The Corona Chronicles – Volume 1

March 16 – March 28

For posterity…

This week started out like any other week…you know homeschooling two kids for the first time, entertaining a toddler and wearing a newborn after approximately 4.6 hours of sleep while the hubby works from home in “my” office….all while not being allowed to venture out of the house, wearing a mask if I need to and being afraid to touch the mail with my bare hands.

Let me back up a little. Last week was spring break. Normally a super fun break from school where we have nothing to do other than play outside, watch tv, hang out and sleep in. This year going into spring break I was already on week three of quarantine due to my C-section and newborn baby. I was just getting warmed up to venture out and see people when we got the news that school would be cancelled for an extra week after spring break for CV (Coronavirus). WooHoo…extra long spring break…that has now turned into what will probably be homeschooling/distance learning until August.

Spring break week was actually pretty chill. We were still playing with friends, going on bike rides to the playground, playing in the sprinklers, playing games, and writing encouraging notes to our neighbors with sidewalk chalk. We had family movie nights, and I got caught up on all the Star Wars movies because suddenly all my kids are into Star Wars. Yes, I confess to never having watched a Star Wars movie before; but now I have, and my life is complete. Thank you, CV; I am now an official Trekkie (or is that the other outer space movies?) Anyway, everything was super peachy, until…

we discovered that all the girls had LICE. Yep, lice….probably picked it up at school before the “quarantine” started and then spread it to everyone in the house including me! We tried all the things…the horrid chemical stuff that “promises” to kill lice and nits and prevent re-infestation for 14 days… LIES. Lies. All of it. And the nit-comb – worthless. After washing hair, nit-combing, washing all the sheets, and all the clothes and all 1,537 stuffed animals my husband and I finally went to bed around 3am. Two days later…those little sickos were still around and we had to comb through again. This time I had the great idea of doing this outside – in 85 degree weather with the sun pounding down on my bare shoulders for 4 hours. Hopefully, it will turn into a lovely tan. Next I ordered about 12 kinds of “all-natural” lice-killing shampoos and extra special nit combs. The shampoos arrived – but not the combs so we washed and combed again anyway. Third time’s a charm, right? Almost….here we are two weeks later and I think we are finally done. I hope.

Moving on … Week one of distance learning started with a bang. Well, DL actually starts next week, but the teachers were kind enough to prepare and send home some assignments this week, so we took this week to practice getting into a routine. Ha. All the kids crowded around the dining table…

Kid 1: “Mommy, I don’t get it.”

Kid 2: cut, paste, color – SQUIRREL!

Kid 3: “I need to go pee pee potty…”I want to watch somepin…(toddler speak for “something)…” “I want a snack…”

Kid 4: “waaaaahhhhh” (needs to nurse)

Me: “I’ve totally got this. Homeschooling is awesome!”

Some fun things we did this week included a field trip to a drive-thru safari and a virtual tap class which scuffed up my entire kitchen floor with black marks. So then naturally, we decided to incorporate Home EC to our class schedule. We learned to mop the floor, and…wash the cabinets and clean the windows while we were at it. Home EC should definitely be brought back to schools – mandatory for graduation…from kindergarten.

Did I mention my birthday was this week? My mom mailed me a package of gifts (making sure to practice safe social distancing) as well as a box of “quarantine” goodies for each of the kids. Plenty of art activities to keep everyone busy. The girls used some of these materials to make homemade candles and paint a canvas photo to send to my sister for her birthday which was also this week.

Overall, it was not terrible (minus the LICE – which was definitely terrible). We spent quality time as a family and hit some milestones: my middle daughter learned to ride a bike without training wheels; we started “homeschooling;” I had a birthday; and the baby turned one month old.

I wonder how next week will turn out? I have a feeling we are in for an adventure of a lifetime…