Captain's log, week 3: The adjustment.
I know - maybe I'm taking this too lightly, but at this point, this is our reality. We have two choices: we can fight it (but it won't change) or we can accept it (and, also, it won't change). I'm choosing to accept it - mostly because its easier and I am sick of fighting. I'm tired of fighting for toilet paper or with the people who cannot mind the orders to stay home. I'm sick of fighting with my kids to do their school work and, mostly, I'm tired of fighting with my idea of what this all supposed to look like. Instead, I decided to just change the lens under which I'm living.
I was talking to some friends this week and it dawned on me - I'm NOT socially distant at all, I'm physically distant. I'm still talking to my friends the same amount - I'm just not seeing them. Sunday, the kids and I did a quick drive-by to wave to friends who were waiting for us on their front lawns. I let the kids shout "HELLO" while I (loudly) chatted with the parents from our very safe car more than 6 feet away. It felt great to connect and completely satisfied all of my family's needs for connection.,
In another conversation, I was lamenting about "homeschooling" and my homeschooling parent friend actually reminded me that that what we are actually doing right now is NOT homeschooling. It's PANDEMIC or CRISIS schooling - which is 100% different from homeschooling. This is a totally foreign concept to ALL of us - and we need to tread lightly. We need to embrace what works and ditch what doesn't We need to acknowledge that any fairytale we had of how this would look is probably unlikely to happen. In our case, we invested in a waterslide for the yard and we'll start calling that P.E., we picked a few topics that are interesting to us (the kids) and we'll learn those. They can still do their math and writing - but it will be about something that interests them and not what I planned out. And, that's ok.
Anyway, what I'm saying is: Just do what works for you. And, to help you out with finding that balance, you can find some fun holidays to celebrate this month, some ideas on at-home kits from local Union County Businesses and ways to support our local community.
Stay well!
