I’m a normal person.

Like any normal person I start the day by visiting the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 tracker to take a screen shot and feed the data into a spreadsheet so I can create charts that demonstrate the trends over time.

This is so I can helpfully update Mike on the global status of the pandemic, with information like:

“Honey remember when I started on March 3^rd and there were about 2,000 new cases per day… yesterday there were 63,836 new cases!”

You know, helpful data like that.  He is so appreciative!

 

We have been adjusting as best we can.

 

We are still having daily walks, though an attempt to visit the beach this weekend was a bust as there were way too many folks down there.

 

The kids are in a way thrilled to be quarantined. They’ve been baking, getting lots of screen time, avoiding all the bean dishes I’ve made, and wearing pajamas all day. Yesterday I heard Willy ask Alice if they should change from their daytime pajamas to their night time pajamas. We made an executive decision to wash everyone’s bed linens.

 

Alice and I wake up every day between 7:00-7:30 AM then embark on a day-long talking adventure that seems to have no end. As I shower, she stands outside the curtain and regales me with a stream of consciousness monologue—and we go from there– until she falls asleep or I beg her to stop for just a little while.

She has been working on her school ipad since last week, though for a kid her age at times it can be really frustrating. They cannot work independently the way the older kids can. She misses her teachers and her friends. We miss her teacher and her friends, but I think she’s also thrilled to get the extra mom and dad time.

Last week I heard her say, “I’m going on a play date with my friend,” after which she walked into the living room, sat down, and started talking to herself. So, we are rising to the occasion as best we can.

 

Willy and his friends have started a youtube channel where they create videos of them playing a game called Brawlstars. Because this is a thing we do now?

I asked if I could post the link here and he agreed.

You have not lived until you’ve heard a group of seventh graders have a facetime meeting about how this task—I daresay any task– will be managed. Someone has to record it, someone has to add music in post-production, you know— it’s just like any group working on a project. At times the conversation is indistinguishable from some of my work meetings. He is convinced that this will lead to a lucrative career as a (what exactly?). We’re letting him enjoy the big dream for now.

 

James has been able to have one “real” ballet lesson. Mike installed a barre in Willy’s room this weekend because it’s the only room large enough for one. From now on we’re hoping that he can maintain his practice. We’re all wondering if camps will be back to normal this summer and what that might mean for the Bolshoi camp. But at the same time, we know that we simply will not know about this and many other things for a while.

 

Hartford and Middletown schools went online today so we’re eager to see how this will go. They all have work to do and seem to be managing it okay. It’s not the same, but we’re grateful to all the teachers and administrators for the work they’ve done.

 

This week we are…

Perfecting the art of maintaining just the right amount of eye contact in a web meeting.

Learning about the Spanish army. Google it. You won’t regret it.

Enjoying nightly online story time with the leader of our after school program, Chae Chae.

Challenging our friends Theo and Fiona to a LEGO design battle (They won roller coaster. They may have also won rocket.)

Swinging in the back yard (Alice)

Playing basketball in the back yard (Willy)

Doing Sudoku in the back yard (Kat)

Cleaning up the back yard (Mike)

Avoiding the back yard (James)

Having happy hour with friends

Walking up to friends’ houses and shouting at them from the driveway (in the cool way)

Watching movies together

Playing games together

Listening to music together

And standing in awe of our friends who are doing the important work right now–

making sure the elderly people in our community have food, medicine, and comfort,

on the front lines in hospitals,

advocating for vulnerable,

and setting up field hospitals