While our intrepid teachers rallied to prepare materials to keep young minds active in a whole new way, we got a bonus week of “break.” I have been so impressed with how well my kids have adapted to this new way of being, and it’s helped me be pretty relaxed about it too. They don’t ask to go out, or complain when they can’t even accompany me to the grocery store. They’ve drawn pictures and written letters to friends and loved ones, taped pieces of toilet paper rolls to the stair rail as a makeshift marble run, and challenged themselves and each other to new games.
They’ve caught snacks in their mouths without choking.
They’ve led church services almost every day, with plenty of singing.
They’ve practiced biking moves in the sunshine.
They’ve jumped on the trampoline in the snow (yes, in the same week, even the weather is uncertain.)
We’ve recruited my sweet mother to read bedtime stories a couple nights a week for the foreseeable future. I thought this would give my voice a break and keep the little boys entertained for a bit, but it turns out they all wanted in on the action – who doesn’t love a good story?
Look, even from a distance she managed to read one right to sleep!
We broke a couple rules to celebrate a milestone birthday – no hugs, just basketball! He may be 75, but he’s still got moves on the court :)
And it’s a wonder these two ever score with the amount of giggling they do chasing each other around the court.
Since we rarely leave the house or backyard, I haven’t paid much attention to what people are wearing, which makes looking at pictures particularly amusing. Jack recently discovered snow pants and they’ve become a standard part of going outside.
And Gavin discovered that the bathrobe that is too hot in bed is just right for a hockey game outside, especially when you’re stuck in the penalty box reviewing what went wrong.
I won’t share some of my style lows, though pictures of me would surely be at least as amusing over the past couple weeks :)
I am so glad we put in all these pavers last year, they have proven their worth over and over! Once I paint that shed the planned blue I’ll have to do a photo tour of this wondrously grassless space :)
To be fair, there’s also been plenty of movies and moments the couch looks like this:
And I absentmindedly said yes when they all asked to take knives outside to “carve things,” which quickly became the favourite activity until they started carving the retaining walls and then leaving their tools around for the little one to carve my butcher block island. We had an introduction instead to the finer art of whittling.
Overall, another good week.
Distance learning started this week, and two of the four think it’s better than regular school so far, more a testament to their personalities than any teaching ability on my part :) One more would love to go back to school, the other would rather not go back to school OR do the work from home, so that’s especially fun. The second day went far better than the first, and I’m hopeful that this new pattern will become part of our days without too much trouble and they’ll be none the worse for wear.
How are you all holding up?
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