We have been semi isolated since March 13 when I made the decision to pull the kids from school as the COVID-19 crisis became a pandemic. We had been talking about what was going to happen should things get really bad at work and had started to look at the contingency plan that was created after the 2013 Calgary Floods. Which would ensure access to all of the things we needed at home.
My situation when it comes to working is very different from the average or “non-gaming” person. I have everything I need to be entirely effective working, gaming or generally being on my computer from home. Including a wonderful ergonomic chair, standing desk (combination Ikea Corner desk top & legs BestBuy), and ergonomic keyboard.
We game in our non-working time so my set up is such that I can spend a lot of time on my computer without too much strain.
Does this mean I was prepared to go from things are normal, to complete lock down…NOPE, well sort of.
The changes in how we operate on a daily basis came exceptionally rapid. One day we are being told to stay home if we have immune compromised people within our direct connections to the next day being told everyone is working from home.
I pulled the kids from school as soon as I was instructed (yes told) to work from home due to our family situation with Dave’s health (read that story in Dave’s Journey). Shortly after this, schools closed their doors and went to online models. So very much change in a very short period of time with adjustments taking weeks.
It has now been four weeks and the kids are starting to get a little stir crazy not seeing friends either online or in person. We have all sorts of ways to make this happen, but as much as we are struggling with this, I am sure others are having a much harder time. Especially those that are naturally social butterflies, extroverted and huggers. I really feel for those who are huggers.
We are again fortunate to still have access to our day home for the kids, who have started to go back in the afternoons, both to get them some activity and to go back to something normal. And MAYBE so I can get a break from the daily struggle with online learning for a almost 10 year old and 6 year old. Language Arts is hard, according to the almost 10 year old.
It’s taken about three weeks for things within the online schooling for the kids to kick in fully and become more organized. No one was prepared for this so it has taken a bit to get things organized, especially on the education front. Mostly it was finding a platform that worked and was secure for the students, which was totally understood.
Four weeks into this physical distancing thing and I think everyone is starting to feel that it has been more of a social distancing experiment as everyone has sequestered themselves in their homes are are only communicating via social media. Not what was intended I’m sure, but seems to be what’s happened. Especially once the recommendations and the restrictions came into play related to visiting people and the requirement to stay 2 meters apart.
I am pretty fortunate that my kids are able to keep themselves occupied and play nicely, most of the time, with each other. We are getting settled with school, though that’s been a bit rough. I am having a hard time with the recommendation that my kids (K-4) only need to do 5 hours of learning activities per week when they have attended school for 6 hours per day. Seems just a little off. I can see it being slightly less than what they were in class for, but not that drastic. Though I guess I can see the issue when most of what is happening for learning is the responsibility of parents. I get frustrated within 5 minutes when the focus of my children disappears. Oh and the “It’s too hard” comment will now bring out the Nerf gun, because I know you haven’t tried yet.
We are surviving, and doing pretty good all things considered. We haven’t been sick in a month, and it had been a monthly occurrence since school started. The weather is starting to look like spring, maybe tomorrow, wait no it’s okay to be spring today, wait, nope not yet. Yah, that can just stop now too, though it will be harder to keep people inside when it gets nicer, and I don’t want to know what we won’t be allowed to do next.
I heard someone say that it was okay to gain 10 pounds during this time. My response was 10 pounds a day? Not so much. I know I have been living on junk food and booze for at least a few weeks, and now it’s time to stop that. Though I think the booze part might be hard, it’s been keeping me somewhat sane during all of this when my frustrations get the better of my better nature.
Now if only my grocery order would update without me losing my pickup slot. I already have to think a week out in meal planning, which I don’t do well. I just wanted to add vermicelli noodles and remove the yogurt we aren’t eating as much of. SIGH. 1st world problems.
Thank you to my mom and sister-in-law for the handmade masks. They are appreciated, though I now have to wait until May for the filters to use with them. I guess something is better than nothing, or at least that’s what an info-graph I saw indicated.
I really am okay, just needed to rant a bit, I think I did a good job here. With so many changes and more to come as we find out new things about this virus I can only say that I am here for anyone that wants to chat, video or voice only. I may not have anything informative to say, but I am here to enjoy the ride with all of you.
The Adams-Schlag Family 