Not Our Normal!

After having two back to back birthday celebrations in quarantine this week, we were tired and a bit lethargic from the previous two days of indoor events. From game night to movie night both ending late into the evening we all felt exhausted this morning but still ready to start the day.

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Our daughter’s homemade cake. Aimée-Leigh did a good job for a first attempt. 👏

The Littles, three of our four youngest, asked this morning if we could go for a nature walk. On a normal day this would not have been an issue but let’s face it, when last has any of us had a “normal” day.

Rona has infiltrated our lives and literally turned this world upside down. Life as we know it is no more.

While we, as a family of homeschoolers, have not been as affected to the degree that most other families have been, trust me when I say that we are feeling the pinch as well. Our routine may not have changed much, since rising extra early to beat traffic and leaving the comfort of our homes for the better part of the day has never been our portion. Many of us do not have a plethora of extracurricular activities or extra lessons to shuffle our children to every evening but we are still feeling it.

The simple liberties that we can no longer take advantage of are perplexing to our little ones just as they might be to us. Our five year old asked his father last night if he could please pray for this “crazy Corona virus to go away!”

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We used these home-made fabric face masks in lieu of party hats.

This morning as soon as he woke up, he asked if it had gone. We told him that by faith it would pass. His next question, “Can we go for our nature walk now?” It has been weeks since our last but of course we couldn’t. On a normal day though we could and did, anywhere from once, to as many times a week as we wanted, either to start the day or to end it. Now, we have been mandated to stay indoors and to leave only for the essentials. The most I could do was to slide the drive way gate open and allow them to run a few lengths on the side walk in front of our home. Thankfully we have a fairly decent green space behind our home with ride on toys that they can still have fun with in lieu of a trip to the playground. Thankfully we now have fruit trees that they can enjoy and observe the birds as they nest or partake of the fruit now available.

Even though we are many, for this very reason I have never encouraged excess stuff. Our children don’t have too many toys, with less I find that they use their imagination a lot more. Yesterday they used every seat cushion in our sectional and the accompanying throws to build themselves a fort. They had fun in there for hours before it was time to clean up. Today, even though the most recent renovation project is incomplete, again due to the virus, we arranged the patio area in front of the annexe so that they can have pretend play and mimic the things that they can no longer do with me outdoors. The errands that we once ran so freely, now no longer possible for a time, but with a little imagination, they set up their stall and the train table, which I built last year with their help. They pretended to go to the grocery and baķery. They bought and sold. They built legos and played freely. We did no school today.

I sat on the bench, read them a story. We had devotions, prayed and then I left them to enjoy their new outdoor play space.

While we continue to enjoy our extended time together and make the most of this season, understand that as homeschoolers we’re feeling it. At this time many are now schooling at home and trying their best to replicate school. I believe they are doing their best given the circumstances, but make no mistake, THIS is NOT our normal.