One day at a time

So far, so good.

We’re on our second day of school and daycare closure and working from home, and we all still have smiles on our faces.

I allowed the kids to have Monday as a bit of a holiday, treating it like any other long weekend with an “anything goes” type of mentality, but I knew this wouldn’t be healthy for an undetermined length of time. My answer? Structure.

On Monday evening I developed a routine, set up somewhat like a bell schedule at school. From 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. it’s Rise & Shine and Breakfast, and depending on the day of the week, 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. might be Chores or School/Learning Activity. There are times for Music, Art, Outside Play/Exercise, and of course they can fill their lunch hour with board games or whichever type of play they choose. Each day is a little different so there’s no room for boredom.

I even went an extra step and set up recurring alarms on our Google Home Mini, which we typically have playing music in the background of everything we do, sort of like school bells. When the alarm sounds, it’s time for the next activity. Because I’m kind of that mom.

This was welcomed wholeheartedly by Brooke, who is in Grade 12 and thrives on structure. Figuring it out for herself is never the ideal – “Just tell me what to do, please.” (Having said that, I don’t have any concerns about her going off into the world on her own. I just know I’ll probably get a lot of calls and texts, and that’s okay).

Today, we don’t have anything formal in place from CTR Catholic yet (my little students attend St. Mary’s School, St. John Paul II Collegiate and Holy Trinity Academy) so their three blocks of School/Learning Activity were largely made up of reading books – and there’s nothing wrong with that.

For the little one, I ventured out to the Dollar Store yesterday and found some level-appropriate workbooks, and she enjoyed doing some printing, patterning and colouring, and filled the rest of her time with painting and other creative endeavours.

They played basketball together during their morning “recess,” out on the driveway enjoying one another’s company (and they took photos to prove it). I wonder how long that will last? One week? Perhaps this time will teach them how to appreciate each other a little more.

All of this they did around me, as I sat at our kitchen island with my makeshift office: a laptop, cellphone, notebooks I picked up from the office yesterday. They were quiet when I needed them to be so I could make phone calls, and (for the most part) knew to let me get my work done.

The little one is having the hardest time adjusting to this. Hannah sees mom home and wants all the attention, but thankfully she’s got three older siblings who are very good at keeping her busy.

Speaking of little ones – I’m so grateful for dayhomes being open and Baby Jordan being able to be in the care of our provider, who is being exceptionally careful with her space for her own health and for the children. She was home with us on Monday and it was difficult to work and keep tabs on a one-year-old who just learned she’s mobile and now gets into everything she possibly can.

We plan to walk to the dayhome to pick her up each day, as long as the weather allows, so we're guaranteed everyone gets some fresh air and a bit of exercise (I'm going to miss my daily workouts at Motion Fitness, but I'm adapting and have a new 6 a.m. home workout routine in the works).

I have no doubt this will be a long road.

We’re navigating it the best way we can, with a little structure, some learning and a lot of work, with fun sprinkled through the mix to keep the mood light and make the wheels keep turning.