The year of the camp table

 If you know our family, you know we love to camp.  We have a big camper, we've taken it near and far, and I'm always looking for camping hacks.  We walk or drive through campgrounds and I'm eyeing up other people's set up - do they have a camp kitchen?  Is there an outdoor rug?  Where did they get that gadget?  Oh that's smart...we should try that.  You get the idea.  One of my biggest areas of research is how large families camp.  There's only so much storage in a camper for food and clothes...and the picnic table provided has a limited capacity for seating.  Since there's 6 of us, we're sort of on the edge of being considered a large family.  But as we grow, so do our needs....you guys, my brain has always got about 57 tabs open.  If given 5 minutes of time to 'research', I usually scroll things like pinterest or marketplace sites for ideas and supplies to solve problems or make things better.  

But this isn't about camping. 

I wish it was!  We did some camping this summer and it was nice.  We talked a lot about how if all the schools went virtual, we might hit the road and do school from the camper.  The big guy got me all excited about being near a beach or spending lots of time outside...alas.  School for our 4 kids is in person.  Which is good!!  I prefer that.  But it's a rainy day today so yeah.  Thinking about other weather.  

This post - this post is about some camping tables.  "But listen to yourself, you said it wasn't a camping post."  I know, I know - I'm getting there!  Back in early March, in case you forgot, we began hearing rumbles of this virus, right?  And there was talk of school shutting down.  Um....if you have a personality like mine, you were starting to get 'amped up' and your brain started spiraling and you felt like some doomsday preppper, constantly plotting in your head what you would need should the world shut down and access be cut off to...to...to...well, anything and everything!  Yeah.  I was doing a lot of that.  We discussed homeschooling (ack, sounds of air whooshing in and out of the brown paper bag, pupils dilating, what? I can't teach, oh wait, I am a trained teacher, ack, noooooooooooooooooooooooooo, ack!!!!) and all I knew was we needed desks.  Apparently everyone in the area had the same thought.  I am cheap and don't want to pay for desks.  Nor do I want 4 of those huge antique one room school desks either.  AFter a sleepless night or 2 (and probably scouring the usual spots) I had an epiphany!!  CAMP TABLES.  

I busted out of my 'A Beautiful Mind' corona prep cave and searched for camp tables on the shopping site named after the forest it is most likely destroying.  The best thing about camp tables is that they are smaller than card tables and they still fold up and can be stored easily!  I cannot have more random furniture added to this crazy house and yet a tv tray is too small for a computer and some space to do school work.  Enter the camp table.  I'm over here giving myself all kinds of pats on the back!!  

Last school year, the kids did 10+ weeks of school at home.  Two kids were at the camp tables, two kids at the used but perfect for us small wooden desk/tables.  Dave usually sat in his recliner.  At the end of the year, I was so happy to put the camp tables away, happy to use them for camping instead of school and oh so very hopeful we would never use them in the house again.  Of course, here we are - out of my 4 kids, we have have 5 instances of a kid being quarantined/home from school due to exposure/close contact to a positive test.  And yeah, you guessed it, since Dave has been home for weeks already, that means the camp tables came back out!  He's been using both of the wooden desks for teaching from an Elmo projector.  All in all, I think w/4 kids in school, 5 instances in 3 months isn't too bad.  (I feel bad for them though, since it means they miss out on fun stuff and extra curriculars.)  I have decided that this is the year of the camp table though.  I don't think I'll ever shake the connection to school at home.  They will always remind me of this time.  It feels weird saying that since 'this time' isn't over yet...but...I dunno.  I felt like waxing poetic about it today.  I am thankful for camp tables.  I am thankful for this memory that is 'in progress'.  May it only last a year!

Day 2 of round 2

 This is not a monthly recap kinda post.  

Our current situation is that Dave's school has gone virtual, for the first time in this academic year.  

(For context, last school year was impacted by the coronavirus.  We went virtual in March and never went back.  We started the school year in person - well, Dave's district/school chose the hybrid model while the kids' district was in person.  It's been 7 weeks of this...w/rumors of everything shutting down again soon due to a resurgence in cases and deaths in our area.)  

It's day 2 of him teaching from home.  

(My fat fingers typed teachering - and now I'm laughing at that word!)

He originally was thinking he'd have to go in to his classroom during this time.  A lot of his supplies and technology are in the classroom but he figured out a way to do this from home.

(Anyone remember Elmo projectors?  I walk by that thing in the LR and am compelled to do the voice - "Elmo loves you!  HAHA - that tickles!")

So far today, my teacher husband has checked on the students and encouraged them.  I think there was a dad joke in there somewhere too.  He asked about their profile pics, showed interest in their lives, chatted about how they were doing w/this.

Oh.  And he taught math.

A lot of parents, myself included, have been expecting a lot out of our kids' teachers.  I have said that if 'they' don't step it up this year...not gonna lie, I went through and rated the job my kids' teachers did last year.  I am willing to give grace for all that though, b/c no one expected what was coming!  No one was ready.  This year?  I admit to being a lot harsher.  So far the kids haven't gone virtual but I know the teachers are preparing for it.  I have said (out loud!) that I expect my kids to be engaged all day, not just given busywork assignments that take 10 minutes (or 3 hours, depending on the skill and knowledge of technology of the kid/kid and parents...!!).  Some teachers last year taught class from home just like they would at school.  Some did not.  I am working on stepping my expectations back, just in case my kids go virtual, trying to get my mindset on some middle ground.  Having the big guy home, teaching in the LR, right behind me - helps.  I see all the hoops set out by admin, I see the old school tech he is jerry-rigging up to teach from home so he can be all things to all people at the same dang time, I see/hear how he cares for his students and their mental health first but their education a close second, I take note of how he feels lonely w/just me and the dog here...he misses his kids.  He wonders out loud why some of them haven't been 'seen' in a while.  We go for walks and talk about all this.  I should say that I force him to get outside to walk the dog and me.  Yes I need to be walked.  We never regret the fresh air and tiny amounts of vitamin D we can glean here in the frozen tundra.  I push him to take us on walks.  Sort of a bass-ackward motivation, saying I'm doing it for him (I am!) but really I'm doing it for me too.  

Anyway - I just wanted to document this...this stage...I wanted to say how proud I am of Dave.  Not that he needs me to say that.  But he's the rock of this family, keeping the boat upright and even when it dips, he's the guy handing out life vests and holding us up above the high water.  

Now, just for some humor...I wonder if Dave has thought of this?  Her shower is really clean...she must live alone!!  

Sequestered 2020: It's not all bad, weekend update

It occurred to me that my poor blog has become a place I simply rant about the stupidity of online school, where I am to deliver a cobbled together curriculum I have not created.  I promise all my posts on the sequestered theme will not be about that!  So - today!  I wanted to come here and point out things that fall into the category of 'it's not all bad'.  I will cultivate my optimistic side (do I have one?  *looks under arm, tries to see back in mirror*)...let's see if that part of me grows! I also miss the photos, so there will be some of that too!

IAT badge

First of all - we are doing some laughing here.  We like each other =)  It's nice to spend evenings playing ball together in the yard, talking at all the meals and being silly together.  This weekend was amazing - no technology and no screens!  

We will!!  

Yesterday we hiked over 6 miles on the IAT.  I'm out of shape!!  But it felt oh so good to out, doing what we would normally do on a spring weekend!  Not only that, but I think I forgot about all the quarantine stuff for a few hours.  

Tired puppy after a long hike!

The teenager and I hate online school!!

We bought stamps and have already written a few notes to people.  On Saturday we participated in a worldwide/online 'jump around' party...(For those of you that don't know about this tradition... read about it here!  Dave and I were at the game where the tradition started.)  Anyway, today is another day of distance learning from home and I needed to find a way to make the day fun.  It would have been the NCAA men's basketball championship tonight.  According to the BPI, the Badgers would have won!  I saw championship t-shirts for sale and laughed!  This is the time we are living in...things are happening virtually, in theory, and we're making shirts like we always do!  I might buy one, but for today, I am pretending that they would have played Duke (my favorite!) and the Devils would have been underdogs, so I put my #32 jersey on and decided to cheer for the underdogs.  

She's still tired today!

We've been playing a bunch of games in sequestration too.  I've been keeping a list!  We might need to borrow some games from friends to change it up when we get sick of our usual ones.  So far there's been a lot of Catan since we just picked up some different versions.  No complaints!  I set up the board randomly so it's always different.  With the new versions we've been trying out some different board setups for Seafarers.  WHOA - it's been interesting!  We even did the one where the tiles are added after you reach that part of the board, sort of a mystery board.  Good stuff!  See, I can put out a non-ranting post!  Tomorrow is national coffee cake day so I am planning a bakery visit.  You should too.  

Sequestered 2020: online school AGAIN

Here it is people!  The second installment about online school!  I know you are all waiting with bated breath (what a weird phrase*) to hear how today went.  Well, you're in luck because wonders never cease and I am not too tired to hop on here and tell you the tale...
Yesterday was a dumpster fire.  Today that fire smoldered.  It was still there, but it died down.  A little.  There was a gamut of emotions today.  For example, Dave had to leave the room to join a meeting while we soldiered on in the living room/school room central.  Five minutes later we were treated to a symphony of shouts, shrill shrieks, screams, squeals and squawks**.  No I am not exaggerating!!!  Apparently internet/technology was amuck/amok (you choose!) and so was Dave.  I offered to help but...I wound up laughing and giggling uncontrollably from the other room.  I'm sorry, babe, but seeing you spit hot words of anger is so rare - I forget what that looks like/sounds like!!  Other emotions to make an appearance today were things like overwhelmed, ambivalence, anger, joy, and um....poutyness?  Is that a word?  Spell check says no.  Sullenness?  You get it, I'm sure you do b/c all of you are stuck at home too.  See that's why I'm writing this.  I need something to do that I like that maybe just maybe will makes us feel a little more connected.  People, send me a letter.  Email me.  Call.  Video chat if that's your thing.  I am pretty much a people person and this is ridiculous.  My days are going to be marked by a feeling of helplessness...I'm trying not to think of it in such a depressing manner, but I can't help my kids w/everything, I can't help my hubby w/the stupid internet and I can't help other people I love since I am stuck here!!!  But - I can try to stay connected....right now I feel like there aren't enough hours in the day for 'me' time or time to stay connected but I think it will get better.  I hope to schedule some time - I have a friend who literally makes appointments to talk to people.  I need to do that.  An appointment would help b/c then I wouldn't just say "let's do it" and forget but really do it!  Ok, this story about our day got off the track there, but that's ok.  There probably is no track now.  Whenever something seems off or out of the ordinary let's just yell CORONAVIRUS!  I got off track.  CORONAVIRUS!  I used to say 'squirrel' as a way to explain my ADD tendencies, but hey, we're blaming the virus for a lot right now, so why not?  Ok, back to the story.  We borrowed another friend's daughter's school lunch gimmick at the end of the day today.  It's called pits and peaks.  We went around the table and said one pit (low point of day) and one peak (high point of day).  I started crying when Mo told his peak.  He said it was looking out the window while doing school and seeing the sun and how it moved through the clouds and all the nature outside.  *gulp* First - I busted butt to get an area of school set up.  I chose to put it by the big windows b/c if it were me, stuck staring at a screen in the same room when I had been used to going around different parts of school, I would want to be by a window.  I loved my college classes where I could sit by a window.  I am an outside girl.  I love nature and I love our property out here.  I picked that for them b/c I hoped it would make them feel like they were part of the outside even when they were in.  It made me feel good that Mo liked it and that I actually did something that helped someone!  On the other hand though, it made me feel bad that this is happening to my kids.  I wish I could take it all away!!!  Sure, skip school, go play, that's better for all of us anyway....only we can't.  There's this list of work for your classes...ARG - I have said it more than once - Mom doesn't want to do this either.  At least we get to be together.  We had a few more laughs tonight when we played a family game - Franklin was overreacting when he started to lose, well, maybe he didn't feel like it was overreacting!  He made these faces....we all got the giggles...then Dad kept missing a turn b/c the direction was changed right before it got to him, so he started to over-exaggerate and overreact!  This felt like a really really long day but overall it was a good one.  Not all kids got all their work done but I am over it.  We're doing the best we can.  At one point during the day I ran out to get supplies for a craft.  I need to do something each day for me.  I get so mad and emotional about the difficulty of all of this.  My brain gets stuck and if I don't shift gears...well, I don't know but I'd rather not find out.  So - we're going to make a snuffle mat for the dog!  And maybe some Easter crafts.  More on that in another post - that will probably be more interesting than my rant of the day!  Hopefully you read all this and it was like a hug from me, b/c I miss those too!!  

*Side note that it is not spelled 'baited' as I had previously and erroneously thought.  Bated breath is a phrase that means to hold one's breath due to suspense, trepidation or fear. Bated breath is a phrase first mentioned in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. The word bated is an abbreviation of the word abated, meaning to lessen in severity or amount.  The more you know...

**How is it that I spelled that word 'sqwuak'?  I have been spending waaaaay too much time sounding out words w/my kids!!  Can I just go back to my babysitting job??  Please??  I miss baby talk, patty cake and cheering when a tower is knocked over.  Seriously.  Brain.  FRIED.   It will get easier though!  We get a bunch more chances to practice this whole school at home thing!  TOMORROW IS A NEW DAY!!

Sequestered 2020:school at home/online day 1

(I wrote this last night...)
Nothing like disappearing for a week, right?  I didn't write because we were on spring break.  I attempted to relax and calm myself before what I would like to label as the storm.  Tomorrow we begin school...here...online...if you know me, you know I don't home school.  You know, that even though I am a trained teacher, I have zero desire to teach my children at home.  I love them and I randomly teach them many things here and there, but a structured, actually-counts-for-DPI kind of thing is not my style.  Nevertheless, here we are and many parents are in the same boat as me!  We've set up all the desks, we've charged the myriad of devices, we've put each kid's books, folders, binders, etc at their spot!  We're ready!
(Today...)
Welp!  Pride goes before the fall!  I was soooooooo noooooottttt readyyyyyy.  I didn't even know how not ready I was!!!!!  Online school today was pretty much a dumpster fire.  Rolling down a hill.  Crashing into an art exhibit or something.  I dunno.  I'm shaking my head vehemently as I type this.  First of all - the teachers are kick butt awesome!!  They have all these emails and assignments and cool tech things for my kids.  THEY (teachers) were ready.  I logged in to the first kid's stuff and there were videos and tutorials and I attempted to set that child up.  On to the next.  Same, only this kid likes to click around and push buttons during a 10 minute video, so I had to sit there and prevent that.  Third kid kept trying to mess w/their background on the home screen, not necessary, just get back into your classroom and do the task!!  Another child started up a video chat and didn't know how to hear the teacher but kept taking headphones on and off, yelling, all while the final child was attempting to use talk to text but kept getting the sibling's words in their document.  Make sense?  Yeah me neither.  I tried to watch all the videos too so I could understand just what we are doing.  I think I've got it now but in the meantime I have no idea what everyone did today!!!  Oy vey!  We muddled through half of what we should have done.  TOMORROW WILL BE BETTER.  There is nowhere to go but UP!!!!!  A lot of my kids' work requires input or assistance from me, to be sure they are staying on that task or understanding what to do.  There are 4 of them and 1 of me.  As a classroom teacher, there are usually around 30 kids, but they are mostly all on the same task.  This is 4 diff. grade levels, 75% of this class has special needs, and I am a few years behind in the tech.  FUN!  I know I am not alone in this, so many people I know are working from home AND trying to get their kid/s to do school too.  YOU ARE ALL SAINTS.  Tomorrow is a new day. 

In other news - my daffodils are coming up.  It's too wet to 'rescue' them from the leaves but hopefully I will get to do that soon.  I was happy to find some fresh veggies at the store today.  We have been set on supplies for a while now, but I was starting to fret when I saw how empty the produce section was at the store last time.  Don't come between me and my morning smoothies!  The new furniture that we received before we break is working out very well.  I hope to find a rug soon.  We are all healthy.  Aside from me feeling overwhelmed by school responisibilities today, I am so glad to be w/my people.  We start and end the day w/snuggles and there is always music.  Every person in this family is very musical.  I do play instruments but don't sing - the rest of the crew does.  Oh I sing, I mean I love to sing, but it's not good.  They are all really good singers though and it does my heart good to hear them!  On that note, I think it's time for me to blast some music and dance it out.  That's probably the best way for me to end the day!!

Sequestered 2020: part 2

Today’s news....it snowed!!  Spring break (the original one) is days away and it snowed. This is not out of the ordinary for WI, but it just felt weirder to me today. We had new furniture delivered, so that was exciting!  The kids did well playing legos together. I had a chiro appointment. I’ve decided to try and blog each day if possible. I feel like if we don’t remember at least something about these days, they’ll blend together. Today we also started a few things that will be crucial to our morning and evening routines. Baby steps to the new normal!

Sequestered 2020 part 1

School was supposed to be in session Monday and Tuesday...today is Tuesday. It was called off before the day was over yesterday. So we went for a walk at Kohler Andrae State Park, ate ice cream (drive thru) from Culvers for St Patrick’s Day and then stopped by school to pick up more supplies.

The teachers have informed us that ‘school’ doesn’t start until the 30th. Until that time we are able to play, create and use our minds in many other ways!  Mostly we are reassuring the kids and helping them relax. There’s a ‘new normal’ coming since the governor just announced that school is suspended indefinitely. There is a time for everything under the sun, and this is the time for bonding and setting the tone for our ‘home team’ to work together for awhile. Adoptive and foster families don’t operate the same way other families do...if we jump too fast and push them too hard, it will not end well. It is more important that our children have relationship skills and life skills than book skills. So here we are. Making a list of ‘yes’ activities!  Yes, you can go get muddy and build a fort in the woods!  Yes, you can haul out the art supplies!  Yes you can try to cook that!  All this uncertainty will pass - it’s a large task to keep anxieties at bay and our attitudes in check at the moment, but this is what will get us through.

Sequestered 2020: the Intro

(Written yesterday...)
One of the old definitions of to sequester is to commit to safe keeping a person or item. To quarantine someone or something means to keep isolated due to illness. We are not under quarantine, since no one is sick but now that school is called off, I consider us to be sequestered!  This is history in the making, in my opinion, so being the story teller that I am, I thought it would be interesting to document some of our thoughts and activities to look back on some day.
Quick back story, over the past month or so, much of the world has been dealing with the spread of COVID-19, better known as the CORONAVIRUS. As a nation, the U.S. watched as little by little, it spread through contact and reached us. This past week there was much speculation about whether or not towns near us (WI) would take action and begin canceling things...well they did. The governor announced the closure of all public and private schools from Mar 16-Apr 6. Some districts had already closed, some even through the 13th.  It’s the weekend and that means we have school Mon and Tues before this long break. Unless of course they cancel that too!
So far we have not joined the panic hoarders, but we did go grocery shopping. We’re trying to plan for spring break so there were some things we needed.  Guys, the veggies were gone!!  I walked into empty shelves...all I wanted was 2 zukes!!  Meat was empty, no bread - hope you kids like bagels!  It was eerie. I keep our fridge and freezer pretty full since 4 kids eat a lot, so I’m not too worried.
The other weird thing about this is planning for schoolwork. The kids can do some stuff online, but our internet is spotty, so we’ll see how that goes. Dave went to school today to try and get some things set up for his students. He’s not locked out yet!  We joked that if he couldn’t get in, it would be a sure sign that we’re not doing the next 2 days of school. As of this writing, there are 3 cases in our county. School is on for tomorrow, life will be normalish for 2 days...and then?  We roll with whatever comes!