Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Day 5: Tuesday was the first "Home schooling" day for my kids at home. Baking and creating was a fun activity for my 16 yr. old. The staff came in today for the last time to get their packets ready to send out and families came in to pick up anything they left at school along with the educational resources. Staff were thankful for the reassurance and the chance to connect one last time with their students before school is completely closed. Gov. Evers banned all events over 10 people and restaurants are closed.
Day 6 Wednesday
Shell Lake Schools serve over 1,000 meals to families in the district delivering by bus or pick up at school. Families were so thankful for this service - some in tears for the blessing it was to have food in a very difficult time. Gas is $1.73 which is amazing but it's still a time for tightening our belts and thinking about finances. I think of all the people in jobs where they have to interact with people - they are either putting themselves at risk or they are out of work. The stock market has been on a crazy dive - we took a look at our retirement funds but I wouldn't advise that. Congress is considering stimulus packages but for right now people just want to know they have enough to pay rent or buy groceries. My heart goes out to them!
Day 7 Thursday: My poor kids don't get a break - I told them they had to get up at a reasonable time, had to put away their phones for the duration of the "school day" and they had to do all homework and chores before they could take a TV break. They had to haul 3 huge trees we cut down out of the woods - Physical Education! My daughter decided to put up her hammock and hang outside to read (she still needed a sleeping bag to stay warm though. They bought a frisbee, bubbles and a kite to keep them occupied outside in addition to setting up the trampoline for spring.
We have tried to stay busy with a pile of books and videos from the library (now it's closed sadly). They've been playing Ticket to Ride, Cover your Assets, Clue and Monopoly Empire. I figure that all counts as math, economics, history and more!
Day 8: I had 3 work meetings via Google hangouts and Zoom. I even recorded a message for Facebook to share with school families - a little vulnerable to put that out there but I wanted to give it a personal touch. It is nice to see people even it was via video - again people are feeling isolated so anything we can do to connect and interact with each other is helpful!We had to transition our college student to online classes at home, so we created desks all around the house for each "student" and she transformed her bedroom to look like a dorm room. Illinois went on "Shelter in Place" today and travel in and out of the USA is severely restricted. I'm attaching this video of the Silent City only for historical purposes - it's eery and sad, but I'm so glad we got my daughter out of the city before it was too late. These are strange times indeed.
However, I'm proud to see all this creativity in my household on days 5-8. It's amazing to see our resilience and our ability to find positives during these strange times. I'm counting every blessing!
What are you doing to keep your chin up with your families at home?
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