Week One of Coronavirus

Last Wednesday, I shared some ways the coronavirus has been shutting things down in our area.

And all this past week, I've been sharing daily pics on Instagram with our "new normal" routine. Here's a recap of those posts (7 "daily" posts and 4 other updates):

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#CoronavirusSpringBreak Day 1: the boys and I spent the morning in our favorite fossil hunting ravine. Then I gave the boys bathroom haircuts. After I cleaned up the hair, I taught Henry how to scrub the bathroom (tub, faucets, toilet, floors - all but mirrors), and he actually LIKED it.

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#CoronavirusSpringBreak Day 2: had our eighth grade neighbor Zach over to watch the boys during my morning class, then I took the boys with me for my afternoon class. They watched movies and drew in a nearby office. This “remote teaching” is time consuming: did some screen capture videos that were 25 minutes total, and they took 3.5 hours to create. And a project intro that usually contains 4x the images and is about 25 minutes total took over an hour to fix up and type up. Then stopped at the boys’ school to pick up 2 weeks of homework (Henry’s classroom is pictured as they’re about to replace all the windows, which is why it looks extra bare), and the day ended with a neighborhood bike ride.

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#CoronavirusSpringBreak Day 3: we started with our first Zoom date as Dr. Jeremy Wang (the middle school science teacher at the boys’ school and kindergarten parent) read a few books to some kinders. Then 2+ hours of homework, followed by 2 hours exploring by the Mississippi, dangerously playing in an 8’ storm drain culvert (that Henry wanted to go WAY in to), and picking up a bag full of trash. (The trash was mainly filled with styrofoam and “vices:” cigarette butts, cigar wrappers, junk food packaging, and hard alcohol bottles.)

I told the boys that Mama would not have approved of this.

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Despite *some* splatter, we all had a good time on our rainy bike ride! ❤️🚴🏼‍♂️😄

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#CoronavirusSpringBreak Day 4: video kindergarten learning, 3+ hours of learning about remote learning for me, a damp bike ride with the fellas, and lots of homework in the afternoon.

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A week of pandemic has done more for my cause than the last 6 years. #UrbanChickens #SOMEDAY

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#CoronavirusSpringBreak Day 5: both boys had virtual meetings with their classes (Charlie wore a mis-matched superhero shirt with Mario long underwear), and I had a faculty meeting (in my pajama pants and slippers). We walked to the corner store for eggs and snacks, and did homework all afternoon. We ended with a movie night: “Turner & Hooch.” And our cukes came up last night! #UrbanGarden

Slippers and PJ pants during a faculty meeting!

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My wife posted this on Saturday morning: "Morning scavenger hunt! If we are going to be stuck inside for the next two months, we might as well be cozy." We made 18 clues (for each boy) and hid them around the house the night before that led the boys towards a cozy new blanket. They loved it.

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“brave” (/brāv/), adjective: Teaching your 3rd grader to cut your hair during a pandemic. See also: desperate, stupid, lucky. #NotBad #ThreeDollarTip

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#CoronavirusSpringBreak Day 6: haircut, tax prep, fixed the pull-up bar (after pulling it down on me 2 days ago), got (local) takeout, and played some games. Much less technology today, and that was a good thing.

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Here's a link to Charlie *really* getting into making homemade pasta yesterday morning.

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#CoronavirusSpringBreak Day 7: CARB OVERLOAD! This morning was our first live, remote, and pantless church service. And then we cooked: 3 batches of homemade pasta (about 3/4 of a batch pictured), bagels, and cast iron skillet pizza for supper. And right now, Mama’s got the boys on a bike ride to get the squirrels out.

Here's to a good "week 2!"