Most of the day, I am doing well. I feel safe, don't feel any worry about getting sick, just doing my home type things. And then...out of nowhere...it hits me! It almost immobilizes me when I think how absolutely insane this all is. Today what sets me off was an announcement of complete closure of public places, restaurants, pubs, movies, and bowling alley. Also they added a curfew. Off the streets, different counties offer different times, from super early like 8 till midnight depending, but I can' help but say, 'WHAT IS HAPPENING?" I have been inside all week so all I can do is imagine what it is like in town with these new closures. My girls who work at the Grocery Store say that the shelves are pretty empty of some stuff, limits are posted as two each. One of my girls said..."THERE ARE NO HOTDOGS" We all have our priorities...LOL. But again...I haven't been in a store for a week so all I can do is imagine. She said the meat section is wiped out completely! And at times like that...I struggle a bit. Not because WE need anything or that we are even close to being out of food but because my world is no longer MY WORLD! I think of my Grandchildren who are watching this all happen and wonder what their stress level is...or just rolling with the punches as kids can do. My youngest daughter was 8 when she watched the towers fall, so she has been raised with the fact that things can change in a blink. I know how I would be acting with my kids still children during this. We would stick to the schedule...they go to bed at the same time, get woken up at the same time. Meals may be a bit more leisurely as sitting down at the table together always got them talking about what was on their minds. (If you don't do family dinners together, away from TV and other distractions like no devices or books at the table, this would be a great time to start. It might take a few times to get the kids talking freely but it will happen)
Since they don't have the outlet of their outside friends and activities that is where you would have to get creative to entertain. But be there if they want to play a game, even if you don't usually. This can be a time where you connect to the kids differently, it will be a blessing in the end!
Food:
I know that we aren't growing weary yet of having the same thing. I AM still using up what is there. The other day, I found a bunch of leftover cooked spaghetti from 4 days ago...plain, spaghetti, still good and they had made way more than needed for the little bit of leftover sauce. I sure as heck wasn't going to throw anything away. So I put it in a colander in the sink...let hot water run over it to perk it up (fridges can be so drying) and started to work on putting together a spaghetti salad we usually love in the Summer. Temps are in the 70's right now so it was perfect. there was almost
1 lb cooked pasta...doesn't have to be leftover
1/4 cup chopped raw onion...sweet, purple, Spanish, doesn't matter
1 green pepper chopped
5 Roma tomatoes chopped
1/2 to 3/4 cup mayo
2 T Vinegar (again doesn't matter, whatever you have, white, red wine, cider etc)
2 tsp Oregano
2 tsp Basil
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
Toss it all together
This keeps for awhile, but my family gobbled it down in 2 days
I added a classic Broccoli Bacon salad and had dinner. I had bread and cheese I was going to bring out but forgot.
We had leftover Chocolate Cake my daughter made for St. Patrick's day for dessert!
Homeschool:
I know many of you are stuck trying to do something you never wanted to do. When I started to homeschool my first it was during a time that this was just being pioneered. Thankfully in Fort Lauderdale, where we lived at the time, it was popular and we already had a large support group. But around the country parents were still being arrested because of Truancy laws. It was in the mid 80's. Home computers were hardly that normal...VCR's just came out so we lived in another world. But, not so anymore. Our phones are computers for goodness sakes and we have untold number of movies we can just stream.
I don't know what the school has supplied you with, books etc. But I wanted to add a few things that might give you a break and also have the kids still learning since we have these options online. Just a few websites you can check out. Some of them require a free registration. Perfectly safe to do. If you find a glitch in a game...don't abandon the whole site just move on to another area. I found one and thought the whole website might be like that but it was just that one game.
mathplayground.com
This takes a video game approach to basic math skills. K-6.
education.com
This is great. Has lesson plans, games, printable sheets, themes. Requires registration. They have both a free registration, but they also have a Premium that is $8 a month...yearly for $5 month etc. Of course, I believe you aren't going to be stuck doing this for a year but if the kids actually end up liking learning through these games...why not? All Subjects All Grade levels
Historyforkids.com
Obviously which subject this deals with. They have quizzes, printable pages and great pictures concerning the subject. There is a lot of reading in this but that isn't a bad thing. Where would we be without reading? It delves in very much detail on each subject...from geography of the area, rulers, battles, lifestyle etc. Very interesting
https://www.learn4good.com/games/for-high-school-students.htm
Ummmm….WOW! This is an amazing site. It has all ages but I was looking for high school in particular as this is probably hitting this very social age the worst. They have multiple high level games that teach...one that made me say wow is "arm surgery" for kids that wanted to go in the medical field. I actually played this game. LOL I was a nurse for a number of years and found it very interesting. I am proud to say my patient's arm is fixed and survived my surgical skills.
Okay, that is all for today! Please click follow this blog or just come back later to see what is going on. I plan on writing every other day...if I start going stir crazy I might up it to every day. Comment below any questions, suggestions, corrections. and I will try to answer each one. Thanks and Be Safe!
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