Staying social in a time of social distancing

Between our family, neighbors, and church, we are so grateful to be surrounded with community. I don't know how we would otherwise stay sane in the midst of social distancing. We are in the middle of our sixth (!!) week of sheltering in place and the new normal still doesn't feel normal, but having these threads of connection to other people is part of what's helping us through this strange time.

We have weekly happy hours with our neighbors, a social distancing approved Easter egg hunt--hiding eggs in each others' yards (along with a not-social distancing approved visit from the Easter Bunny). We've had birthday celebrations, a water balloon fight, and just this evening, we had a neighborhood block party (with 6' of spacing, of course).

With their Easter haul

The kids were so delighted to see the Easter Bunny (one of our neighbors in costume), that I couldn't bring myself to tell them to stay 6' away. Jad, however, was terrified. He wouldn't let Nik put him down for a good long while after the bunny had left, and he will still say "scary" and look towards the front door when he remembers the bunny

Water balloons!

Couldn't trust our kids to stay away from everyone else, so we picnicked on our front lawn..

.. while other folk socialized while 6' apart

Our kids have made themselves right at home on Jack and Kaye's front lawn and stop to roll around on their lawn almost daily, and occasionally the couple pop their heads out to chit-chat. We even had two neighbors drop off masks. We've also been doing group take out orders and picking up groceries for each other. This type of kindness and neighborliness is seemingly rare nowadays and makes me feel so lucky to live where we do.

They just love Uncle Jack's yard

Jack and Kaye. The kids love their yard and always end up bringing lemons home.. we have at least 10 in our fruit bowl -_-

Our church has also been an integral community. The Sunday service livestreams have helped me stay grounded and give some semblance of routine in a time when every day is pretty much the same and it's easy to lose track of the days. The Slack chats and random drop offs of food are wonderful, keeping us feeling connected even while staying apart.

Cakes from the Kongs

Homemade Thai food from Ben and Maling

It's official

We just got the official word that school will not reopen for this school year. I just feel like I've been through emotional whiplash over the past few weeks with all of the changes in our lives and I can't say that I'm surprised. Having all three kids at home constantly has been emotionally trying, I tend to get melancholy and Nik tends to have sudden outbursts of anger which he regrets immediately. I wish there was some light at the end of the tunnel, but we're not there yet. My only consolation is that I know that this can't last forever and we will eventually return to our normal, mundane, boring lives.

Our typical day starts at 7 am when the kids wake up, though I think that Kai may have finally learned how to sleep in, since he didn't come down until 8:30 this morning. We get the kids through breakfast, then get them changed and brush their teeth as we usually would. We then try to do some vaguely academic activity (worksheets, writing, etc.), and after that we follow it up with a walk or outdoor time--even when it's raining, we've made it a point to go outside.

We've written letters to church friends, classmate and neighbors

Here's a choice letter from Kai to a school friend

We go outside in rain..

.. or shine

By then, it's usually lunchtime. We've taken advantage of BUSD's free school lunches, usually it's nice to eat something a little different and sometimes the errand of just loading up into the van and picking up lunch is a nice diversion.

The kids were excited about these shamrock cookies they got for St. Patrick's day.. until they got one every day for the rest of the week

Nik had the kids picnic outside today to just add a little variety

And after lunch, it's time for Jad's nap and I'll let the kids have some academic screen time to keep them quiet.. so lots of Wild Kratts and educational games. Sometimes, just playing a board game will do the trick. Kai loves them and has recently become quite good at Ticket to Ride and checkers.

Once Jad wakes up, they usually play some more.

The kid train!

Very grateful to have a play set in the backyard, especially now with public playgrounds closed

I usually try to get dinner started as soon as possible, since the earlier I can get to them finish dinner means the earlier I can get them to bed. We've kept up with the kids' 8 pm bedtime. We've also let the kids have a lot more TV time that they used to.. we sometimes just need that bit of time to regroup and stay sane.

Weekly movie night on Wednesday. This week was Jad's choice

And that sums up our day. Every day. We're almost done with our third week with sheltering-in-place and the routine is already wearing on us. We've tried to do a few novel things here and there. There's been a bit of baking and delivering goodies to friends and neighbors.

We've been trying to patronize our local restaurants and small businesses whenever we can.

Sora had always been so jealous whenever Kai got personal pan pizzas in kindergarten that I had to make sure she had a chance to use the Book It! coupon that she earned

We even caught a temporary pet from the creek.

A little water strider that we caught. The kids named it "Bouncy", but I only let them keep it for a few hours

Another diversion: indoor acrobatics!

I've made a habit of going running at 6 am before the kids wake up and that little bit of solitary time has helped keep me sane. I'm lucky that I had my knee surgery last year so that running is once again an option! Also, thank goodness for the video chats, texting, and social media!

My Mom showing off a big potato, with a small potato for comparison :D

Even the kids are getting in on the video chat game, though it can only hold their attention for max 15 minutes

The kids have adjusted quickly as kids do. They've sometimes expressed sadness at not being able to see friends or go to school, but I think they're still enjoying their time at home for the most part. There have been lots of arguments, especially as they all jockey for attention since they're all at home together all the time. There's been a lot of "Kai-Kai hit me" or "Sora grab me," from Jad. Occasionally, Kai or Sora will step up and be a good big brother or sister, but those moments seem fleeting.

The speed in which we've adapted to our new normal is amazing. Life is so strange these days.

We're obviously concerned about Nik at his work. He's on the frontlines of this pandemic, though thus far the surge has not yet come and we're cautiously optimistic that the Bay Area started SIP early enough that we will not have an Italy or NYC-style chaos.

Respiratory screening tent outside of Kaiser Skyport

Lots of love for healthcare workers these days. Free donuts from Krispy Kreme!

Trying my best to keep this situation in perspective and remember that life will not be like this forever. One day, I'm sure I will reflect back on this time and remember enjoying this precious time with my family and having everyone at home together while they're young. But man.. it's so hard to have that long view perspective when you're in the midst of it!

Strange times

As I write this, we're in the midst of a worldwide pandemic. Schools are closed and most of the Bay Area has been ordered to shelter in place and attempt to maintain social distancing, with only a few essential retailers remaining open. When the Bay Area's first case of coronavirus popped up over three weeks ago, the current scenario seemed unlikely at best, but here we are. The speed at which the situation is changing rapidly, to the point where on Monday, I mentioned the possibility of school closures to Sora's teacher and she said that it was impossible, to Friday, we got the official word that schools would be closed until at least the beginning of April. Now, we're being told to anticipate schools being closed until fall.

Thursday: the run on Costco. People are inexplicably stocking up on toilet paper. Nik was going to get eggs, saw the line extending to the back of the store and left

Friday morning: we had a feeling schools would be closing, so decided to have a lunch date as our last hurrah

Coming back from out lunch date and enroute to picking up Sora, we get the call from the school district informing us that schools will be closing until April 4th. Mrs. DuBose looked a bit bewildered at pick up since she just saw the news on her watch 10 minutes before dismissal

Friday evening and Saturday: we opted to for a little bit of normalcy. We hosted Friday small group as usual with a smaller group of people and went to Niko's birthday party. Ben just had to go and get the Corona

Sunday: LSCC livestream. Unfortunately it did not capture the kids' interest, but it was good to try to keep up with community in the midst of these strange times

Monday: empty shelves of pain medicine at CVS. Hoarders cleared them out after the shelter in place order. I was so mad since I was getting Tylenol for my Dad who injured his back. Fortunately, there were still a few bottles left

Having all three kids at home is daunting since both Nik and I have never even had a passing interest homeschooling our children, and yet we're facing the prospect of doing just that until the next school year. We're only three days and we're already running out of ideas.

Worksheet time!

Walking outside and saving worms

School lunch pick up

Babysitting Nora was a much needed distraction and moment of normalcy for the kids

Doing exercise videos to stay active when it's raining outside

A day in the life...

I haven't updated the blog with much regularity in a while, but I read Nik's post yesterday evening and it reminded me of how much I enjoy having a written log of our day-to-day.

Today, Sora came home and was insistent about wanting to paint (in spite of the fact that she had already had painted during school.. I should know, since I was the volunteer assistant). I think she was perhaps inspired after watching Auntie Dali during last, last weekend's snow retreat, and she kept talking about how Auntie Dali "paints like this" or "does this with the brush."

When Kai came home, he immediately started egging Sora on saying, "who painted this?" and then following up with, "I don't like it." Why Kai, just why?? Anyway, Sora went to sulk in the living room and promptly fell asleep. Probably too tired after a long weekend.

Then Kai asked if he could paint too.

These kids.. they kill me.

Hiking to Eagle Rock

Yesterday, Amy and I decided to take the kids out to Alum Rock Park and hike the Eagle Rock trail.  We have been thinking about getting the kids outdoors more and now that the rain has let up, we thought we'd try to start a good habit.  The trail is moderately steep but not too long but it was still tough for me.  Over my life, I've come to grips with the limits imposed by my mitochondrial disorder, adjusting my activities and lifestyle and I don't think I've missed out on too many things that I've really wanted.  But I am so glad that our kids seem to have inherited their mom's marathon-runner genetics and that they won't be burdened with the same problems that I had to struggle through.  I'm very proud that Kai walked back to check on me several times and asked me why I was walking slow and both he and Sora tried to help by pushing and pulling me up the trail.  

The kids pushing me forward ..

.. until we all made it to the top! 

Dropping off Kai

Today I dropped Kai off at the turnaround for his school.  Previous to this I had always walked him in to the yard but because it was raining today and we had Jad in the car, he said I could just drop him off at the curb.  I watched as he got out of the car on his own, opened his umbrella and smiled to himself.  I opened the window and said , "bye, Kai" and he waved back before heading through the gates.  I felt something inside and, for a second, I thought it was sadness that Kai was growing up, becoming more independent and not needing us as much.  I have been feeling a bit this way as Jad just turned two and isn't quite as much of a baby anymore.  But then I looked and realized that it was actually more of a feeling of pride that he was growing up, becoming more independent and not needing us as much.  The same things really but somehow it made me smile for the rest of the morning.