The first part of this post was getting long so it has been split into two parts. For the first part of the story, look for my previous post titled 'a new world'.
Obviously... there's no cliff hanger here. The Shutdown did not last for two weeks... it didn't really even last for four weeks. In truth, we're 'reopening' but it's nearly the end of June and we started this adventure on St. Patrick's Day. Yikes.
But despite the changes to our lives, and the new world we seemed to be living in, time marched onward.
Parents learned fascinating new skills like how to host a zoom playdate for your lonely kids, or to log baking and laundry to count toward your kids school day, how to work from home AND suddenly be a teacher. These are all amazing skills that take time to learn and we as a people mastered them... in just a few weeks!
Teachers adapted as well, suddenly learning how to teach a classroom full of children via zoom meetings and other online options. One resourceful teacher even taught her students how to scrub the bathroom... via zoom! I laughed myself silly when my friend sent over a picture of that process.
I myself became adept at sewing masks using scraps from an old fitted sheet (those things have elastic in them! Do you know how hard it was to get ELASTIC?!), canning copious amounts of food storage for just in case, planning meals with my husband for the week, and planning how to get all the school day stuff done with enough time left over for honest-to-goodness play.
That's one thing that I think we overlooked in the massive effort to transition life to home, to exist in a world rife with pandemic... we nearly forgot to play.
I will always look back on the afternoon bike rides my kids took with my husband and smile. Those moments were precious! And if we hadn't taken a breath for a moment we would have missed them.
As the weeks dragged on, I began to notice something important. Exhaustion wasn't haunting my steps like it had been before, because where was I going to go? All of the self-imposed responsibilities that had filled my time were no longer necessary. All I had to do was help my kids, clean the house, and cook. All I had to do was everything that I really wanted to do. It wasn't for anyone else except me, my children and my husband.
Weirdly, the Corona virus (awful as it is) had given me exactly what I hadn't known to give myself. A break.
I've been doing some reading lately, and I have discovered that there is a recommendation that when you remove your children from traditional public school and plan to homeschool them, it takes time to adjust. The current guideline is one month for every year they've been in school.
One month per year they were in public school.
That sounds like a lot, right? That almost sounds crazy. The concept behind this process, called deschooling, is that kids have spent so much time with people telling them what to do, and structured play, they don't remember what it's like to just do their own thing anymore. They need the time to do nothing, so they can remember how it feels to explore and be interested all on their own.
What I realized was that I too needed this process. I needed a few designated months of doing nothing - of post work de-compression - so I could remember who I was. What makes me tick? What interests do I have personally?
And you know what I found, hiding there behind all the to-do lists and the guilt trips? I found me. Weird, quiet, sassy, introverted, bookish, artistic me. And I had really missed it.
Now... it isn't all happy roses, we are still smack dab in the middle of a pandemic after all. Everyday there is some terrifying or confusing bit of news. But now I have the chance to do something I haven't done in a while.
I can enjoy my kids. I can enjoy time spent with My Love. I can laugh and tease with Punkin Pie and I can run and play with The Bean and enjoy every second, no longer worrying that I'm overlooking something I'm supposed to do.
Because this is it. This is what I'm supposed to do.
Over the past 3 months things have changed. In the world, yes, of course. In my house, absolutely... we haven't really gone anywhere for 3 months, which is weird. But most importantly, I've changed. I've recognized that what I wanted somewhere in the back of my mind is obtainable and important.. and good.
With this new mindset, when things reopen I am going to strive to only put back what I really want, to simplify my life and enjoy what it has to offer. For my kids, for My Love, and for me.
Obviously... there's no cliff hanger here. The Shutdown did not last for two weeks... it didn't really even last for four weeks. In truth, we're 'reopening' but it's nearly the end of June and we started this adventure on St. Patrick's Day. Yikes.
But despite the changes to our lives, and the new world we seemed to be living in, time marched onward.
Parents learned fascinating new skills like how to host a zoom playdate for your lonely kids, or to log baking and laundry to count toward your kids school day, how to work from home AND suddenly be a teacher. These are all amazing skills that take time to learn and we as a people mastered them... in just a few weeks!
Teachers adapted as well, suddenly learning how to teach a classroom full of children via zoom meetings and other online options. One resourceful teacher even taught her students how to scrub the bathroom... via zoom! I laughed myself silly when my friend sent over a picture of that process.
I myself became adept at sewing masks using scraps from an old fitted sheet (those things have elastic in them! Do you know how hard it was to get ELASTIC?!), canning copious amounts of food storage for just in case, planning meals with my husband for the week, and planning how to get all the school day stuff done with enough time left over for honest-to-goodness play.
That's one thing that I think we overlooked in the massive effort to transition life to home, to exist in a world rife with pandemic... we nearly forgot to play.
I will always look back on the afternoon bike rides my kids took with my husband and smile. Those moments were precious! And if we hadn't taken a breath for a moment we would have missed them.
As the weeks dragged on, I began to notice something important. Exhaustion wasn't haunting my steps like it had been before, because where was I going to go? All of the self-imposed responsibilities that had filled my time were no longer necessary. All I had to do was help my kids, clean the house, and cook. All I had to do was everything that I really wanted to do. It wasn't for anyone else except me, my children and my husband.
Weirdly, the Corona virus (awful as it is) had given me exactly what I hadn't known to give myself. A break.
I've been doing some reading lately, and I have discovered that there is a recommendation that when you remove your children from traditional public school and plan to homeschool them, it takes time to adjust. The current guideline is one month for every year they've been in school.
One month per year they were in public school.
That sounds like a lot, right? That almost sounds crazy. The concept behind this process, called deschooling, is that kids have spent so much time with people telling them what to do, and structured play, they don't remember what it's like to just do their own thing anymore. They need the time to do nothing, so they can remember how it feels to explore and be interested all on their own.
What I realized was that I too needed this process. I needed a few designated months of doing nothing - of post work de-compression - so I could remember who I was. What makes me tick? What interests do I have personally?
And you know what I found, hiding there behind all the to-do lists and the guilt trips? I found me. Weird, quiet, sassy, introverted, bookish, artistic me. And I had really missed it.
Now... it isn't all happy roses, we are still smack dab in the middle of a pandemic after all. Everyday there is some terrifying or confusing bit of news. But now I have the chance to do something I haven't done in a while.
I can enjoy my kids. I can enjoy time spent with My Love. I can laugh and tease with Punkin Pie and I can run and play with The Bean and enjoy every second, no longer worrying that I'm overlooking something I'm supposed to do.
Because this is it. This is what I'm supposed to do.
Over the past 3 months things have changed. In the world, yes, of course. In my house, absolutely... we haven't really gone anywhere for 3 months, which is weird. But most importantly, I've changed. I've recognized that what I wanted somewhere in the back of my mind is obtainable and important.. and good.
With this new mindset, when things reopen I am going to strive to only put back what I really want, to simplify my life and enjoy what it has to offer. For my kids, for My Love, and for me.