Monday, August 24, 2020

Watching and Waiting

The smoke has settled in. It's thick in the air, it blankets the bushes in the backyard, it filters the sun with an ever-present haze. This is (unfortunately) nothing new in our neck of the woods. It happens nearly every summer. Fires start, the smoke billows, and eventually finds its way up the central valley of California and makes itself at home. 

In 2018, during the Carr Fire, the smoke was personal. It was my neighbors' homes burning. It was microscopic pieces of Whiskeytown National Park falling like morbid glitter from the sky. It was the green of our foothills going up in smoke right before our eyes. 

In 1999, the Jones Valley fire was personal as it destroyed my parent's home in Palo Cedro. Twenty years ago, this fire that destroyed 100 homes seemed like a voracious monster.  Little did we know that the fire season described as the "one of the worst in state history" would be dwarfed by the likes of the Carr and Camp Fires. 

After the lightening storm last week, I watched and waited for the fires to start. We all knew it was coming. Dry season, high temperatures, lightening. It's a bad combination. And the fires did start. Hundreds of them, up and down California. Thankfully, nothing close enough to home to cause major concern, so I went about my business and counted my blessings. Fire is such an ever-present companion during the summer months that I found myself numb to the worry and concern of others, hundreds of miles away. I've dealt with my fair share of fire trauma. Now it's someone else's turn. And I just didn't have it in me to walk that path of worry with them, whoever they might be. 

Until the smoke. 

When you read an article or see photos of a faraway place that is on fire, it's easy to sip your coffee and scroll on to the next news item. But when the smoke from that fire settles into your backyard it's tough to ignore. Suddenly the sky is eerie, the air quality is visibly unhealthy, and you're watching tiny bits of ash rain down from the sky. You can't open your windows, and you can't enjoy outdoor activities. Eyes get irritated, throats get scratchy. All you can do is wait, watch, and wonder. 

Somehow the presence of this thick smoke pulled me from my numb abyss and forced me to reengage in my tumultuous relationship with fire. Over the weekend I forced myself to actually look at the news to see who/what/where was on fire. The map looks like the entire state is ablaze. I found myself pausing to stare at the top of my garbage can, coated with ash, and wondering about those tiny burned bits. Where did this ash come from? Was it someone's home in Vacaville? An ancient redwood tree from the Santa Cruz mountains? A winery in Sonoma County? How far did it travel? What is the story of this stuff that has burned? 

It turns out that although the flames aren't currently threatening my home, this fire is, once again, personal. Flames are quickly bearing down on the city of Santa Cruz, where I lived for 5 years in my early 20's. UC Santa Cruz, where I worked for a number of those years, is evacuated with a freshly minted fire line scraped around the campus in a humble attempt to corral the flames into submission. Mt. Cross, the summer camp that I went to as a kid and worked at after college graduation, is silent, evacuated, and waiting. This isn't an anonymous blip on the map. This is the community where I lived out the carefree days of being 20-something. Mt. Cross is the place where I really encountered Jesus as a kid, and where I found friendships as a young adult that continue to this day. 

My mind has a hard time imagining the Santa Cruz mountains on fire. This is the home of fog, redwood trees and lush greenery. I remember summers at Mt. Cross when it didn't usually feel warm enough to swim in the pool (although we did it daily as kids...because kids don't care). During the off-season as a camp staffer, we (even the Minnesotans) would describe the winter weather as "bone chilling cold", not because it was below zero, but because it was dark and damp. The trees soar so tall in Felton that sunset came at least an hour early as the redwoods cast their giant shadows across the camp. 

I don't know how this fire story will end. The flames are still advancing, and the weather doesn't seem to be helping. If I have learned anything about fire over the years, it is that we are nearly powerless to contain it. Once a fire gets hungry enough (particularly in terrain that's tough to access), it takes on a life of its own. After you've witnessed a fire storm massive enough to generate its own weather system and fire tornado...you learn to just get out of the way and wait. And watch. And pray. 

And so I do just that. I drink my coffee each morning, out of a mug that has somehow managed to survive more than half my life. (Which really is a feat, considering I have moved at least 7 times since it's been in my possession)  The watching feels personal, yet again.  I wait to hear news of this place on the map that shaped my faith as a kid and forged it as a young adult....feeling a bit weary, but still firmly rooted in the hopeful promises of a loving God. 



Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him. 

Psalm 27:7


Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Space Kitties Charter School Diary - Episode 5

It turns out that the reality of the social distancing homeschool experience doesn't really inspire daily blog posts. For the most part, our days are the same. Sleep in. Eat breakfast. Do school work. Lunch. Watch TV. Play outside. Dinner. Once in a while we'll get a wildcard in there like a trip to the grocery store, or maybe picking up a free school lunch. These are simple, quiet days.

When I don't have to commute or drive kids to/from school every day, things seem infinitely simpler. When I have a meeting in the afternoon I don't have to worry about arranging alternate childcare. I can just plug in my headphones and Zoom away. There are no weekend birthday parties to shop for, no soccer practices to attend, no play dates, no quick trips to Target or the mall to pick up some item previously believed to be "essential". We take walks around the neighborhood nearly every day because...what else do we have to do? I've had more time to do video chats or socially-distanced walking dates with friends because...what else do any of us have to do? I'm reading more. I have more time for working on puzzles, playing games with the kids or random "Cafe Nights" where the kids create elaborate menus with the miscellaneous items in the cupboard. While I do miss some aspects of "normal" life, I find myself settling into this quieter pace of life. I know this won't last forever, and I've given up on hoping or wondering when it will end. It will end when it ends. For now, I'm relatively content with this homebody lifestyle.

So, in this relatively quiet season of life, when the opportunity to visit a farm (with new baby cows) presented itself, we nearly peed our pants with excitement and eagerly accepted the invitation.

Because...what else do we have to do?

The kids got up at 7am (earlier than they have in weeks!) so they could finish their school work and be ready to go after lunch. They piled into the car and were so excited to be going somewhere that they didn't even bother to ask if they could bring an electronic device along for the 45-minute drive down to Corning.

Our day at the farm was a much bigger adventure than I had anticipated. I figured we would drive down, look at the cute baby cows, say hello to the sheep, and then head home. What we got was a full-service farm tour complete with petting (!!) baby cows, visiting all the sheep, practicing our sheep herding skills, playing with the dogs, picking mandarins, learning about how prunes are harvested, looking for fairy rings in the pasture, climbing hay stacks, a peacock sighting, and asking about 1,382 questions about animals and farm life. Our hosts (My sweet book club friend, Ann and her husband, Henry) were so gracious in answering every last question and making sure we experienced all the fun things about farm life. (And thankfully none of the real, actual work or un-fun stuff that I know goes on at a farm every day!)

As we were leaving, Clara commented this was the "Second best day of her life" (second only to the day she got to play baseball on the field at AT&T/Oracle Park). I'm not sure if she really loves farms, or if every fond memory has faded so much she can't even recall what fun is anymore. Both kids asked when we could go back again.

If we had been living "normal" life, I doubt this farm trip ever would have happened. Weekdays would be busy with school and work. Weekends would be busy with church, soccer, or birthday parties. The drive would seem too long for something as simple as looking at a herd of cows. I would have forgotten about the invitation in the clutter of other obligations, appointments and events.

And yet.

We're not living normal life. And suddenly a simple afternoon on the farm ranked as one of the top life experiences EVER. Simple, quiet days bring a new flavor of joy. While we all want COVID to go away as quickly as possible, let's not miss the magic of this season of life. Because, what else do we have to do?

Clean hands. Open Hearts. Growing Minds.

Space Kitties signing off.

Home School Day: Lost count
Toilet paper inventory: 28, which is interesting since we had 27 a week ago and I haven't purchased any new rolls.
Wine on hand: 1 box, plus a bottle of rum, because 80 degrees is fruity cocktail weather. (And maybe this solves the mystery of the poor toilet paper math...)
Crying fits: 5-ish






Monday, April 13, 2020

Space Kitties Charter School Diary - Episode 4

Spring Break!!

There's a lot of bummers about living in COVID isolation, and cancelling our Spring Break mini-road trip is near the top of our list. As I saw this week approaching on the calendar I was kind of dreading it because it's hard enough to get my work done while the kids are (mostly) occupied with school work. Without school work to keep them busy, I figured it was just a disaster waiting to happen. Bored kids. Distracted mom. No play dates or road trips. Ugh. We needed SOMETHING special to distinguish this week from every other week stuck at home, so I came up with two low-budget, easy ideas to spice things up a bit. First: Nightly theme meals. Second: A jar of Spring Break Surprises. None of this is Pinterest-worthy, but I think it's safe to say it made the days pass less painfully and actually made things a little bit fun.

Monday:
Spring Break Surprise: Color-by-number drawing sheets. Remember how I mentioned this wasn't exactly Pinterest worthy? It's not. But it does bring to mind an ancient marketing secret. It's all in the presentation. If I had suggested we print a color-by-number sheet off the internet, they probably would have rolled their eyes and said, "That's boring." However, when I print off the coloring sheet in secret, roll it up, tie it with a ribbon and place it in a jar marked "Spring Break Surprises", it suddenly becomes remarkably fun.

Dinner Theme: Backwards! We wore our clothing backwards, turned our chairs around backwards at the table, and ate dessert first. The "dessert first" part was my secret ploy to get them to love the theme dinner idea, and I have to say it worked. They were lukewarm on the whole thing until I brought out chocolate chip cookies and insisted they eat them first. There is keen anticipation for tomorrow's theme dinner.

Tuesday:
Spring Break Surprise: I printed instructions for a game called "Snowball" which involves tossing around a bunch of crumpled up balls of paper, and a few other rules that nobody bothered to read. They weren't having it. The instructions sat on the counter all day, waiting for someone to play.

Dinner Theme: Crazy hats! We did "snow-cial" distancing today and took a drive up to Bunny Flat to do some sledding. After a long drive and lots of fun in the fresh powder, this easy theme dinner was a great fit for our dinner of BBQ take-out.

Wednesday:
Spring Break Surprise: Today was the jackpot. They each got $20 to order something off of Amazon. I tossed this in the jar as a Hail Mary pass in case the Spring Break Surprise idea flopped. Surely they couldn't feign indifference at free money! Turns out they weren't as excited as I thought they would be. I mean, they didn't turn up their noses at online shopping, but there were no squeals of excitement. Sigh. It's hard to generate excitement in this house-bound life.

Dinner Theme: Pajama night! We actually did all manage to get dressed in real clothing today, and then had to change into PJ's for dinner (Pancakes and bacon!). Then we had to change back into our clothes for our scheduled grocery pick-up time slot from 7-8pm. As luck would have it, the grocery store computers all crashed and they were not able to fulfill our order. So tomorrow we'll be digging through the freezer and getting creative with our meal prep.

Thursday: 
Spring Break Surprise: Recipe for homemade play dough. By Thursday, the enthusiasm for the Spring Break Surprise jar was pretty weak. Around 4pm, I had to remind them they still had a surprise to pick for the day. They ended up getting excited about making play dough and figuring out which colors to mix together to make it purple. Can we count that as a science lesson?

Dinner Theme: Raccoon Night! Did anyone else have a Raccoon theme night at their house this week? No? Just us? Hmm. Well, if you want to re-create this gem at your house it's not about eating roadkill, as my kids feared. It's about eating like a raccoon. Raccoons don't have opposable thumbs, so you achieve this raccoon-like status by taping your thumbs to your palms. It's fun. And slightly ridiculous. I would suggest that you get all of your serving dishes to the table first before taping everyone's thumbs down. Managing hot pots of food sans thumbs is just an unnecessary layer of danger for the raccoon theme night.

Friday:
Spring Break Surprise: Some writing/letter game. Still sitting untouched on the counter

Dinner Theme: Formal Night! Of all the theme nights, this one garnered the least amount of enthusiasm. One kid was excited about an excuse to play around with make-up, and managed to put on a fancy-ish shirt. The other had to be bribed and threatened before he put on a shirt with a collar, and he only agreed to be fancy "from the waist up." Clearly living life via Zoom meetings is starting to affect how he relates to the world.

On Saturday night I asked the kids how they would rate their spring break on a scale from one to ten. One rated it an 8, the other said 9. I think that is pretty fantastic, given the circumstances, and the fact that they saw right through my feeble Spring Break Surprise efforts by day two. The theme dinners were definitely the fan favorite, and they are already hatching up ideas for future theme dinners. For the most part, I tend to be a "make the best of it" kind of mom, but even I was skeptical we could pull off a spring break rated 8 or above in the middle of a global pandemic.

I'm proud of my kids and their ability to adapt to disappointment after disappointment during this era of COVID. I'm proud of my low-budget creativity that produced some pretty fun results. And I continue to be grateful for good health, meaningful work, ample food, shelter and the blessing of living in the moment with these two little people that I love so much.

I know that so much of what we do as parents will be lost and forgotten in the dusty memory banks of our kids. But these simple joys will be indelible, even without spending a lot of money or traveling to exotic locations. I write these words as a reminder to myself for the days ahead, and to the future me in 2021 scrambling to make plans for the Best Spring Break Ever. Perhaps the Perfect 10 is within our grasp, and more simple to create than we ever imagined.

Clean hands. Open Hearts. Growing Minds.

Space Kitties signing off.

Home School Day: Spring Break!
Toilet paper inventory: 27 rolls (Thank you Costco and Susan Tieden!)
Wine on hand: 1 bottle
Crying fits: 2 (we had another one in there somewhere but I can't remember when or why)

Snow-cial Distancing.
Fresh powder, blue skies epic sledding.


Monday, March 30, 2020

Ten Joys of the Season

Random things we have enjoyed during COVID19 stay-home orders

1. Riding bikes around the empty parking lots of businesses that are closed.

2. School busses delivering lunch to our neighborhood.

3. The AMAZING flood of memes, videos and general funny circulating on the interwebs. Even with a deadly virus lurking in our midst, we are funny, America. Truly.

4. Time to clean old photos off my phone. 2016 is now officially documented in a photo book!

5. All kinds of fun instructional videos that are popping up online. This weekend we learned line dancing from an urban cowboy from Toronto.

6. Daily walks around the neighborhood. Because we gotta get out. of. the. house. Also, the bear hunt thing is pretty fun. (If you're in our 'hood, look for the pig and penguin in our upstairs window)

7. Puzzles. Full disclosure, I'm kind of a closet granny and I love puzzles even when I am allowed to leave the house.

8. Using the internet as a tool to connect rather than disconnect.

9. The fantastic Snapchat instructional videos Thomas' teacher posts (complete with funny voices and ridiculous lenses).

10. Attending virtual church services in our jammies. The coffee hour snacks aren't as good as what we've come to expect, but the lax dress code and comfy seating are fantastic.




Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Space Kitties Charter School Diary - Episode 3

March 23, 2020

It's Monday, the start of week 2 of our homeschooling adventure. It was a busy day.

Highlights:

  • Everyone slept in and got going on their school work without any nagging. 
  • Again, they worked independently and saved all their questions for the moment I jumped on a video conference call. 
  • Field trip #3 was another trip to pick up groceries and deliver them to my parents. 
  • A hail storm in the afternoon made me regret my decision to convert the garage into the Space Kitties Charter School room. I quickly shoved the school stuff to the side and put the car back in the garage. Thankfully the hail was small and passed quickly. 
  • We put out a homemade rain gauge in the backyard (thanks Grandma!) and will be measuring rainfall as part of our ongoing science project. 
  • Late in the afternoon when the storm clouds cleared out, we walked to the park to kick the soccer ball around. We now maintain safe a "social distance" from the playground equipment, but still appreciate the open space to run around and get our wiggles out. 
  • On the walk home, we took the long route and the kids had a great time stomping in puddles and rescuing worms on the sidewalk. Watching the kids stomp in puddles has always been one of my most favorite things to do as a mom, and today I'm thankful they haven't yet outgrown that simple pleasure. 
Clean hands. Open Hearts. Growing Minds.

Space Kitties signing off.

Home School Day: 5
Toilet paper inventory: 9 rolls
Wine on hand: 2 bottles
Crying fits: None

March 24, 2020
Hey! We made it today six before we had our first serious meltdown. I guess that's a success story? Ironically the crying fit wasn't even about school work or being bored in the house....it was when I was trying to teach the kids how to play hop-scotch. (I mean the real game with place markers and all that....not just jumping around the squares) One child (who shall remain nameless) was not quite as good at it as the other child. The frustration level kept rising as the other sibling was more and more successful....and then it all fell apart. Tears. Screaming. Lying down on the ground. Truly, it was quite a show. I'm sure the neighbors enjoyed it.

We managed to get ourselves back in the house without any major damage. Everyone is recovered, we got the laundry put away, and now the kids are parked happily in front of their electronic device for TV time.

I nearly had a crying fit of my own when I realized today is Tuesday and not Wednesday, the day I have a conference call scheduled with my high school girlfriends. So, that wine inventory is holding steady for another day.

Clean hands. Open Hearts. Growing Minds.

Space Kitties signing off.

Home School Day: 6
Toilet paper inventory: 9 rolls
Wine on hand: 2 bottles
Crying fits: 1

PS....Our reading nook game is strong in this house. Pinterest, eat your heart out.



March 25, 2020

If I had a nickel for every time someone sent me a creative idea for home schooling, I would be a millionaire by now. I get it!! There are a zillion great resources out there for homeschooling. Also....I'm working, and the school sent home a very complete collection of things to keep the kids busy. So I really haven't had the opportunity to do much of anything outside the box. But today we executed a Pinterest-worthy art project in the back yard.

Step one: Use masking tape to lay out a grid on your wood fence.

Step two: Color in the spaces with sidewalk chalk

Step three: Remove the tape and you have a stained-glass window on your fence! 



This is probably the first time an internet art project actually turned out as good as the original picture. #winning

Clean hands. Open Hearts. Growing Minds.

Space Kitties signing off.

Home School Day: 7
Toilet paper inventory: 8 rolls
Wine on hand: 1.5 bottles
Crying fits: 1

Friday, March 20, 2020

Space Kitties Charter School Diary - Episode 2

March 18, 2020

So far, our favorite part of home schooling is the sleeping in part. Well, the kids sleep in. I get up at 5:30am to do yoga, eat breakfast, shower (sometimes), and get ready for the day. This morning I was at my computer ready for work at 7am, and the kids rolled out of bed between 7:30-8am.

While I was embroiled in a 2-hour video conference call this morning, the kids interrupted me approximately 72 times to ask questions about how to do their assignments or how to login to their online classroom resources. The internet is their native language and suddenly they have no clue on how to interface with technology. Go figure. Even at this very early stage, I'm over trying to appear engaged on video conference calls for work. Now that the whole country is home schooling, I'm just assuming people can give me some grace and pretend not to notice when I'm talking to my kids or interrupted by the cat who needs some attention.

Our lessons today went pretty smoothly (other than the aforementioned 72 questions during the 2-hour video conference).  My 3rd grader colored and labeled the different layers of the earth and practiced his cursive pretty much without assistance. My 5th grader did her online math practice and writing exercises mostly independently. We laughed together at some point during the day. There were no tears (other than the somewhat irrational tears that sprung to my eyes while watching this goofy video from the school administrator.) And although our garage/classroom was "too cold" for class today it is now properly decorated with a Space Kitties Charter School banner. So we're classing things up a bit and making this a professional operation.


On day two of home school, we took our second field trip to pick up the free lunch being distributed at school. The kids never get school lunch, so this was a pretty big treat. And by treat I mean the entire meal was basically dessert: Chocolate milk, Doritos, Apple juice, Uncrustable PB&J sandwich, some kind of mystery frozen fruit smoothie thing and baby carrots. If this is the post-Michelle-Obama lunch, I'd hate to see what school lunches looked like pre-Obama.

I don't know how homeschool moms and dads do this without peer support. I was on a Facebook discussion group at least three times today looking for advice, asking questions and complaining. I'm thankful to have a motley crew of mamas to turn to when the going gets rough or I just don't understand the teacher instructions. I have a call scheduled tomorrow with my sister in law so she can help me speak the language of common core math. I told my son to "carry the one" today and he looked at me like I was from outer space. I guess we're all going to get schooled together during this adventure!

Clean hands. Open Hearts. Growing Minds.

Space Kitties signing off.

Home School Day: 2
Toilet paper inventory: 10 rolls
Wine on hand: 2.5 bottles
Crying fits: None


March 19, 2020
The home school operation has officially moved to daddy's house for the remainder of the week! Phew. I was planning to use this time of quiet and solitude to get caught up on work, but my brain is still largely incapable of focusing for large periods of time. I find myself getting distracted by checking the news, watching social media, and generally just a lot of staring at the screen waiting for words to come.

I don't feel particularly scared of this COVID-19 drama....but I do feel unsettled. I find myself wondering about what kind of groceries will be available the next time I go to the store, or how other kids are doing homeschool if their parents don't have time or interest in doing any kind of home learning. It feels a bit like 2018 when the Carr Fire was raging through our region. With such big news going on in the background, it's tough to focus in on anything else.

I did get out for a walk with a friend today, and enjoyed some sunshine and fresh air. We joked about how we might need to sneak out for walks if a Shelter in Place order came through. And then a few hours later, the Governor of CA issued a "Stay Home" order for the whole state. Doesn't seem so funny anymore. I guess after massive wildfires we should be thankful that nothing is burning. After rolling black-outs, we can be happy there is electricity. After a few days of rain, I'm appreciating the sunshine. And of course, having a home in which to stay put is a blessing that many don't enjoy.

Clean hands. Open Hearts. Growing Minds.

Space Kitties signing off, until next week!

Home School Day: 3
Toilet paper inventory: 9 rolls
Wine on hand: 2.5 bottles
Crying fits: None

Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Space Kitties Charter School Diary

March 17, 2020

Well, like pretty much every other family in America, we are embarking on a homeschool journey. As a mom who works from home and values the peace and quiet that comes with that....let me just say up front I'm a little skeptical. Intimidated. Anxious.

Due to the current size of our home (tiny) I decided we needed some dedicated space for school work. So, the car has now moved outside and the garage has been converted into our home school classroom. Our classy reading nook is constructed from a cardboard box, strung with Christmas lights and padded with a camping mat. The matching bookshelf really sets the tone for the room, I think. We borrowed a card table from Grandma & Grandpa, and viola!! We're in business.

Reading Nook. 
I am pleased to introduce to you the Space Kitties Charter School!! The kids picked the name, hoping the cat would be their class pet. So far, she has no interest in that. I'm not exactly sure where the space theme comes in....maybe it just makes school seem more exciting? Anyway, that's the name that the kids picked and if it makes them feel more excited about hanging out in the garage all day...so be it.

Today we had "home school lite" since we hadn't yet picked up our official work packets from school. There was reading, online math practice, PE (One kid did Yoga, the other opted to ride his bike in the rain), science observations, and a history lesson that entailed interviewing grandparents about their history with diseases and hospital visits.

Our first day of home school also included a field trip!! We drove to WalMart to pick up our grocery order. I wouldn't let the kids get out of the car, because, social isolation. I nearly crawled out of my skin when the clerk put her finger on my ID that I had to produce for the wine I was buying. Overall the grocery pick up was a success, although somehow we ended up with 14 bananas and no bread. That's a lot of bananas, even for a house full of kids that love bananas. The kids seem excited about the challenge of eating them all before they go bad. I think there's a science experiment brewing here about the impact of bananas on your GI system....

After grocery pick up we headed to the library to pick up a book that had been placed on hold. I had to bring the kids inside with me but gave them strict instructions to TOUCH NOTHING. They lasted about 20 seconds before they leaned their entire bodies all over the checkout counter. (Insert eye-roll emoji here)

Next stop was school to pick up independent study packets. The kids stayed in the car while I got doused with hand sanitizer and picked up oodles of fun things to keep them entertained for the next 3+ weeks.  Bonus: They were giving away free snacks! I don't know why milk tastes better when it comes from an individual serving-sized carton, but apparently it does. When we got home and I saw this worksheet for parents in my son's packet, I literally got tears in my eyes. God bless the teachers that take the time to give us home-schooling rookies a fighting chance by bribing our kids with treasure chest prizes. I mean really...she had like 24 hours to pull together home lesson plans for 3 weeks and she takes the time to toss in this nugget?? Saint Crystal, I thank Jesus for you.

There are a lot of reasons why I love Ms. Crystal. This is near the top of the list. 
And our final stop on the very first field trip for the Space Kitties Charter School was Grandma & Grandpa's house to drop off groceries. Again the kids didn't get out of the car, which kind of puts a damper on the fun of going to G&G's house. I'm not sure this field trip will make anyone's "Top 10" list, but it's our first day. We've got lots of time to practice and get this right. That is until they tell us to shelter in place. I guess we have that to look forward to. And when that day comes, the kids most certainly will look back on this field trip as the BEST. DAY. EVER.

Clean hands. Open Hearts. Growing Minds. Space Kitties signing off.
Home School Day: 1
Toilet paper inventory: 10 rolls
Wine on hand: 3 bottles
Crying fits: None





Sunday, March 15, 2020

Parenting in the Age of Coronavirus

Oh Coronavirus. Just a few short weeks ago you were a blip on the radar. A menace in China, half a world away. And today you're knocking on doors across America. No longer can we ignore the news, or the shortages of hand sanitizer.

Concerts are cancelled.
Professional sporting events are cancelled.
Broadway has gone dark.
Schools are closed.
Churches are live-streaming.
International air travel is restricted.
And of course there's the real stuff that will go down in history books...the insane hoarding and subsequent rationing of toilet paper.

Interesting times to be alive, wouldn't you say? Interesting times to be a parent, for sure. Today's challenge: Telling your kids they are fine and not to panic, while the world around them is essentially being turned upside down.

I have tried as much as possible to use this as an opportunity to open up discussion with my kids so they understand what is going on around them. There are two main points I want my kids to understand:

1. If they become sick, they probably have nothing to worry about. They'll be sick and then get over it.

2. Some people won't be so lucky. Some people will die. And for this reason, we are all doing our part to keep this virus contained as much as possible.

By isolating ourselves we can keep the virus from spreading quickly. We can buy some time, slow things down and give our healthcare facilities a fighting chance to help those that will get REALLY sick when the virus hits.

These are big, somewhat abstract concepts to teach to kids. There is this mystery virus circulating, that is probably not a huge risk to them personally, but a very big risk to people that they may never meet. And in spite of kids being relatively safe, they are asked to make significant lifestyle changes for the good of the order.

What a beautiful teaching moment we have for our kids.

We're all going to be inconvenienced.

Do we bitch and moan about every inconvenience, or use this as an opportunity to be models of grace and compassion?

Do we panic in the face of uncertainty or do our best to embrace the unknown and adjust as rules and directives change?

Do we turn inward and focus only on keeping our own family safe, or do we take time to check in with neighbors and friends to see if they need help weathering this season of uncertainty?

Do we break the rules because we aren't personally at risk, or do we do our part to keep EVERYONE healthy.

I understand it's a lot. This whole situation is just a LOT.

And also, the kids are watching. They are wondering if they should panic. They are learning about how to behave when the going gets tough. They are noticing how much energy we spend on blaming and how much we spend on doing. They are taking note of how many hours we spend on social media or obsessing over the news vs. how present we are for them during this time of uncertainty. They have questions that they may never ask if we don't take the time to pause, look them in the eye, and ask them how they are doing.

Nobody ever, anywhere, at any time ever said that parenting would be easy. And now, as most of us face WEEKS alone at home with our children (while simultaneously trying to work remotely so we can still pay the rent) let's remember that we signed up for this. We created these little humans and they are now looking to us, in this weird, uncertain, stressful time. Let's show them we are people of grace. Compassion. Patience. Love. Community (with appropriate social distancing). Let's do our best to take advantage of this teaching moment that has dropped in our laps.

I give this pep talk as much for myself as for anyone else. I'm not excited about the weeks ahead (especially given the forecast of rain that we have locally and the fact that I will have to go out and hunt Toilet Paper soon.) I love my kids, and I love my work, but when I try to attend to both of those at the same time, it makes me a little insane. So the weeks ahead feel a little daunting. I plan to do a lot of praying. Some deep breathing. And a lot of disco dance parties, walks, talks, and hugs with these two precious humans that I don't have to isolate myself from. I have faith that the cries of boredom will eventually bloom into creativity. And thats one thing that I love to see.

Just as long as they use the TP sparingly.

PS...

If you're looking for educational resources for kids, there's a great list here.

If you need help, or you're in a position to help others during the weeks ahead, consider signing up for the C19 Help Squad.


















Sunday, January 12, 2020

New Year, New Life

I've been struggling with the way to properly announce this. And really there's no good way. Many people are already aware, but some are not. My husband and I have separated.

There. Announcement done!! Sometimes you just have to skip the careful preface and rip off the band-aid.

Every relationship is unique, and ours is one that was bittersweet. Rooted in this cute beginning as high school sweethearts, we lost touch for 10 years and then married in our early 30's. Even as we go our separate ways, we continue to be intimately intertwined as we navigate the details of a (hopefully) successful co-parenting strategy. After 13 years of marriage, we didn't walk away because we hate each other. We walked away because we couldn't simultaneously love ourself and the other person in a meaningful way within the confines of that relationship. Well, that's the best way I can describe it anyway. But as I have learned over the years, there are three sides to every story: My side, his side, and the truth. I can't tell his side of the story but I can share a bit of mine.

The responses I receive when I tell people my husband and I have separated usually fall into one of these three categories:

1. "I'm so sorry."
To which I usually want to respond...."Don't be. I'm not." That's not to say that everything is peachy and my new version of "happily ever after" is a dream come true. To me, sorry represents regret. And 4-months into this separation I can say that I do not regret the journey, and I do not regret walking away. This transition has come with moments of sadness, ugly-cry grief, fear, anger, relief, hope and spontaneous-dancing joy. I'm sure the challenges of our situation will continue to reveal themselves as time goes on. But I'm ready. Over the past year I have done a LOT of work around feeling all the feels, making time for self reflection and giving voice to my authentic self. Through that process I have come to realize that who I was inside this marriage was not the full expression of who God created me to be. My happiness was in spite of the relationship, not because of it.

2. "Oh my gosh. I thought you guys were happy."
Well, we were. To a degree. But not to a degree that worked for us. To be fair to him, our children, and the rest of our family, it really doesn't do any good to belabor the details of how we got here. Suffice it to say, we worked long and hard to avoid this. This decision to share our children and divide all our worldly possessions did not come lightly. During our life together, we weathered some pretty hefty challenges that might have busted up other families into a million angry, jagged pieces. We patched together a life the best we could. In the end, what we were left with was a broken vessel, not sufficient to hold a meaningful, authentic version of husband and wife.

3. "But I just saw you together at (fill in the blank)"
Yes, we do that. We are still raising children together. We attend school functions, we go to church, and we celebrate some holidays together. I still consider his family to be my extended family. Fingers crossed, we won't be the couple showing up on Judge Judy. Our shared goal is to not turn this into a shit show.

As I move through this new and unexpected season of life I can say that I feel the blessing of middle age through it all. At this stage of life I have friendships deep and strong enough to help me process all the feelings, and different people to turn to when I need to cry, dance, get some fresh air, or share a bottle of wine. The shame of failure is tempered with the knowledge and acceptance of the fact that I (along with everyone else on the planet) am an imperfect human. I have learned to give myself grace. I have enough life under my belt to trust that this experience will not not break me. It will remake me in new and beautiful ways.