my mantra, Be Prudent but Don’t Panic.
Our YouTube Live Steam. Building a social community when social-distancing is the new normal.
We hosted a Live stream on YouTube for about 2 hours
today. There was still some worry and questions about when we think this will
end and how travel will look in the future. We hate to speculate but, mankind
has always ventured beyond their home and will continue to long after this pandemic.
A few of our followers had suffered losses of some sort, a job, a family member—it
is hard to hear and harder to not be able to do anything. I keep looking to all
those who are keeping things going, the supply chain people, warehouse workers,
truckers, stock(wo)men, the nurses and doctors, the people in civil service.
They somehow help make the losses easier because you see them doing their part,
working hard, pulling extra weight for the rest of us. I am rooting for them
from home.
As for our family, things are pretty good. Mark has
been cleaning and organizing like a man possessed—I’ve been waiting our whole
marriage for this and all it took was a global pandemic! Truth be told, now
that he is all up on the cleaning, he’s driving me a little batty. He isn’t
that well versed in organizing. None of his logic on where things go makes any
sense to me but, that’s ok. He feels better and, as my father in law would say,
It’s a Start!
He did do a magnificent job cleaning the basement. Our basement
is the kid’s realm, read: filthy pigsty. Mark found no less than 32 socks, a melted
box of Junior Mints under the couch (I’m soo excited to work on that Giant
Stain!), about 1000 nerf bullets, 5 empty bags of chips/cookies/beef jerky, 4
t-shirts, 2 sweatshirts, 1 pair of jeans, and a partridge in a pear tree.
My kids leave socks everywhere. Friends have actually given us baggies full of our children’s abandoned socks.
The boys played several games online with their
friends yesterday. It was the first time Liam got to play online with 2 of his
friends from school. He was joyous! He tends to get very loud when he is
excited. Because I couldn’t hear myself think, I made him play in his room with
the door shut. Mark and Caleb could still hear him while they were in the
basement. It’s cute in hindsight, his excitement spilling into his voice. I am
glad he got some friend time.
I am ok, except for the fact that I keep falling into
some time warp. The 3rd day of this I went down to make dinner after
being buried in a book. I thought it was around 6p, it was 845p. Whoops. I did
it again today. The boys said they were hungry for lunch, turns out it was 4p.
So, Liam said, that’s ok we will just have intermezzo instead. Our world may have
gotten significantly smaller but that kid’s vocabulary hasn’t, praise God!
An empty pot sits on my stove top waiting for me to come out of my time warp and make dinner
I checked in on a bunch of friends. For the most part the majority of our friends are holed up at home and are doing fine. Many are getting long forgotten projects done, reading that book they’d bought years ago, and playing more games with their children. I worked out with my friend via Zoom today. That was different but it was good to see her and catch up. The best thing was that I got to see my friend across the street—in person! In ‘the old days’ (a week ago) she would have hollered, I’ll be right over, then run in to pour a glass of wine and met me on my porch to chat. Instead we met in the middle, about 8-10 feet apart and talked rather louder than normal for 5 minutes. It was Awesome! I love my husband but not being an extrovert and not being around another adults is hard—and weird. We typically have friends over once or twice a week. One week without people coming over and I’m all sixes and sevens. I am going to be so socially awkward at the end of this. I feel like I will have forgotten social norms. I’ll probably be hugging every person I see, that will go over well in the grocery store, I am sure.
I miss sitting on the porch with a glass of wine and talking to my friends for hours.
I do wonder what it will be like. I picture us all
coming out of something like a bomb shelter, blinking at the bright light of
the sun…
I’ve decided to Blog our Self-Imposed Quarantine. I’m doing this more for our kids and one day grandchildren than anyone else. As I sit and think about this crazy time it makes me think of how I used to ask what it was like for my grandparents during WW2. This is far from a world war but, it is unprecedented. So, for my curious descendants, this is what Quarantine looks like for us in 2020.
I’m starting this after a week at home so I’ll just recap
the past week or so in this first post and hopefully future posts will be
shorter…
In the past month Mark and I had been getting updates from our friends in Vicenza, Italy. The situation there was nightmarish, overrun hospitals, people dying and, finally Italy called a countrywide quarantine. We could see the writing on the wall, we knew we would have to limit our time in public to help slow the spread of the novel corona virus known as COVID 19 or SARS-CoV-2.
A moment in our Italian “hometown” Vicenza.
On Wednesday 11 March 2020 the University of Illinois (where Mark is a professor) told its faculty to be prepared to switch all classes to online classes. That night President Trump issued a Presidential Proclamation banning EU (Schengen) citizens from entering the United States. Mark and I stared at the TV. It was unprecedented but we understood it. We immediately went to work on finding out what this meant for travelers so we could pass on good information to our followers on YouTube and woltersworld.com. I read that dang proclamation front to back. If you haven’t read a Presidential Proclamation, it is not what I would call enjoyable reading. The boys knew about the virus and how things are in Italy though vaguely.
On Thursday both boys were sick from having eaten too much spicy Korean noodles so we let them stay home. Mark and I were thinking it was probably time to just stay home all together. We got all our information together and made a quick video to explain what the proclamation meant in layman’s terms. I wrote it in a blog citing the CDC and Department of State.
Friday, we sent the boys to school. It was the last day of school before Spring Break and the school had already sent an email saying students should take home all of their books in anticipation of a government shutdown of schools in Illinois.
While the boys were at school, we tried to have our normal Friday morning date day. We ran to Target and got a few things, new jammies for the boys, some Reese’s Eggs for me, things to make the transition less drastic, I guess. We went to Barnes and Noble because that is our date place. We got a couple of magazines for the boys, Soccer for Caleb and Science for Liam and I, as always got a new book. After, we stopped by the music store to get instruction books for guitar and drums so Mark could teach the boys at home.
We still aren’t sure why everyone bought all the toilet paper, but no Kleenexes.
We felt pretty prepared for self-quarantine. Stores had been out of toilet paper all week but we had our usual amount at home and had been grocery shopping earlier in the week. We hadn’t gone nuts and hoarded things like we were seeing in the news but we had enough for a couple three weeks which was kind of our usual. All we had to do was get the boys from school and stay home.
At pick up every child was walking out with a massive amount of stuff. I’m glad they had that day to get their things and see their friends once more before we holed up at home for some indefinite amount of time. One of Liam’s best buds asked if they could have a playdate…it kinda crushed me to say, not today, knowing it would be some time before they could play together in person again. Teachers and staff were calm but I could see there was some worry beneath their placid exteriors. That same day Governor Pritzker closed Illinois schools for 2 weeks.
That night the president banned citizens from the UK and Ireland from entering the United States. Rumors were all over social media, people were panicky. My mantra became, Be Prudent but Don’t Panic.
Saturday was, for the most part, a lazy day at home. Mark and I did a YouTube Live chat with our followers. There were a lot of questions, confusion, and some apprehension if not outright fear. People were trying to cancel flights and trips or get home from around the globe. Several people from other countries were concerned about getting home. Everyone wanted to know what this would look like for them now and in the future. Our answers came from the CDC or US State Department. We couldn’t speculate how long this would last. In our hearts we were hoping it would only be a month or so but secretly thinking it would get worse before it gets better. The boys played an inordinate amount of video games while Mark and I were researching.
Sunday, we didn’t go to church. That was weird. Instead I found a video of the Great Doxology on a Greek Orthodox YouTube page. I read the day’s readings and thought about them and about this new environment we were living in. I kept thinking; this is truly Lent. We did another Live chat that day and answered most of the same questions and assuaged the same concerns as best as we could. We decided what people really needed was some community and as we had one built in, we would set up regular Live chats on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The boys thought it was brilliant to sleep in on a Sunday. Liam did join me in listening to the Great Doxology though–he really likes to sing our old school chants at church.
Monday, we were running low on eggs and dog food. I was going to go to the store early but chickened out. Somehow, I let the media and rumors get to me, as if going out would infect me and my household. Around noon I thought, this is ridiculous. You aren’t being prudent, you’re panicking. So, I went to the store for dog food, eggs, and some rice as we were down to half a bag (we eat a lot of rice).
There were limits at the store, but people were still nice & friendly.
The store was packed. I felt the need to get other stuff because everyone was in mad shop-mode. In the end I only got what we needed plus a corned beef. So many of the shoppers were elderly, it scared me. What if they got sick? What if they couldn’t afford all this? I know social security checks come at the first of the month…it might be detrimental to our elderly on fixed incomes and that scared me more.
While I was there, I saw people wearing latex gloves and trying to put distance between themselves and others. I saw the people feverishly stocking the shelves. I told a couple of them thank you. It must be a crazy, thankless job with people pushing past to get what they need (or think they need) so desperately. Generally, no one was speaking to anyone else. It was tense. I made a few comments to people as we waited in line, the older guy with a 6-pack of beer and a loaf of bread, you’ve got your priorities in order, don’t you? I just needed to make someone laugh.
I let two people go in front of me as they only had 1 or 2 items. I thanked the guy checking my groceries and the woman bagging them. They were so appreciative. You could see they had been stressed out and we chatted amiably, I think they needed that. I think we all do.
The boys were still in no-school mode, if I heard the theme song from Johnny Test one more time my head may explode. In my mind every time the song said, Jooohny Te-eest I heard hoooly cra-aap. (Can I say that in a blog? Well, I just did.)
Tuesday was St. Patrick’s Day. Usually, I would tune in to watch the parade in Savannah online. Well, there was no parade. We all wore green anyway. I started the corned beef in the morning so something would feel normal about St. Pats.
Mark and I got back to working out and started to get ourselves a routine. Tuesday, I felt more normal than any of the previous days. The new normal was beginning to set in. I thought about those 4 months I spent on bedrest (when pregnant with Liam) and how I had to have a routine to combat the blues. Getting one in order really helped.
We did a Live chat with our members and patrons from our various online communities. It was wonderful. These people are our champions. They support us with small donations every month but more that that, they are like friends we’ve never met. We had about 35 or 40 online and we all talked. Several of them have developed friendships with one another through Wolters World also. This gives me joy.
Caleb on the other hand had a rough day. He wanted to play basketball with his buddy, Josiah. He had a little meltdown when we said, no we are self-quarantining. He was angry as 13yo boys can be. He cited a lot of stuff he had read online about how is won’t hurt any of us as we are young and not at risk.
We had a hard talk about why we had decided to stay in. This virus is unknown, it doesn’t show symptoms for 2-14 days so, healthy people may actually be carrying it and spreading it unbeknownst to them. This damn thing kills the elderly and immuno-compromised. We explained that Papoo, my dad, just got over an awful case of pneumonia, and my sister is also at high risk. These are people he loves and he kinda got it.
But we also talked about how Nando and Elena and all our friends in Italy have been under quarantine for weeks. His buddy Philippo can’t go play with his friends either, he has been at home and the Italian army in the streets because the spread is so bad. We don’t want that so we are staying home now before it gets bad. We talked about how people are dying at home because the hospitals in Italy are overrun and even if they had room, they don’t have enough medical supplies for everyone.
What an awful discussion, there were some tears, some shouting, and in the end understanding and compassion.
Andra Tutto Bene! This is the cry of Italy right now, Everything Will Be OK!
Wednesday and Thursday Mark and I made our bed, walked and worked out while the boys slept in. It is still Spring Break so we are being lax on their schedules for now. We worked around the house, I’ve been prepping food and trying to remake dinners so we don’t have the same dish as our leftovers but a different meal. It makes me think of my Yiayia and Grandma. Both of them lived through the Great Depression and I saw the way they never let a bite of food go to waste. I inherited a love of cooking from Yiayia, I wish I had inherited my Grandma’s baking skills. I am channeling both of them as I cook for my family.
Corned Beef Dinner becomes Soup the next day. My Grandmothers are smiling down on me now.Who knew Corned Beef could be such a yummy Beef and Veggie Soup?
The boys were a little at each other’s throats both days. They kept apart more than usual but when they were together, they picked on each other, a lot. They have the usual squabbles but generally, they are really close and play well together but, not Wednesday and Thursday. It was frustrating. We got them moving, made them shower, and play outside when the weather was good Thursday afternoon.
Mark made each of us write 4 things we wanted to do as a family and put them in a hat. We drew papers from the hat all day and subsequently; played Jenga and poker, colored pictures to send to the elderly in our local nursing homes, Mark read 3 chapters of our current book and I made their favorite soup (Avgolemono) for dinner.
The grey skies and fluctuating temperatures are not helpful. If only it were warmer and sunny life would be easier but then, there is always ‘if only’.
So, today, Friday the 20th I am looking to the immediate future and how it will look. So far, I have decided on a schedule (pliable, as all our family schedules are) and am apparently writing this blog. Our days will consist of a walk and workouts at home, prepping meals and then school time for the boys and work time for Mark and me. I am hoping school can be done in 2-3hours so we can have some free time for art, reading, and playing. I envision a lot of family movie nights and Mark reading to us as usual but maybe a little more than the usual amount of time.
The boys are back to their usual selves today, playing and laughing together, thank God!
Brothers make the Best Friends. Tazumal, El Salvador
I am a little trepidatious about the immediate future. I have a feeling if more people don’t take this social distancing and staying home thing seriously, we will have to do it longer or the government will make us.
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