Day 8: Off to a rocky start
Making the weekend stand out came down to two words: fun and simplicity.
We spent family time on Saturday afternoon roasting hotdogs with a backyard fire pit and playing in the snow – in t-shirts and snow pants, truly Canadian style.
For me, there were three easy ways to separate weekdays from weekend: no alarms, no schedule (other than when the baby naps, and even that changed slightly) and I very purposely didn’t put on makeup or jewellery.
You see, through the week I intentionally got ready for work every day, even though I’m working from home – I knew I would need to feel some sort of change in the routine for Saturday and Sunday, and also wanted to be prepared in case I have any FaceTime or Skype interviews (it hasn’t happened yet, but I’m definitely open to them, FYI). So when it was sweats and face moisturizer only it definitely felt like a non-workday.
All of this, I thought, would make Monday easier.
I was wrong.
It was fine for me, I got up and was ready to tackle another day: early morning workout – check; breakfast – check; interviews lined up – check. Jordan was taken to her dayhome and the rest of us ready for another day.
But it seemed no matter what they took on, the kids were bound to make some kind of colossal mess, right down to boiling pasta water spilled everywhere while making their own lunch. Insert incredulous headshaking here.
We came up with some fun ways for education to happen this week, especially today, since their distance learning doesn’t kick off until Tuesday.
For science, they could plant flowers in the pots they made from old coffee cans last week (dirt and water all over the driveway; thank goodness Mom had the sense to kick that activity out of the house).
Christian and Alyssa also decided they’d each make batches of cookies – call it Foods class.
The Boy went first, choosing a new recipe from our Cookies cookbook. He’s a rookie baker, so it was a good idea for him to use the double-School/Learning Activity block this morning (and he used every second of it).
He set up the stand mixer directly across from me at the island, and while I started making my phone calls he started creaming butter and sugar. Fast forward a few minutes, and I’d settled down to write while he added the dry ingredients to his bowl – and then he flipped the mixer on.
On high.
After the massive mushroom cloud of flour settled, we were left in a massive fit of giggles. Everything was covered. My water bottle and computer, the entire fruit bowl and every piece of fresh fruit in it, the floor, the mixer, and The Boy.
Siblings laughed at him, he laughed at himself. I took a moment to snap a photo and told him he’d be the topic of my blog today. He smiled and glared a little.
I cleaned off my computer and managed to finish writing my last stories for the week while he finished mixing his cookies and then spent a good half hour vacuuming and wiping up flour.
He learned a valuable lesson in the difference between “Stir” and “8” on the stand mixer this morning. Call that a successful day in the Foods lab.
This is the kind of thing I don’t get when I’m working in the office – the shenanigans of children while I’m doing my level best to stay on deadline. But after one week I’m pleased to report all my interviews were conducted and articles were written on time.
I just found a little more flour dust nestled between the keys of my keyboard.
This week’s off to a fabulous start.
Krista Conrad, OkotoksToday.ca
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