Author: mrsbarnes

Smudge

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This guy has been my favorite little buddy. I found out that he has been attacking the children a lot. At first I thought it was just the girls “loving” him too much haha then I watched him full on jump at Olivia with no provocation. Well I guess he is just sweet to me.

He also really loves to sleep with his head between these bars!

“Shelter in Place” started in March 2020

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March 13, 2020, was the last day of normal school. We were told to stay home and shelter in place as the Corona Virus was continuing to rise. The schools switched to distance learning, all businesses were closed unless they provided an essential service. Social Distancing of 6ft was also required so stores started limiting the number of people who could enter. (I actually didn’t mind this part!) Toilet paper, paper towels, and bleach became incredibly hard to obtain as everyone started stockpiling them. (we were a little concerned we were not going to get a pack as we were down to our last rolls, but we got super lucky one day at the grocery store) Wearing a mask became recommended and then required at many places. My. mom ended up making a ton of face masks to sell. She made some for Adrian, the girls, and me. Life became a little stagnant as we were all just stuck at home. Orange County did not close the beaches or set any parameters so our county was called out by the Governor of CA. So the beaches were closed, then opened for active use only, but no one follows that nor social distancing and no one enforces the active use only rule. It’s a bit frustrating when I am such a rule follower to see everyone actually enjoying the beach while getting away with breaking the rules.

Distance learning for me was no problem. I really loved working around my own schedule. I was able to wake up naturally, go for a walk, then take care of the kids all before actually sitting down to work. I did not enjoy that only 80% of my students did work. I also did not enjoy finishing a yearbook from home. I also did not enjoy the crazy amount of grading I had to keep up with. As an art teacher, I hardly ever grade since art is all about the process not the product, so just grading crappy products all the time was a bit draining. I stopped giving meaningful feedback early on, since really, what middle school kids is going to go back and improve their art?

Distance learning was not good for the girls! Claire was melting down because the computer programs were so boring. Her teacher had a daily video call around 9:20ish and that was tough remembering and getting the morning going around crazy bedtimes. We figured it out a few weeks in and now we spend the morning until about 10 am working on Claire’s work then I would take her and Alice to play at my mom’s house all day. Olivia took care of her own work. Realistically, she was getting it done, but at a bare minimum level. Some of the work I saw turned in was utter crap, but hey, she did it on her own! Jillian was like a full-time job. the first couple of weeks were a ton of meltdowns every day. I finally couldn’t take it anymore and emailed her teachers. Three of them reached back out and did one on one video chats with Jillian which eased some of her anxiety. Her Science teacher started a small group video chat every Monday for the kids who needed a little extra support to map out the week. Jillian and I started writing down her homework on a whiteboard for each day. She would erase the assignment when she finished. Then I could easily see what she still had to work on when I went to check on her. It wasn’t a full-proof system but it got us through. I was counting down the days to summer break!

I am writing this after 2 months on “Lockdown” but I am posting it on the 13th as a reminder for future days when we look back at the blog. At this point we’re tired of being stuck inside, but we are cautious still when we go out in public. We’ve gotten a little more relaxed on the social distancing as our kids go to my parent’s house every day, I have gone for walks with friends, and we had Adrian’s parents over for a birthday. We can’t wait to go back to “normal”