The school had a planned day off on the 13th giving the kids a long weekend and we were hearing talk of them possibly extending the time off by a couple days to sanitize the school as other districts were also planning to do. During that planned “long weekend”, the schools throughout the state were closed for two weeks by the governor. Soon, another week was added, then the school updated their response to say “indefinitely”, it was then announced by the governor that the physical/in-person school would be closed for the rest of the school year. The school district that we live in had originally arranged for the kids to do online learning through sites the children were already familiar with on a “suggested but not required” basis. Once the school was officially unable to reopen for the remainder of the year, the online learning became mandatory and graded for the rest of the scheduled school year. The teachers have needed to adapt to giving lessons over video conferences and online sites. The kids are adjusting to not being with their friends or teachers, sitting at a computer or phone to complete work, and learning to have video conferences. However, they are also having more time to play together, not having to rush from place to place, and being able to do much of their work at their own pace. There are pros and cons to it all and everyone is doing their best.
Papa’s employment has thankfully remained steady (many are not as lucky) however he is working from home. It has been an adjustment (keeping five kids from banging around or being loud in the house, not using the central vac, keeping the kids from being loud when outside near his office, and not going to the lower level of the house during his working hours).
Things like Speech therapy and other doctor appointments have switched to video visits. We had two situations that required in person appointments (broken finger and vaccines). For those situations, we were sent to a designated “Covid-19 free” location (not our regular office or ER) and needed to wear a mask and have our temperature taken before entry was allowed. Only the patient and one parent were able to go into the location so thankfully Papa was working from home which allowed our oldest to babysit and be able to have him there in an emergency.
Currently, masks are required for anyone age 2 or over when in most public places (not while in our yard, walking in our neighborhood, hiking while staying away from other people, etc. which means we all have them except Isa.
Isa’s 1st birthday party, Jorge’s trip, our family adventure to Europe, summer camps, sports, play dates, our annual summer party, field trips, school concerts, and so many other things on our calendar have been cancelled .
Book club and play-dates have become video chats.
Playgrounds, community pools, public restrooms while hiking, campgrounds, some state parks are all closed.
Restaurants are only allowed to be open for take-out or delivery but some are closed.
In some places, things are beginning to be allowed to open again but right now, our county is still on “Stay at Home” orders.
Things are weird and it’s a constant mix of being worried about needing to clean everything that comes into our home, being concerned about possibly being exposed and bringing it home the few times that we’ve needed to go out, feeling like we’re on a long summer break with extra schoolwork, being concerned about the short and long term effects of everything that is happening, trying to enjoy the time that it is giving us with the kids, worrying for friends and family who aren’t able to be working or who are working and trying to balance everything while trying to be mindful of all the emotions and concerns that each of the kids are dealing with as it affects them.
