Let me start this off by saying, this is Jenny, and I have a very silly bone in my body, so don’t take anything in the blog too seriously. I mean, yes, it is here to potentially give you some ideas, but we are on day ONE of this mess and I am fully aware that I will run out of steam by like, tomorrow.
So, what should we do with these kiddos all day long? Well, today we started off by bringing them to Mission Trails to stomp in puddles and go on a hike. It involved wet clothes, chocolate egg bribes, and a lot of laughing. We are trying to abide by the social distancing philosophy, but we knew we woudln’t see anyone and if we did, we could keep our 6-15 foot distance. When we were leaving out hike, the kids and our dog were all high on joy and low on energy.
Home for PB&J and NAP TIME. My Daughter, Hailey, told me, “can we skip lunch and just sleep?” That's my girl. Naps are life.
Then we colored, and colored, and colored, broke up some fights because I left the room for one minute and that’s all it takes for my kids to go Lord of the Flies on each other with colored pencils, and then colored some more (surprisingly not with each others blood, but it was a close call).
Hailey made cookies with my husband, Matt, snuck chocolate chips, danced, screamed, and celebrated when she was allowed to eat some dough. She celebrated again when she snuck more dough before I could stop her. The dog celebrated when Hailey flubbed her second attempt at dough thievery and it fell to the floor. Matt celebrated when he got to eat some dough. My son, Mason, celebrated when he got to eat some dough. I celebrated when I got to LICK THE BEATER. That is how you assert your dominance in any family dynamic. Thee who licks the beater, is the leader (say it like it rhymes).
Then we went to do chores it the backyard. Mason mowed the lawn, meaning he pushed it forward twice and pulled it backwards once. He immediately asked if he earned his dollar and handed the job off to Matt. He and Hailey then filled a bucket with water and pretended it was an ice cream shop. They then tortured each other with the cold water from the hose.
Ahh, precious family memories.
We went inside for a snack and to snuggle on the couch.
We left the kids alone in the living room for about 15 seconds and the darned pencil made an appearance again. Someone let out a war scream, someone let out a regular scream. Mommy needed to be quarantined with ice cream. Everyone had to go take a break in the bedroom. That is when we decided to hang up the massive amounts of colorings on Mason’s walls. Remind me to show you the rainbow that looks oddly like female anatomy, later… not here. Then we all went to bed.
Anyway, look, I have no idea what to say. All I can think right now is the stress shouldn’t be shown to my children. I am trying to focus on real interactions, real laughter, and real memories. This is a terrifying time for me and loving on my family helps. Maybe it will help you, too.
-Jenny