Quarantine Day 37

Day 37 was Earth Day! I think the earth is resting while the people stay home. We did a lot of planting yesterday.

Today was a big day for zooming. I met with two of my students, Little AoA met with her tutor, and I met with my counselor. I am glad we are getting a chance to adjust to doing things virtually. It looks like we may be doing it for a while.

I helped my dad work on our lawnmower for a little while, which was satisfying. We will probably try to sell the lawnmower once we get it fixed up. It is a big one, and requires more regular maintenance than any of us can do. If we get another one, it won’t be as big.

I finished working on a new Facebook page and my new website. It is really simple, but it communicates basic information. I will be trying to do some tutoring and consulting that is reasonably priced. Since I entered the world of homeschooling, I have been overwhelmed at how much everything costs! There are so many choices, it can make my head spin and leave me broke! I think my family has settled into our curriculum now. I try to restrain myself from overdoing it. Reading, writing, math, interest based activities, and life skills suits us well. Every family is different, and I am sure there is something for everyone in the world of homeschool curriculum. What we found, was that having a tutor to check in with once a week is very motivating. Even though I am capable of teaching Little AoA, having another person for support is priceless!

Little AoA got creative in the kitchen this evening. She needed something to do, so I suggested she make some fruit salad. She took it to quite another level. She made a mixture in a glass with grapes on the bottom, then banana, then topped it with uncooked oats. I am glad to see her coming out of her shell a little, and expressing her creativity.

On the COVID-19……

My state, Tennessee, is one of a few states that are opening up to the government’s “phase 1”, on May 1st. I re-read the guidelines developed by the Covid Task Force. It stated that before we go to “phase 1”, there should be 14 consecutive days with a decreasing number of new cases. Our state just had its largest number of people die in a single day than since the pandemic began! I watched the governor’s address to the state, and they spoke in circles trying to explain how we will have had 14 consecutive days of decreasing numbers of new cases by the projected date. I pulled up our state website that tracks cases, to try to make sense of it. I presented the information to my 30 year old (quite the math guy). I simply don’t see the decrease. I want to understand and believe that I am wrong and I missed something. Regardless, we will still be staying home. I have already seen people advertising big get together within days of our stay at home orders being lifted. Maybe they plan on having social distancing….I hope it works out.

We had a bit of good news on the kids’ supervised visits with the dad. I reached out to the supervisor the other day, asking again about a supervised call or FaceTime. She answered that she would ask the dad if he wanted to do this. I feel like I have done all I can do in these circumstances. I just don’t want to be taken to court after all of our state shutdown, over the visits! It is better for the kids to maintain them, as the longer they go with no visits, the harder it is to get started again.

I came across something that made me laugh today….