I never in a million years thought I would be in the position I am in right now. We are 6 months into this "two week" pandemic and still a lot of the world is uncertain. Mesa Public Schools have decided that it's not safe to return to school and are fully operational online. This means I'm homeschooling 4 children including a kindergartner and with the size of my home it has been a little tricky. The first week of school I thought "Ok. We can do this I'll just set everyone up in the kitchen. They all have headphones so this will work." I quickly discovered that did NOT work.
I have learned a lot of life lessons the past few weeks:
Not all headphones come with microphones,
- My house is REALLY small,
- I like having my kitchen table as an actual kitchen table not a messy learning center,
- I suck on the computer
- Thank goodness Ron is on "speed-dial" and super helpful
- Online school is HARD and EMOTIONAL but we are trying to make the best of it
Monday night before the first day of school we got some much needed back to school blessings administered by Ron. This is NOT how I imagined my 5 year old starting school it just breaks my heart. But that said I have noticed some pretty amazing moments around the home. They are brief but it's a little bit of heaven when I see my girls pampering each other with pedicures, snuggles and dress up time. Mason and Noah helping April with her phonograms. Monday evening I asked all the kids to get their school stuff out and ready. Noah, with out being asked, logged on to each laptop, created a short cut and save passwords for all the girls. He has really been so helpful during all of this with computer issues. Tuesday morning came and despite technical difficulties and schedule fiasco's we survived. I'm so grateful for our back to school blessings from Ron and yes I got a "Back to School blessing" and it I know it helped.
For multiple reasons we figured out the kids needed to be spaced out a little more. April has to be on speakerphone the whole time because I have to help her with all her computer time and webex sessions. It really is cute how she has picked up on some technical skills, she can "x" out of her live meetings, and knows how to click on the "join meeting" button. During PE for all of my children they need some open space and no headphones. So that complicates having 4 kids in school at the same time in different classes at different times.
I have purchased a few desks to help with our complicated school situation. I feel very strongly about not having technology in the bedrooms and finding space has been a little tricky but we have made it work. Mason has been my little construction assistant with the desks and I have to brag about how I'm proud of myself (and Mason) that we put together a desk from IKEA and it's actually standing and functional (No one needs to know it took us almost 3 hours to do it...) Haha That's an absolute first for me.
We have certainly had our fair share of drama and emotions from ALL of us. On one particular day Callie was a little upset when her request for ice cream had been declined. I found this gem in my bedroom. It still makes me chuckle even now, days later I have it hanging in my room.
The very first day of school was emotionally and physically exhausting for me. We survived but I crashed on the couch in the afternoon. April brought me a blanket, a pillow, and an ice pack. I woke up after 20 mins of glorious shut eye to a sweet note from April. She just melts my heart sometimes.
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