"One must maintain a little bit of summer, even in the middle of winter." -Henry David Thoreau Ahhhhh.....summer. It is always a joy for this season to arrive--a time for a break from the normal hubbub of life and time to reset and refresh. This year, it feels odd. After 11 weeks of being home and 8 weeks of remote learning, my house is not messy and my calendar is clear. There are no vacations on the books or big plans for all of the places we will visit. Instead, the next 11 weeks loom with possibility.
The world is starting to re-open. Restaurants open again today for in person dining and summer camps may happen with groups of 10 or less. Most people in our area wear masks when they go out, but that is not the case everywhere. People are still dying--we will hit 100,000 deaths sometime this week in the United States. There are no easy answers as we try to figure out the new normal. Everyone has an opinion and wants to share them. So how will I spend this summer? I am going to come back to my list and look at what I can do! I am going to volunteer one day a week at A Precious Child. I am going to go for walks, make art, teach summer camp from home, and start thinking about how I can transform my class this fall when we return to a "new" normal. Luke is still working from home so I will enjoy having lunch with him and hugs between meetings. The boys and I will find fun things to do too--toady we are going to watch the SpaceX launch to the space station. Summer is here. And we will make room for it--even in the middle of a pandemic.
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“In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.” - Sun Tzu The stay at home order brought a new opportunity for a different birthday. Inspired by Molly's birthday, we had the Snowy Churro truck come visit our house and then invited friends to drive by and wish Jaxon a happy birthday. And you know what? It was awesome! Our friends showed up in force and we spread out 10 feet apart to visit and enjoy the first day of summer break! It was fun, it was safe, and most of all, Jaxon felt loved!
"Summer has always been my favorite season. I just feel happier." -Zooey Deschanel Where has April gone? It was the fastest, slowest month in my life. Our whole way of life has completely changed, countless numbers have died and we have watched our nation flounder under the pressure.
Our house has not been exempt from floundering. Our home has instantly become an office, three classrooms, a restaurant, a movie theater, a park, a therapists office, and so much more. Most days it has been fine--we have flexed and found ways to make things work. And then, there have been the bad days. Yesterday was one. I lost my business because I wanted normal. I wanted to teach in my classroom, come home to my office/art studio and make art. I wanted to play music loud. I wanted time alone. I wanted a happy hour where my friends and I drink a bit too much so one of our husbands have to come pick us up. (This happens about 2x a year--it is time!). I wanted to go to a baseball game in the sun. I want to hug my mom and my dad and see my students walk across the stages of continuations and graduations. But then, after the storm, I decided to stop and give myself what I could--a few hours alone on the couch watching a show that everyone else in my house hates. And the storm stopped. The clouds cleared and a new plan came. Today I spent the day making space for me. We rearranged our home offices (for the umpteenth time in this house) and suddenly calm returned. We picked up flowers for mothers day and delivered them to Lukes mom. We made plans to drop them for my mom tomorrow. I made plans for happy hour next week socially distanced on porches so I can at least see my humans. And tonight, I made art. I realized that the storms of yesterday bloomed into a fresh start today. And you know what? It is going to be ok. "I used to think I actually was batman." -Justin Timberlake Sometime, pretending to be batman really is the best medicine. Today was my turn for the morning announcements at school for Remote Learning. I picked today was batman day and who wouldn't want to be batman? As soon as the mask came into the house, Jaxon quickly volunteered to play the caped crusader. He recruited his brother to be our cameraman. We spent 30 minutes filming and another 30 minutes using all my cool new tech skills to make this video. And you know you? Pretending to be Batman made our hearts smile too and all of the stress of life melted away for a bit.
Remember, be yourself--unless you can be batman. Then always be batman! |
AuthorAlmost 40 and tired of the treadmill, I am going to LIVE each day as a new adventure while finishing todo items on my life list. Mom, wife, teacher, geek! Archives
May 2020
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