We just finished week 7 of sheltering in place . . . 50 days since William has been home from school. March moved at a snails pace and we struggled to find some sort of structure that could be maintained as long as necessary. April did go by much faster, but last week San Francisco announced the mandate to shelter in place would be extended for another month, with a few restrictions being loosened (construction workers can work, realtors can sell homes and people can move, and a few others).
April had a few special celebrations -- I should say holidays that I tried to make special. The first was Easter -- we decorated eggs, did virtual church, and I hid eggs in the common area of our building. The boys loved it.
The second was Chris's birthday. Typically on his birthday I would give him the day "off" --he could go wherever he wanted for the whole day (usually includes a museum, movie, cafe, etc). Since that wasn't happening this month we will postpone his actual day off. This year, I made him homemade ice cream and brownies, put up a banner, had the kids make cards and he opened gifts from his family. The kids thought it was great and a lot of fun. Chris can't wait for his day off.
Our routine has changed a bit with William's class beginning distance learning. He has a zoom call with his class three times a week that lasts about an hour and then a couple of extra small group calls during the week for extra help. I love that he is getting more exposure to Spanish and that his teacher is really focusing on William's reading, speaking and comprehension in the language. In just two weeks his pronunciation has gotten back to where it was back in March. His reading level will get back to where it was too with a bit more practice.
How does William like distance learning? He
really doesn't like it. He loves his teacher but he doesn't like zoom calls; he would also much rather play than do homework or read. He does really well in a classroom environment but that isn't the same as Zoom. After each call he says it went fine and he had fun, but he still struggles before every call.
Stephen loves being home with William. He sits right by his side most of the day and thankfully William doesn't seem to mind it too much. When we don't get outside he literally bounces around the room. He runs up and down the halls and jumps on everything. I bought a big foam cushion for him to have some extra padding . . . both for his safety and to save my couches. He is having some fun learning to do somersaults and handstands.
I don't know if it is an actual regression or if he is just out of practice having to talk, but he doesn't use words as much as he used to. He groans to get our attention and tries to tell us things with grunts and sounds. We are working on this with him, but I'm hoping that once we can be around people again, his speech returns to normal.
We've been taking the boys to the nearby park to play in the trees. They've been collecting sticks and making weapons to fight the trees and now they are in a bug collecting phase.
Please, let this be a phase. They haven't been running around as much with this type of outdoor play but I also like that they can be in nature instead of on a soccer field everyday. The truth is, they probably need both everyday and that's hard for me to make happen.
Chris and I are doing well; Chris manages working from home with ease. Although I know he'd prefer to be in the office and face to face with his co-workers. We have a nice rhythm for our days and I enjoy the extra help with the boys and getting to eat all our meals together. We started ordering take-out dinner once a week - to give me a break from cooking and to just have a little fun with new food.
Not much else is going on in our house!
How are you hanging in there?
We just finished week 7 of sheltering in place . . . 50 days since William has been home from school. March moved at a snails pace and we struggled to find some sort of structure that could be maintained as long as necessary. April did go by much faster, but last week San Francisco announced the mandate to shelter in place would be extended for another month, with a few restrictions being loosened (construction workers can work, realtors can sell homes and people can move, and a few others).
April had a few special celebrations -- I should say holidays that I tried to make special. The first was Easter -- we decorated eggs, did virtual church, and I hid eggs in the common area of our building. The boys loved it.
The second was Chris's birthday. Typically on his birthday I would give him the day "off" --he could go wherever he wanted for the whole day (usually includes a museum, movie, cafe, etc). Since that wasn't happening this month we will postpone his actual day off. This year, I made him homemade ice cream and brownies, put up a banner, had the kids make cards and he opened gifts from his family. The kids thought it was great and a lot of fun. Chris can't wait for his day off.
Our routine has changed a bit with William's class beginning distance learning. He has a zoom call with his class three times a week that lasts about an hour and then a couple of extra small group calls during the week for extra help. I love that he is getting more exposure to Spanish and that his teacher is really focusing on William's reading, speaking and comprehension in the language. In just two weeks his pronunciation has gotten back to where it was back in March. His reading level will get back to where it was too with a bit more practice.
How does William like distance learning? He
really doesn't like it. He loves his teacher but he doesn't like zoom calls; he would also much rather play than do homework or read. He does really well in a classroom environment but that isn't the same as Zoom. After each call he says it went fine and he had fun, but he still struggles before every call.
Stephen loves being home with William. He sits right by his side most of the day and thankfully William doesn't seem to mind it too much. When we don't get outside he literally bounces around the room. He runs up and down the halls and jumps on everything. I bought a big foam cushion for him to have some extra padding . . . both for his safety and to save my couches. He is having some fun learning to do somersaults and handstands.
I don't know if it is an actual regression or if he is just out of practice having to talk, but he doesn't use words as much as he used to. He groans to get our attention and tries to tell us things with grunts and sounds. We are working on this with him, but I'm hoping that once we can be around people again, his speech returns to normal.
We've been taking the boys to the nearby park to play in the trees. They've been collecting sticks and making weapons to fight the trees and now they are in a bug collecting phase.
Please, let this be a phase. They haven't been running around as much with this type of outdoor play but I also like that they can be in nature instead of on a soccer field everyday. The truth is, they probably need both everyday and that's hard for me to make happen.
Chris and I are doing well; Chris manages working from home with ease. Although I know he'd prefer to be in the office and face to face with his co-workers. We have a nice rhythm for our days and I enjoy the extra help with the boys and getting to eat all our meals together. We started ordering take-out dinner once a week - to give me a break from cooking and to just have a little fun with new food.
Not much else is going on in our house!
How are you hanging in there?
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