Distance Learning

Due to COVID-19, all schools are doing Distance Learning which means all parents are home schooling with guidance from the distance teachers.  Our children's schools have provided plenty of guidance regarding at-home lessons.  We are able to do some of what they recommend.

About two weeks ago, I finally had to declare myself gate keeper of our home and admit that we cannot do ALL that the schools are sending home.  We can do some, and I would be the one deciding what we are able to do to support the learning of our five children, while working two jobs from home, and meeting everyone's basics needs including feeding, rest, love, sanity, and basic kindness.

The decision that I came to is that Tracey, Howard, and Caroline would each work in a math workbook, and reading workbook once a day.  Depending on what the lessons are, they each do between 2-4 pages each day in both math and reading/phonics.

In addition, Tracey works 30 minutes/day on her school online reading website, and 30 minutes/day on her school online math website.

Furthermore, I encourage Tracey to get her online reading work done first thing in the morning -- sometimes she will do it, sometimes she puts it off.  Usually Tracey, Howard, and Caroline do their workbooks at the same time, and then I have put Daddy in charge of online math with Tracey.  It helps to have both of us involved in her schooling and helps to motivate her that it is not just me constantly asking her to get her work done -- for math, it is Daddy.  Also, math is Tracey's strongest subject, and so it is great for her to show off for Daddy, and for her to help guide her learning as she advances.

On days when everyone is working well together, it is not uncommon for Lee Lee to bring her own workbook over to the table with the big kids and do her own coloring and tracing while they are working.

A few days ago, Caroline and Lee Lee made sure that Hunter had a spot at the table during school time, and it was the most adorable scene of them all working together.

IT DOES NOT HAPPEN LIKE THIS EVERY DAY!

-- which is why, when this does happen, I snap a picture so I will remember that amidst COVID-19, homeschool, chaos, and sibling squabbles, every day had some very sweet moments.

Homework Helper

I've been trying to encourage Tracey to get part of her online homework done first thing in the morning before her brothers and sisters wake up.  She is always the first one awake and I'm trying to teach her how much fun it is to get your work done first thing so that you can enjoy the rest of the day -- you almost forget that you even did it and you can enjoy the rest of the day.

Well, a few days ago, Hunter was awake and had a ball watching Tracey do her online reading work.

More Gems

Other gems out of the mouth of Lee Lee

"The baby has a boo-boo because she has an ice pack."

Progress

I can tell my opinions and my reactions are changing as I age.

For my entire life, I have loved the news that someone -- really anyone is having a baby.  Anytime a character on a tv show announced she was having a baby, my eyes would tear up as I joyfully celebrated with her character.

Almost irregardless of the plot line of the show or movie -- drama, comedy, expected pregnancy, or not, I was so excited for that character.

A few months ago, Hubby and I were watching an episode of Modern Family.  One of the couples on the show has a daughter who is in high school and were unexpectedly given the option of adopting a son.  They had adopted their daughter when she was a baby, and the agency kept their file open or something like that.

The couple struggled for an episode as to whether they could adopt another baby at this point in their life, and ultimately decided to adopt the baby boy.

When that episode ended, I looked at Chris and shared with him that I most be changing because when they made the decision to adopt the baby when their daughter was in high school, my reaction in my head was, "OH MY GOODNESS, that would be such a nightmare."

I have NEVER EVER in my life had that reaction to a fictional couple finding out a baby is on the way.

The truth is, I have alway known I wanted a big family -- and I always knew what excitement I would have when I found out I was pregnant.

Hubby and I love that our children are close in age -- it is A LOT of work, but we really want them to grow up with similar interests, and similar developmental stages.  We have both agreed that when the time comes that our family is complete, when we decide we are done having children WE WILL BE DONE!

We want to make sure it is a decision we are both fulfilled and content with... but when that time comes, we will joyfully move on to another stage of life and leave the pregnancy and new baby stage behind forever.

I DO NOT WANT A NEW BABY WHEN OUR YOUNGEST IS IN HIGH SCHOOL!

That is big progress for me to show that our new baby days will have an expiration date and it will even be reflected in my reaction to plot lines in fictional sitcoms and dramas.

For now, though... this baby stage is pretty awesome:

Kids Say

The Darndest Things...

Yesterday, we were watching the old Full House and it was the episode were Uncle Jesse marries Aunt Becky.

Aunt Becky wears a great '80s style wedding dress and veil and as she came down the aisle, Lee Lee gasped and said, "A GHOST!"

New Friend

So... yesterday, for the first time since March 13, we ran a family errand.  There was a store in Grand Junction that Hubby and I both needed to be there in person to accomplish our errand.

So, we decided that less people would be out and about on a Friday than the weekend, so we loaded up our suburban for the first time in over a month -- clearly we're rusty because Lee Lee made it out the door and all the way to the store before we noticed she didn't have any shoes.

We had masks for everyone except Hunter, we had hand sanitizer in the car, and I told the kids not to touch anything about 100 times.

The kids did well staying close, minimizing our time in the store, not messing with their masks for the most part, and remembering how to behave outside of the house.

They did make a new friend at the store, and it was the sweetest thing.  Our kids were huddled by our cart, where we had told them to stay, and a little boy and his family came up near to where we were -- about six feet away.  The little boy was watching a show on a phone, and he stayed six feet away, but turned the phone around so our kids could see what he was watching.

It was such a sweet gesture of child-like friendship, but also still understanding the reality of social distancing.  (I blurred out his face because this isn't a person that we know and I wanted to respect privacy).

I never could have imagined this world for my children -- telling them to wear a mask, not to touch anything, and stand away from other people... but I also want them to remember this because I hope and pray that someday this will be nothing more than a memory and they will never take good health and modern medicine for granted.

Humor

Our little town is putting some humor in the current state of social distancing and quarantine life...

Older Siblings

I absolutely love watching our little kiddos growth into older siblings.

Lee Lee was the youngest for the longest of any of our children -- and she had the most number of older siblings doting on her for her whole life.  We didn't know how she would adjust to having a little brother or sister.  Thankfully, she takes her cues mostly from Caroline, and also from Howard and Tracey, and she has done wonderfully well as a big sister.

I love the pictures I'm getting these days of our playing with and loving on Hunter.

They are reminding me of the pictures from when Howard and Caroline were adjusting to being older siblings to Lee Lee... and when Tracey was adjusting to being an older sibling to the twins.

The truth is, living in quarantine could be miserable for children.  I think about the children without siblings, or just one sibling maybe five or more years old who do not share much in common.  I imagine those households are incredibly hard -- and so much more difficult than our household, which literally has children falling over each other.

Our kids are so close in age, and there are an above-average number of them.

But, I suspect, when they look back on social distancing and COVID-19, years and decades from me, I suspect... and I hope, they will just remember adventures with their siblings.

For laughs... look at these similarities: