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Day 13: COVID quarantine = All my favorite people are always around and have time to snuggle and play!!!!!! – Conor

Governor just announced no school until at least May 4. MA has 1,100+ cases. Conor is one guy who loves the Covid quarantine and is crushing this remote learning. He reads more books than any of us (he brought this book to J today to read!) and has discovered his belly button. Elliott and I went for a bike ride this afternoon to deliver sidewalk chalk messages to friends. And Natalie’s huge bright spot is that we set her up with Facebook Kids Messenger; she is loving it! I think the number one person she texts is her Dad, which she even admitted was a little funny because we all spend so much time together. 

Cribbage for Math time! Science experiment with Kaitlynn. Conor was loving a baby organic chemistry book because the atoms were balls. And COVID care package from Grandma  yay!!!

The stomach bug put me behind a few days. we had a renewed attempt at remote learning today and did much better. We were doing personal reflections at dinner and Conor was clapping for all of us! (Conor felt decidedly less positive about the spring snow storm though)  I’m feeling super thankful for a neighbor who gave us clementines, eggs and bananas since our grocery order doesn’t come until late Tues night and it’s been a week since we have been to Big Y. 

Conor woke up feeling much better but is still crabby. We let J out of his room for dinner.

Elliott joined me for 7 min of PE today!!!  Look at that impressive plank! (He was setting up for a push up). And learning time began. We got instructions from school. I’m going to make a learning plan with them each morning. I also told Jordan to order a chromebook with rush delivery and made a large order for supplies on Amazon. So thankful for delivery workers! A lego FaceTime play date with the Marx boys counts as engineering and drawing FaceTime chat with Grandma counts as art.

Day 4 was rough. Conor woke up in a bed of red kidney bean-puke and Jordan went to bed with a dry cough so we quarantined him in Elliott’s room for 20 hours (day 4 into 5).
Natalie and Elliott did a scavenger hunt on our old street with a lego prize!  The pic of Conor walking with them in their St Patrick’s day clothing was the only time they were by each other yesterday because otherwise they had to social distance from each other.

Day 3 of 23+
It was a full day of conference calls so the family fun was considerably less. Conor is loving baths so that occupied him for almost 30 min while the other two kids spent time on technology. Conor has a cold so he is crabbier than usual and J has a sinus infection so he needs to rest more than usual. Hoping this is the worst of it.

N and E also helped pick up dinner mess so We had time to play apples to apple. N and E also had a friendly wrestling tournament that didn’t end up in a fight or injury!! (If you talk to Nat, don’t tell her I wrote about that or posted pictures.). They also read and wrote a little today but my home schooling hasn’t started yet (reference the top many conference calls).

Covid social distancing day 2 of 23. Nat created a candy recipe…. vanilla chocolate chips, marshmellows, milk and powdered sugar. El had a challenge to build the full Haunted High School (9 bags, 1474 pieces) in 1 day, which he accomplished by waking up at 7 a.m. and finishing at 8:52 p.m.  Part of this included a 2.5 hour LEGO building play date (see ipad with friend Teddy).  He also stopped for lunch and dinner (not breakfast), soccer and a quick bath. We played soccer on the green, while Conor walked around a lot. And, I’ve done a fair amount of Covid communications this weekend (hence the boring last photo).

The vanilla delight!

She’s my baking buddy! (I’m her chocolate chip.) <That’s a little saying we have for each other.>

Hey, Nat, you know I don’t need you to hang onto me?!?!

See… Penny loves being outside too!

(This was a game of 360 soccer… El is protecting the goal, which is the tree.)

Challenge in progress….

Challenge competed!

I am feeling relieved the Governor enacted greater social distancing measures including 3 weeks and 1 day if no school statewide. I’m feeling anxious for low wage earners and fewer student learning opportunities.  More work tomorrow to try to do my piece to figure this out for Holyoke… while my kids read and write a letter / story at home.

This COVID crisis has brought much pain and sacrifice to so many people. Ours has been relatively small in the scheme of things – a canceled trip by G and G, a canceled guys trip and work trip by Jordan, no school or extracurricular activities for two weeks, and intense crisis planning at work. It has also brought some blessings, which I plan to chronicle throughout.

Day 1 of 16+

A family hike down the street from our house, where Natalie let Elliott proudly lead and we had fun throwing misplaced golf balls back on the course

My dada is so strong…. he can carry me and Penny! (a penguin lovey)

Then, I spent the evening advocating to state officials to take more drastic measures for social distancing, including statewide school closures.  Here’s a sample email….

Natalie is almost a germaphobe so I haven’t talked to the kids about COVID 19 until tonight. Given that G and G sadly need to cancel their plane trip out here next week, and the fact that the state of MA declared a state of emergency, I thought it was time for a real talk.

Erin: Have you heard of coronavirus for COVID 19 at school?

Natalie: No, what’s that?

elliott: No

(I explain a little)

Elliott: Well I have heard of the corolla virus.

(we have a Toyota corolla.)

Amidst all the worry that this illness is causing, its nice to have a small thing to smile about.  We’re doing what we can to prevent the spread of the illness in order to keep our most vulnerable populations safe.  We’re stopping unnecessary travel.  I’m also helping to inform the response in my school district.  We are so appreciate of all the public health officials, doctors, nurses, custodians, etc. that are working diligently during this time.