Wow! I haven't updated this blog in 3 years. 3 YEARS! How does that even happen? Life. Life get's busy. I originally started this blog as a way to journal my kids' life. Seeing as I have failed to update in 3 years well.... there goes that. But yeah, life get's busy. AND then... it slows down. Because... QUARANTINE! Yep, I figured I'd jump back in seeing as how we'll be home for the next month and really, there's no excuse anymore.
March 15th is the last day my kids were out of our house. Ok, ok... that's not exactly true. I did pile them in the car one day to go thru McDonalds... but they didn't have shoes on, they were wearing the same clothes that they'd had on for about 4 days and they didn't get out of the car until we pulled back in the garage. So technically, March 15th was the last day they've been out of this house for fun. That was the last time they were at my parent's house for Papa's birthday. Quarantine's been rough, y'all. I'm getting real tired of babysitting my parents' grandkids. Yeah. I said that. For real though, besides the few times Mama and Papa have dropped by for a few minutes, my kids haven't gotten to see them. Did I mention that quarantine's been rough?
But let's look at the bright side. My family is healthy and safe. We have a stocked fridge, enough toys to last us for days, craft projects lined up to get us through and oh, yeah... we have enough toilet paper to last us at least another week or so.
When this quarantine happened we were just getting back from a mini vacation to Green Bay and Chicago. Yep, we were in Chicago right before this all happened. GO figure. Anywho, we got back and things got real. Our fridge was bare because I had cleaned it all out before we left and we were down to like 2 rolls of toilet paper. NO big deal, right? We really didn't see this all coming. I guess that's what happens when you don't pay a lot of attention the news. Lesson Learned. So, when the rumors started (before the official announcement) I was frantically trying to get groceries and toilet paper. I wasn't one of those crazy people that was trying to hoard enough food to last us through an apocalypse...I was just trying to get enough food to last us a few weeks. OH and to stock my fridge.... remember when I said it was bare? I got lucky and went to our local Dollar General and found a pack of toilet paper before they got slammed and nothing was left. Whew. I headed to walmart and wouldn't you know that almost everything was gone?? C'mon people, what are you really going to make with milk, eggs and bread... and 1,000 rolls of toilet paper?? Ugh, I digress.
What was that? The Bright side? Oh yeah, that. Ok, well in all seriousness, this quarantine has been a lot of fun. My kids are playing, their getting to facetime with their friends and this Momma has crafty ideas coming out of my ears to keep them entertained. We've gotten to spend a lot of time as a family and eat a lot of home cooked meals. Ok, ok... those first few weeks we did get a lot of take-out. BUT we were trying to support local businesses. However, this past week I decided that we were going to have home cooked meals everyday of this month. I even made a nice little meal calendar so I would know exactly what to order with my groceries. We even made a new rule that our kids HAVE to try whatever Momma cooks... and so far they've discovered that they actually like what I'm cooking. I mean, who would have thought?
We've gotten a lot of work done on our house too. We've spent a lot time outside and today we did a lot of yard work and sprucing up outside. I even took my Christmas decor down from the front porch last week! I mean, come on, if that's not a win then I don't know what is! Let's be honest, last year that stuff stayed up ALLLLL year long. I even decorated my front porch for Spring/Summer. See, quarantine isn't all bad! We've got a checklist going of things we want to get done. That includes power washing the house and doing a thorough cleaning of our windows.
Let's get real. In all honesty, this time for us to slow down from our fast-paced lives has been a welcomed change. I still have A LOT of school commitments to keep up with (#teacherlife) but slowing down has been nice. Before all of this, we literally had something every night. Wrestling, Ninja Class, Team Ninja Class, Wrestling, Piano... We were busy ALL. THE. TIME. I'm not complaining, we enjoy being busy but slowing down is also just as great.
Now, that teacher life. WHEW! Shout out to all of you teachers who have moved to online learning and are figuring it all out as you go! I'm going to be a pro when this is all over. Our school has moved to distant learning and yesterday I spent the day finishing up packets and packing my student's things up. It was roughhhhhh. At first, when this shut down happened and they announced it for a week, I was happy. Not gonna lie. I could use an extra week off. But then it kept getting extended and the reality that I wouldn't get to see my kiddos at school anymore became a harsh reality. There's a lot of opinions about this "online learning" and I won't go into all of that or get political. But let me say this... it's hard on teachers. I'm not going to get to say a proper goodbye to my students at the end of the year. I spend MORE time with these kiddos than I do with my own kids. I love them each like their my own. They've taught me so much this year. I miss their smiles, laughs, silly jokes... the list goes on. We're not going to get to have our Kindergarten graduation and I won't get to see them in their cap and gown. Not to mention, their parents won't get to see that either. Like I said, Rough!!! So people, take it from me. Your teachers are taking this hard too. And yes, we're still working hard behind the scenes so we can continue to educate our students. Let's be real, I spend MORE time now working on lessons than I do in the classroom. That's because not only am I working on lesson plans but I'm also making my lesson plans available to parents, making videos for our lessons, posting story time almost every day for my class, the list goes on. No, this isn't time off for teachers. We are still working hard every single day. Ope, that's right. I said I wouldn't go off on a rant. Ok, Rant over.
Anyway, this post is long. That's enough. I'll be back on here writing because like I said, Quarantine. In all seriousness though, I hope each and every one of you are staying healthy and safe. I don't take this situation lightly, by any means. I am totally aware of the fact that my family is very blessed to be able to stay at home during this time. We thank and are praying for everyone who is still working during this time.
That's all folks. Stay safe. Stay healthy. Stay 6 feet apart. AND wash your hands!
Ami
