Covid Personal Update — One Month In

So we’re maybe a month into the semi-quarantine imposed by COVID going around. As of yet, I don’t know anyone that’s come down with it, and I’m okay if it stays that way.

I am starting to wonder how long this quarantine will last though, although I realize this is one of those things that no one really knows right now. At this point, no one really knows when the restrictions will end. “Social distancing” and “flatten the curve” have become the buzzwords du jour; basically we are encouraged that by staying home we really are doing our part.

In general, having the kids home has been good. They seem to be less emotionally drained at the end of the day compared to school/daycare. We have sort of settled into a remote learning routine, with a couple of hours of group video chat a week, and daily worksheet. An interesting observation is that the kids could do the worksheets on the computer, but we (the parents) found it unworkable because the kids hadn’t figured out how to do “good enough” on the computer yet, and would strive for perfection, even if that meant deleting all their work and recommencing several times. For our (the parents’) sanity, it proved to be better to print the worksheets, and let them do it by hand with pen and paper. Overall, it felt much like Summer Break had come early.

The most noticeable downside of this whole set up (the kids and my Honey home) is that it has thrown my attempts to build a “morning routine” out the window. Basically, there is nothing external to attach a routine to. For my sanity, it just works better to all get up about the same time, and my bedtime is largely dictated by when we get the kiddos in bed, and then add a little bit of Honey-and-me time.

Thus actual timing of bedtime is thus without much in the way of an anchor in either the morning or the evening, and instead we try to make sure everyone is well slept rather than worrying about timelines as much. On that account, I think we’re succeeding at least.