COVID-19 Day 4 - TGIF!!!
We made it! We're so proud of how the girls have been handling all of this. It's a complete shift in home life and spending so much time inside without any interaction with friends at school or being able to play sports with their teams. But they haven't complained a single time to me about it (they've shared with their grandparents how it's not fun and they miss their friends, but even then they didn't go on and on about how awful it was... just said it very plain and simple). One of the best things we've done every single day has been to go for a bike ride on the Northaven Trail every afternoon. The girls look forward to it every day and the weather has been perfect. They've worked through who gets to lead the different parts of the trail and who is following. At times they get annoyed at each other for something on the ride ("Why is she leading right now? it's my turn!"), but it's marginal and always works out after they share their frustrations. Both of them smile so much on the ride and it's been great for them to get out.
This morning, after my Zoom meeting with advisory students, I went to Central Market to get meat and other groceries for the week since we were out of some staples. When I pulled into the parking space I could see a short line of people standing about 6 ft. away from each other and two men (with guns in full view in their holsters) standing at the door to make sure that only a certain number of people entered the store at a time. They said that this was to make it a nice shopping experience and to give us enough space around us as we moved throughout the store. Another employee inside stood there to hand out a wipe to clean the cart and ask you to use hand sanitizer. It was a truly odd experience - people in masks, many people wearing gloves, everyone looking at each other to make sure we weren't too close, and passing fairly quickly. I felt paranoid like 'should I be wearing gloves and a mask? should I choose the fresh veggies that are out or could someone have touched them who may have the virus and not know it?' I decided to get the brussel sprouts and snow peas anyway - they'll be cooked and washed.
Mentally I've been exhausted as I've worked to create lesson plans, set up schedules, helped the girls with their schedules and some of their work, and then thought non-stop about whether what I had created was enough/too much/not enough and how parents and students were feeling about everything. I've tried to keep it positive for my advisory, but can see how they are sad, tired, and ready to get back to the usual routine. They miss their friends and they miss being together at school. And it shows. Trying to think of something that might brighten their days next week, but don't want to add an extra burden to families! Thinking I might do a reading time for them to attend or ask students to share something they're creating outside of school. Lego challenge? Lunch bunch? I don't know - brainstorming ideas. If you're reading this in real time and have a suggestion, I'm all ears!
I got overwhelmed at lunch time when I opened our cabinets and the fridge to look at our food. There just seemed to be stuff everywhere and I couldn't make sense of any of it. So Julia helped me organize the pantry and the fridge. It's amazing how taking control of something helped me feel better and more at ease.
The best part of all of this has been the time I've spent trusting God and spending time with Him each morning. I feel at peace and trying to fill my mind with the right things so that I can fight insecurities and frustrations by reading His word and remembering the encouragement He gives. And then trying my best to stay trusting Him and not trying to solve everything on my own. Every night I'm reading Psalm 91. Last night I had about 3 hours with Riley and we read the chapter and then talked until 11:30pm. It was awesome.
Tomorrow is the weekend and it's so strange to even think about like 'What are we doing this weekend?' And the answer is pretty much 'the same thing we've been doing every other day!' Hoping to bake something or play games or read a book and to honestly try to not work - because there's so much I could be doing for work and I need to have healthy boundaries and not try to save the world every single day of the week. Rest is good too! And trying to see this as a positive time where we can grow closer as a family and closer to God. Thankful for our little family and the fact that there's no-one else I'd rather be quarantined with than these three amazing people and our little dog Val.
This morning, after my Zoom meeting with advisory students, I went to Central Market to get meat and other groceries for the week since we were out of some staples. When I pulled into the parking space I could see a short line of people standing about 6 ft. away from each other and two men (with guns in full view in their holsters) standing at the door to make sure that only a certain number of people entered the store at a time. They said that this was to make it a nice shopping experience and to give us enough space around us as we moved throughout the store. Another employee inside stood there to hand out a wipe to clean the cart and ask you to use hand sanitizer. It was a truly odd experience - people in masks, many people wearing gloves, everyone looking at each other to make sure we weren't too close, and passing fairly quickly. I felt paranoid like 'should I be wearing gloves and a mask? should I choose the fresh veggies that are out or could someone have touched them who may have the virus and not know it?' I decided to get the brussel sprouts and snow peas anyway - they'll be cooked and washed.
Mentally I've been exhausted as I've worked to create lesson plans, set up schedules, helped the girls with their schedules and some of their work, and then thought non-stop about whether what I had created was enough/too much/not enough and how parents and students were feeling about everything. I've tried to keep it positive for my advisory, but can see how they are sad, tired, and ready to get back to the usual routine. They miss their friends and they miss being together at school. And it shows. Trying to think of something that might brighten their days next week, but don't want to add an extra burden to families! Thinking I might do a reading time for them to attend or ask students to share something they're creating outside of school. Lego challenge? Lunch bunch? I don't know - brainstorming ideas. If you're reading this in real time and have a suggestion, I'm all ears!
I got overwhelmed at lunch time when I opened our cabinets and the fridge to look at our food. There just seemed to be stuff everywhere and I couldn't make sense of any of it. So Julia helped me organize the pantry and the fridge. It's amazing how taking control of something helped me feel better and more at ease.
The best part of all of this has been the time I've spent trusting God and spending time with Him each morning. I feel at peace and trying to fill my mind with the right things so that I can fight insecurities and frustrations by reading His word and remembering the encouragement He gives. And then trying my best to stay trusting Him and not trying to solve everything on my own. Every night I'm reading Psalm 91. Last night I had about 3 hours with Riley and we read the chapter and then talked until 11:30pm. It was awesome.
Tomorrow is the weekend and it's so strange to even think about like 'What are we doing this weekend?' And the answer is pretty much 'the same thing we've been doing every other day!' Hoping to bake something or play games or read a book and to honestly try to not work - because there's so much I could be doing for work and I need to have healthy boundaries and not try to save the world every single day of the week. Rest is good too! And trying to see this as a positive time where we can grow closer as a family and closer to God. Thankful for our little family and the fact that there's no-one else I'd rather be quarantined with than these three amazing people and our little dog Val.
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