The Luckiest No Matter What!

Is it really true that we've been staying home for four weeks?!  In most regards, this has felt vvvveeerrryyy long, but the days do go by fast and we are busy. Part of my surprise is the fact that I'm still standing. I remember when the stay home, stay safe order went in to effect on March 14th. I told myself I could totally do this for two weeks and then I would probably fall apart. Then, as time continues to go on, I think I can make it another week or two before I'll really lose it.  I'm still here.  What I've realized is that this whole experience is more of a roller coaster than a run to a finish line. Sometimes I'm feeling successful, positive, and able to handle everything one minute and then the next I feel like I'm completely undone. So instead of trying to make it to some arbitrary date before losing all my marbles, I lose them periodically on any given day at any given moment ;) The positive side of this is that I am making it, day by ...

We've been staying home, staying safe now for 26 days. Besides spending time in nature, I have went to three grocery stores during that time and that.is.it. Grocery shopping is a very close frenemy of mine. Before Josh and I had kids, we used to go grocery shopping together. We'd often go on a random Friday night. It was really nice- we'd talk and enjoy each other's company while there and put everything away together when we got home. I loved grocery shopping then.  The first few years we had kids, I began to HATE grocery shopping. Josh did most of it and I'd be at home with the kids, which was always difficult. Then I'd put everything away while my very small children were likely screaming, tantruming, and destroying the house. The whole thing felt overwhelming, even the list making before hand. I was way too tired for that crap.  The last year or so, I've been doing the bulk of the grocery shopping. Sometimes I will take Preston and Carter with me, ...

Thursday. A day I won't soon forget. I began the day as I have been lately, journaling and watching the news. I happened to catch a story of a 30 year old teacher and coach from New Jersey who died of the Corona Virus. The journalist was speaking with his wife and tears were just streaming down my face. This person had already been treated at the hospital and was responding well to oxygen treatments and meds. He was sick and uncomfortable, but managing. He went to bed and never woke up. He had no preexisting conditions and was healthy. There are stories like these as well as stories about the population this is affecting the most, but this story stuck with me huge. Our 'school' or whatever you want to call it started at 8:30 with our usual community meeting where we greet each other, talk about the upcoming day, and read a picture book together. Even though I maintained my composure despite my shook-ness from earlier, I knew this day was going to be a memorable one. How...

My family has been staying home and staying safe for 16 days. My kids are into this new routine we've built, people are doing some learning, things are getting done. We are reading, we are doing math, we are journaling, we are doing art, we are doing science, we are learning about the world. We are going outside, a lot.  None of these things are without struggle and frustration, fun and accomplishment.  All of these things are consuming my entire day and most evenings.  This week, week two, was hard. For whatever reason, I was quite manic in my mental state.  There were a couple of days were I was really in the moment, really enjoying the time with my sons, feeling like we were grooving, feeling like I was being successful. We did a science experiment with soap that was a huge hit, built an awesome snowman, wrote cards to family members, spent a Free-Write Friday writing super silly stories, played some games that we loved, clapped as Preston learned new word...

Last Thursday night, March 12th, I was reading Ann Arbor Public School's thoughtful letter to their community letting parents and students know they were closing school. Only minutes after that, I happened to catch the governor speaking live as she announced that, starting that Monday March 16th, ALL K-12 schools in Michigan would be closed. It's crazy that it's only been a little over a week and somehow I am living a completely different life. I now have four children at home with me full time. When I say 'at home with me,' it's not like the summer 'at home with me' where we go swimming, play on playgrounds, take day trips, visit museums and trampoline parks and spend countless hours playing with neighbors and family. I mean the 'at home with me' where we stay at our home... like all the time. Sure, we still spend a lot of time outside, but it's in our backyard, on our driveway, sadly waving at neighbors as they walk by or play in their ...