Off He Goes, Go He Must

August 11, 2020August 11, 2020 ~ The Modern Maiasaura ~ Leave a comment

Growing up with a farming dad, our family got pretty used to the ebb and flow of a schedule influenced by the season, the weather, the livestock, and whatever other chore or task needed to be done at a given time. I was never very involved on the farm but I have so many memories of growing up in that environment, watching my dad do his thing.

With his constant coming and going from the farm to the field to the shed, he had some routines (coffee breaks with his dad and uncle are seared into my brain) and expressions he stuck to, including telling us, “Off I go, go I must” when break time was over and he had to get back to it.

After five months of “break” for my husband from school, I can’t help but think of my dad’s catchphrase here today because like it or not, agree or disagree, teachers here and across the country are preparing to be (or are already back in) the classroom, but in circumstances like none of us have ever before seen. Without any real idea of how this will go, they must go and there are a few things I’d like to see folks remember as we move forward into this bizarre, uncertain time.

The first is this: be kind. There is so much stress surrounding this school year on personal and professional and familial levels. There are also as many opinions out there as there are people in this world and having to wade through all of that is exhausting. Please show some respect and grace to educators who are trying to do their best even in the face of confusion and downright angst from deniers and dissenters. None of them signed up for this role of front-line health protector of kids and their families (much less themselves and their own families), but yet here we are, with them stepping up to the plate to be just that. Yes, other essential workers have been out there, doing the work, and outside of the healthcare field, none of them signed up for such risk either, but the weight of the world that is being put on schools’ shoulders this fall makes my heart heavy.

The second is this: send a prayer or a good thought or a kind word to a teacher sometime soon. Think of their families who might be worried about or put at risk by their going to school. Thank them for doing yet another monumental task on top of the work that we readily agreed in the spring was super hard to do without them.

It will be so strange to have Ben gone all day after so many months of his being home with us, but off he goes, go he must because the next task is at hand. It’s a big one, and I’m accepting here and now that it’s possible that we’re going to be in a bit of a funk as we learn how to navigate all that it entails. Goodness knows we’ll do our best to show kindness and gratitude, though, as we move through it all. And coffee breaks, at least on the homefront and before B heads out the door every morning, are still going to be a very, very necessary part of the routine.

The Great Unknown

July 28, 2020July 28, 2020 ~ The Modern Maiasaura ~ 1 Comment

Let’s be clear – in April and even in May, I still thought my kids would be able to get together this summer with their classmates and teachers and have some sort of closure and “goodbye” to last year’s classes which would maybe, somehow, make up ever so slightly for the insanity that was the COVID-19, unexpected end of 4th, 2nd, and Kindergarten for my school-age kids.

In June and early July I kissed that idea and all other group social settings goodbye for the summer and started trying to figure out how to get masks for my kids that could be washed, worn, and replaced/found as needed because clearly having just one was not enough for whatever was coming this fall. I mean, we still rarely go anywhere, and granted, no one has had to wear one for an entire day, but so far in small doses, my kids have done a good job with them which felt like a baby step in the right direction for the coming school year.

And then in mid-July, as numbers started to climb again, I realized that all my hopes of returning to some sort of normal this fall were once again uncertain and I started entertaining the thought of something I never thought I would consider: voluntary (at) home school via an e-learning option.

Before I continue, a disclaimer: this blog is about me, my children, and our life. I’m not here to tell you what to do. I’m simply telling you about our lived experiences, as a way to share and document what’s happening in our lives.

And our life is as such: I am married to a public school teacher. My kids attend public school in the same district. I am the daughter and granddaughter of public school teachers/administrators. I even taught 7-12 English for a year in a tiny NE town. This stuff lives in my blood. But for the first time ever, I’m not sure I can handle sending my kids to any school that meets in person outside of this house. And trust me, I know what a privilege it is for me to even be considering that.

But here’s the deal. Even if the chances of my kids getting sick and staying that way are low, the number of intersections that my family would have with three kids in one elementary building and a husband/dad in a high school building is just way too much for my comfort and concern levels. And yes, we’ve already made the call NOT to send No.4 to preschool because that would be another heavily trafficked building, and YES, I broke down and bawled after making that phone call because the thought of him missing his five-day year breaks my heart. But the increase in potential exposure, when we’ve been as careful as can be, was just too much.

And so goes our thinking with our other kids, too, even though Ben obviously does not have the choice on whether or not to be in the classroom. I already work from home, so if I can continue to do that while also working with them on school, which would keep their would-be in-person classes smaller while also keeping B’s exposure through them out of those classrooms (that’s confusing, but I promise it makes sense if you sit with it for a second), too. And to me that feels like a contribution to the health and safety of all the adults in our elementary school, not to mention other families that don’t have to interact with that many buildings/people.

Does it suck? Yes. A lot. There’s a ton to miss by sitting out and every time I go down that rabbit hole, my head and heart get heavy. It seems like I am, throughout each day, noticing things around my house that are school-related and I’m realizing that for the first quarter at least (that’s the minimum commitment to the online option in our district), my kids won’t be part of it. And that includes a newly renovated building they’ve been waiting two years to see. Again, my. heart. hurts.

Do I worry about socialization for my kids who are already months in to missing their friends and classmates? Yes. A lot. But I also don’t think socialization is going to be normal at school, even if they are there, soooooo……

Do I worry about my own ability to teach them from home without Ben’s help? Yes. A fair bit. As of right now we are planning to go with the school’s provided online instruction option, not an actual home school waiver, so I don’t have to reinvent the wheel just yet here, folks. And having a set schedule/routine will put us leaps and bounds ahead of where we were in the spring, so somehow, I will figure it out and it will be fine, even if it is far from pretty.

Do I worry about my own sanity to teach them from home without Ben’s help? Yes. More than a fair bit. But I also can’t imagine how I would feel if they got sick or passed something to someone else, even unknowingly. I have some legit PTSD from having a newborn baby in the NICU for three weeks and that was with me by her side 12 hours every day. To have a child, spouse, or parent be sick in the hospital without access to any outside visitors? My brain can’t go there. And no, that’s not me living in fear. It’s me living in my experiences thus far and what I’m willing to put forth at this point in time with risk factors.

Do I wonder what safety measures we should be putting in place for Ben’s coming and going from school every day? Yes, a ton. The lack of compassion I see on the internet for teachers right now (and by extension, their families) is appalling. Who else is crammed into contained spaces with that many people for that long of time, day after day (factory workers, perhaps, and we’ve seen how well that has gone in terms of testing and prevention)? And when you take into consideration secondary teachers who see multiple grades and classes throughout the day, the potential for problems is huge.

Thankfully our district is presenting to the school board that masks be required for the upcoming school year. Unfortunately that option won’t be decided on until Aug. 10 and in order to opt out to online instruction, we must respond by July 31. So not knowing more about what rules and procedures will look like makes it hard for me to just wait and see on this one. They did offer an online Town Hall Monday evening which I attended with earbuds in and pencil in hand for note-taking, but even after getting some questions answered, I still don’t think in-person is where my comfort is for my kids. I mean, I clearly know where I fall on the risk tolerance scale and even though I feel insanely isolated at this point in 2020, I can only make the decision that is best for me and my family given our situation, circumstances, and knowledge.

So, it’s blue light blockers for all (to protect their eyeballs and brains from school-via-screens), and to all a good night.

Just kidding. I don’t see many “good nights” in our near future as we wait/ride this out and I am feeling far from flip over all this.

I think the levels of uncertainty and stress have the potential to grow quite a bit between now and the start of school as we navigate just what it looks like to have a husband/father on the front lines (don’t even come at me on this one; it’s long been true of educators and this year more than ever) and a house full of kids who are beyond sick of each other and this situation.

But also, when we discussed with the Bigs about the potential of them not going to school even when Daddy does, they got it. It’s not ideal, and they’re with me that it seems like there are more bads than goods about this, but they also see that by keeping them home, we’re still just trying to do our part to keep our neighbors and our community safe as well as our immediate family.

If only that protection* and these decisions came with an option as easy as some non-script glasses.

*Masks! Masks are protection! And we’re thrilled our district is planning/hoping to recommend them for as many people for as much of the time together as possible. I really do think that will help and maybe it means this school-at-home gig will only be for a short time instead of extended. I can only hope and pray that’s what happens here.

Morning Mama Time

July 12, 2020 ~ The Modern Maiasaura ~ Leave a comment

Pre-COVID I had grand plans of establishing a new early morning wake up routine to try to help settle and calm my night sleeping routines. Like pretty much every other attempt at normalcy, all that went out the window in late March. Granted, I probably needed it more than ever then to get some “me” time but hells to the no, 5:00A was not on my list of priorities in early quarantine.

Now that we are eleventy billion days into this, I have had to (re)establish some patterns and habits because we.are.struggling.

For one, as previously written, I started walking. I haven’t missed a day of that which means I am somewhere near the three month (who actually knows; time is weird) mark of getting my rear in gear on the daily. And that feels good. In the last couple weeks, due to fireworks and full days, I’ve had to do multiple sessions on the elliptical instead and I’m pleased to see the progress I have made in strength and endurance. I can now crank out an extra 400 in the time it used to take me to do a mile and I’m not sucking air like I was back in February when I’d stagger off the machine.

The other “something’s gotta give” shift came in the form of a compromised get-up-early time. Instead of 5A, I started with 6:20 because, in theory, that gives me an hour-ish of time to myself before the kids are allowed to roam the house. And yes, I said allowed. I know people think we are weird for how early our kids go to bed but for the love of all things holy, they wake up so damn early, some balance must be made. And some boundaries must be set, which includes when they are allowed to turn on their lights to read/quiet play in the mornings and when they are allowed to leave their rooms for breakfast.

This early morning time has been great because it allows me to drink my coffee in peace, work on school stuff, and keep up with my 28 (56) days white supremacy book work. What it hasn’t allowed for, however, is actual kid-free time.

The oldest two would be just fine to read for their whole hour and the youngest is still in her crib (thank goodness) so it is the two middle boys who are the biggest loose cannons, with the middlest of all (who still can’t read and now sleeps on the main floor like me) being the worst and most interruptive cannon of all. Oh, Linky. I love you to pieces, and, you test my patience a lot when it comes to giving me my peace that I am seeking out by getting up early in the first place.

How is it so hard for children to understand that Mama does NOT want to parent before 7:30A?

Of course that doesn’t mean that I actually ignore them. I parent a lot on a lot of my early mornings. But as this quarantine life continues, this need for space also persists.

And as a side note: quarantine does continue for us, even when it seems like many of the people around us have moved on (even as cases and deaths continue to rise). We saw grandparents for the first time for the 4th of July weekend to celebrate Linky’s birthday and the Big 4 did get to participate in their first outside-the-home activities this past week (camp at our favorite local nature center and summer orchestra), but that’s it. And it probably will be for some time, because unless people start taking masks seriously (and not just for photo opps) this is going to drag on for the foreseeable future. End side note.

Depending on how things unfold, I may just keep pushing that get up time earlier and earlier because it really is the only way to get shit done with this small country of children that share my roof around all the time. Another side note: I am not actually complaining about that, nor do I want them to stop being around so much any time soon; I just want a little ounce of Morning Mama Time to keep me feeling OK in one of the most not-OK-est years that I have ever known.

Intense Mode

June 11, 2020June 11, 2020 ~ The Modern Maiasaura ~ Leave a comment

Look, I’ll be honest: I’m not sure if I should be writing about COVID life, challenges with my kids, protests over Black Lives Matter or anything at this point. Instead I’m going to muddle my way through all of it, because that feels more true to life these days as we are swirling through all of these big movements and moments all day, every day.

I’ll go in reverse order and start with the protests. And again I’ll say, look: I am no expert. I am a human being trying to do better. And what’s more, I’m a white person, who is listening and learning and reading and unlearning and looking really hard at all the ways my life has been made easier just based on the color of my skin and what I can do to make the world a more just, fair, and equal place to live for BIPOC.

A lot of that work starts in my own head and heart and under my own roof.

What I’m doing is reading and journaling through the Me and White Supremacy workbook. What I’m doing is ordering other books written by BIPOC authors, supporting them and learning from them as much as I can. What I’m doing is having incredibly frank conversations with my oldest kids about what is happening in our country right now and, importantly, why it is all happening. What I’m doing is trying to share resources and perspectives that help other people see where they can start in this work too. What I’m doing is leaving my house for the first time for a community event to attend a protest last week, not because I think COVID is over, but because this other disease is 400 years in the making and it must be faced. I share this not to get a pat on the back but to document that as for my family, we are listening. We are committing to the work. There will be mistakes made, but this will be a life-long effort all the same.

The challenges with my kids and COVID life go hand-in-hand, or rather, the challenges with my kids feel like a major, direct result of COVID life that has gone on now over NINETY days in our corner of the world. And it feels like a lot of folks have moved on, but again, in honesty, I’m struggling with that. It’s not gone, folks aren’t wearing masks consistently, and on a person note, the little members of my family are missing their people HARD CORE right now. All they want is their friends. And to see their extended family. And have the ability to go and do summer things like they normally would. And to get away from their siblings. And, and, and. And it all feels hard.

Emotions are running high. Lots of squabbles, lots of yells, lots of weepy moments. And mind you, that applies to the parents as much as the children because this just isn’t easy and there’s no clear way of knowing when life will feel and actually be “normal” again which makes it all seem that much harder in those intense moments.

And therein lies the point of this post: we – as a nation, as individual states and communities, as families, and as individuals – are stuck in some highly intense shit right now. On some levels, some folks have already been there (forever). On others, it feels like most of us are moving through some major, prolonged uncertainty. And again – as a collective and as a family unit – it all feels like a lot (because it is) and like it will be as such for a long time to come.

As I said, I’m no expert, on anything. I have no answers. All I know is that in our house, we will keep doing the work of anti-racism. We will keep doing what we can to keep our health systems from being overrun with COVID. We will keep trying to find ways to keep our kids moving through all of these big shifts and hard moments. And we’ll keep trying to keep ourselves sane and moving, too, because we know the work we do here has the ability to spread but it is going to take time and care and compassion, and yes, a hell of a lot more intensity, too.

Halfway Point?

May 29, 2020May 29, 2020 ~ The Modern Maiasaura ~ Leave a comment

Because I am married to a Math Man, we talk numbers a lot in our family. I mean, maybe not everyone would agree with my quantitative qualifies, because I am clearly the word nerd in the group, but for real, it seems like a LOT.

Since COVID life started for us in mid-March, we started keeping track on the calendar with just how many days it has been because honestly, how else would we keep track? And somehow, today is day 79. Seventy-freaking-nine of not seeing grandparents or friends in person, of playing at parks or participating in school and activities. I may not be a numbers expert, but it sure feels like that’s a crap-ton.

And again, because, Math, I also happen to know that today marks 79* days until school starts again in the fall. That means we are really only at the halfway point of this bizarre, unwanted extended summer that really doesn’t feel like summer because we don’t feel comfortable doing pretty much any of the things we’d normally do outside of our own yard in “the before times” summer. *He tells me that it’s somewhere between 79 and 80 between tonight and tomorrow and oh my gosh are you kidding me, so many numbers and math! 😉

And that is a lot to process because, as those of you living with small armies of dependents you are responsible for raising/creating whilst existing in the midst of the most uncertain and stressful time any of us have ever experienced, we’ve sort of already reached our max of Together Time.

Are you feeling that, too?

In case you didn’t know, I’m a quiet person who likes quiet time and my house is never ever quiet anymore (not even when the children are on screens; in fact, sometimes when they play video games, they are louder in both celebration and frustration than when off them). And it seems that none of us is ever getting a real honest break or time away to do our thing. The closest I’ve gotten is driving to pick up groceries or grade papers off-site and neither of those tasks are vacation-like in any way!

Normally during summer we’d have a week or two when we’d be all home without something scheduled, but otherwise it would be this kid here for that camp or that kid there for something else, and goodness, without any outliers to break up the days, the constant togetherness is overwhelming. And we are still 79ish flipping days away from a real change in that.

Sidenote: I would be freaking the freak out if I wasn’t with my kids right now. That is not my wish at all. I am glad that we are privileged and able to be together during this time. And also, it is a lot to handle. Both things are the truth.

I keep trying to figure out how we can split things up a bit better but so far I’m still coming up blank as to how to make it happen. My latest approach is to let them pair or group up naturally to go off and play whatever and not interfere as long as it stays relatively peaceful. Sometimes that works (until it doesn’t), and then we try again. I don’t know how much that is different from pre-COVID life, actually, but all the same, I wish we had some better ways to shake things up (and spread the heck out from one another).

The way most days go, at some point (or ten) they end up in a prickly cluster in which they literally will not separate even though they are clearly not getting along (see image below). We are fortunate to live in a town with yards and a house with multiple rooms and not an apartment in a city where we’d be really really stuck together, but it doesn’t seem to make much difference to this crew – they still gravitate to one another and bicker.

As it is, we’re just going to keep our fingers crossed and our hands washed and our masks on and hope against hope that all of this (and by “this” I mean the many, multiple, multifaceted layers of HARD that was this week in our country, but that is another blog post for another day) improves.

We’re willing to do the work to make it so (even if one of those “this”s means being on top of each other for another 79+ days).

Walk This Way

May 23, 2020May 23, 2020 ~ The Modern Maiasaura ~ 1 Comment

A month ago a friend posed a question to a group of us asking about what kind of movement we were doing that felt good and wasn’t a slippery slope into competitiveness. Now granted, the rest of us all happened to also be yoga teachers, but I think each of us has realized over the years that an asana practice is not the only way, and part of why my friend’s question struck such a chord with me is that the physical yoga I have been doing, especially since the start of the pandemic, hasn’t quite been the right combination to “burn off the crazy” as I like to put it.

That conversation sparked a commitment in myself to start doing something that might in fact counter all that. And while I’ve tried in the past to commit to a regular habit of walking (maybe I’ll get back to running someday but now is not that time), this time it seems to have stuck.

For the last four weeks, I have walked at least one mile or 20-30 minutes each and every day. There were a couple days where I did 20 minutes on the elliptical instead, but thanks to it being spring and the weather mostly cooperating (I have walked in the rain a couple times), I’ve been finding all different times of day and places to walk without fail ever since my friends and I had that (virtual) chat.

A few observations about the establishment of this pattern:

I had to quit walking where I normally would in pre-pandemic life, which is to say, the big park not too far from my house that is a lovely mile-long “track” shape. I still venture near it sometimes depending on day/time, but mostly it has too many people around it and too many people spikes my anxiety which is the opposite of what the walk is meant to accomplish.
I try to avoid people altogether during my walks. I cross the street, wide step, and basically do whatever to keep to myself when walking because, you know, particles, and COVID, and just, no thanks. I want everyone to be out getting what exercise they need but I don’t want to be around it, please and thank you.
Walking has rebooted my reading habit. Weird, right? But instead of music, I actually like listening to words when I walk, so if I’m not getting caught up on my favorite podcast (which is not actually a podcast, but rather, my friends talking on Marco Polo), I like to listen to audiobooks from the library via the Hoopla or OverDrive apps. It’s awesome to walk and listen and I feel like I’m accomplishing two great things at once. My reading took a big hit when quarantine started and it’s still not back to normal, but I feel like this is getting me there.
I feel so much better in my body. I know that even after four weeks of consistent mileage, there hasn’t been some huge physical/visible shift in my body, but I FEEL so much stronger and put together, which is saying something, especially in these trying, stressful times. I haven’t been on a scale (or at least not seen the numbers on one) since Lincoln was six weeks old, because I’d much rather pay attention to how I’m feeling and this walking routine is perhaps the strongest I’ve felt in ages.

And while I know a million little things could change at any minute, I’m glad that I’ve made this change and have been able to stick with it for this long. I hope that as the summer unfolds, I can keep it up, which will make it easier to transition it into an inside task later in the year. Because right now it does indeed feel good and finding something that does that every day is a huge benefit and blessing.

How Are You Doing Really?

May 18, 2020May 18, 2020 ~ The Modern Maiasaura ~ Leave a comment

Has anyone else noticed the awkward pause these days that has started happening when a conversation starts with the classic, “How are you doing?” question? This has always been a loaded inquiry that most of us never really answer truthfully (because who has time and usually the person asking isn’t a) looking for a novel-length amount of truth or b) a safe place in which to give such), but wow is it a total load of crap in COVID life.

And I say this as someone who still finds the words falling out of her mouth upon seeing people across the street or in a driveway (at 6+ feet of social distance)! Just like I can’t seem to kick the habit of asking, I also can’t help but sad-chuckle when it happens because you can see the truth written all over people’s faces (with their raised eyebrows and sort-of-there smiles) and you can definitely hear the disbelief in their “suuuuure, fine, yeah, you betcha’s” that now always comes after a pause as we all consider the absurdity of even asking or answering that.

Yesterday, though, I caught a twist on this question when I happened to see an Instagram story from my beloved Sara Bareilles in which she was participating in a tag-each-other challenge of answering the question, “How are you doing *really*?” which is to say, if you were going to answer that honestly, what would you say?

My answer has been rattling around my brain for the last 24 hours and if I’m being honest, it keeps landing back at “not great.”

For one, I live in a state that is already opening back up even though we never really shut down and have yet to see verified, complete (i.e. transparent) numbers of COVID cases decreasing.

For another, I live in a county that lives next to another county that both have some of the highest number of cases in our state and originally we were told we’d all have a couple extra weeks (until June 1) to keep restrictions in place to all of the sudden having that ripped out from under our feet by the Governor last week when he decided, “J/K” and said that our counties too would be loosening guidelines starting today. Excuse me, what?! The whiplash on that one sent me on a tailspin last week that has yet to let up.

For yet another, we now have to be the ones calling the shots about where and what our kids will be doing as some summer activities begin in the next couple weeks. We are of course always in charge of that and ultimately still are, but as things like baseball and dance start up again in June and some families around us start to participate, we have to explain to our kids why that won’t be the case for us. And sorry folks, but we won’t be doing either because to us the reward doesn’t outweigh the risk and that’s coming from two parents who very much love to watch their children do these very activities. I don’t know how we’ll explain to them that we aren’t when others are, but instead of as a state reevaluating at the end of the month, supposedly, here we are, being forced to send those emails of decline. Now. Two weeks before any sort of evaluation and real look at the state of affairs in our state.

And for yet one more, in a comedy of errors that has dragged on for a year and freaking half, we are still faced with what to do with our unfinished house projects. The carpet that we ordered in late February and have been putting off installation of for months now comes next week. Do I feel great about that? Nope, but I also want very much to have my house put back in order so I can actually put stuff away and have my house the way I haven’t had it (a.k.a. mine and done) since December 2018. DECEMBER 2018!!!

And I can’t think of a better metaphor for quarantine life than this: six weeks ago our side door, the one we use All. The. Time. broke. Just broke. I came in it. Ben went out it. And then it never opened again. Thankfully this less-than-a-year-old door was still under warranty and it didn’t cost us anything to fix, but that break happened SIX WEEKS AGO so all this time we’ve been without that, feeling even more trapped in our own house than we would have otherwise in this bizarre time. The good news is that the actual fix only took 20 minutes and the dude who came to fix it was super nice AND (even better) wearing a mask, so that helped alleviate some of my tension, but y’all, the anxiety train is running fast these days with the thought of what it will take to get to the point of actually being done with all this (renovation and Coronavirus, to be clear).

So how am I doing, really? I’m a mess. I’m wondering who to trust and what to believe, questioning what is safe and what is right, unsure of what to do and anxious about pretty much every choice we make. Are they the right ones? Who knows. Is this really any different than normal life? Maybe not. But it sure feels like the stakes are higher and the tension DEFINITELY is, so even if this isn’t all that different than the typical uncertainty of life, trying to figure out how to move forward from “this” has left me spinning.

I hope you get a second to think about how you are doing, really, and maybe even get a chance to share it with someone or write it out a bit. I know that’s not the magic bullet for everyone, but these times, they are worth a ponder and finding a writing utensil to document, that is for sure.

The Zoomies

May 8, 2020May 8, 2020 ~ The Modern Maiasaura ~ Leave a comment

For the last few weeks (erm, two months?) we’ve had some sad kids missing school and their friends. That physical distance and longing isn’t going to change any time soon (our state and particularly our county/surrounding area is still In It and unfortunately probably will be for some time yet). We still have yet to strike a balance for combating these lonelies, but after my biggest girl broke down a few weeks ago, we hatched a plan.

After RL got so upset after watching her brother zoom with his class, I asked if she’d like to write her teacher a letter. I thought it might help her feel more connected to school and she agreed. And I don’t know how I didn’t see this coming, but the very first question she asked me was, “Can I ask her to do a Zoom for our class?” to which I pulled a classic “We’ll see…” stalling tactic as my response.

Part of me wanted to say to my daughter that there were probably (very valid) reasons her teacher hadn’t offered one yet and that we shouldn’t make her teacher feel bad or pressured to do so. But then the voice sitting on my other shoulder said, “What lesson is that teaching my daughter if I advise her not to ask things of other people just because it might make them uncomfortable but that in asking might result in something that she really, really desires?” I sided with the second shoulder, deciding that the worst that could be said was no which would leave us in no different place than we already were, but at least we would have tried.

And sweet, sweet Raegan. In true to her form, she wrote the nicest letter to her teacher starting off with no intention but kindness, saying, “I miss you. I miss your sweet face.” From there she went on to tell her about what she’s been doing and then I helped her with making sure that her Zoom request was asked with top manners. And that was that; she decorated the envelope, picked the stamp, and we mailed it, hoping for the best.

I cannot tell you how I cried when I got her teacher’s response of YES to RL’s request. I was so happy for my girl and so happy for myself for listening to that second voice that didn’t squash my kid’s hopes just because I didn’t think it would be polite to ask. Raegan was thrilled when I told her; she literally jumped up and down saying, “Yay! Yay! YAY! I get to see their faces again!”

And, as a bonus, she actually got some extra time online with her teacher as we were asked to help (and were very happy to comply) with a practice session so they could work out the bugs of using the system. Raegan’s smile during that said it all that we made the right decision to ask.

This morning was the real deal with the class, of whom about half were able to participate, and I sat there off to the side of RL on screen and was so proud of her for having the guts and the gusto to know what she wanted and to ask for it. I hope she just keeps doing that forever and remembers how moving from a place of kindness can take you far (even when you’re still stuck at home).

May the Fourth

May 4, 2020May 4, 2020 ~ The Modern Maiasaura ~ Leave a comment

Of the many elements of Quarantine Life that I never could have predicted, one bright spot has turned out to be, of all things, Star Wars.

What?

Yep.

Star Wars.

To explain, my children were gifted Disney Plus from some family members for Christmas which was cool but not getting much use until, well, Quarantine Life began. I mean, we’d watched a few things on there in the first few months of the year but since mid-March? Holy moly cow. We have gotten very good use of that gift!

What inspired me to take advantage of the Star Wars element of Disney Plus, though, was, ironically, a different show – LEGO Masters, which our entire family loved the heck out of this Spring on FOX. Side note: I promise – our entire world does not revolve around TV, not even in the middle of a pandemic, even though it might seem like it based on this post.

If you watched that show (and if you didn’t, you definitely should!), you’ll remember that near the end of the season, they had a Star Wars themed episode and even though I knew my kids sort of knew what Star Wars is, I thought they’d appreciate the LEGO side of things more if we watched one of the movies first.

Well, the weekend we chose to tackle that turned out to be crappy, crappy weather, which meant one movie turned into three. Whoops! And, let the record show, we chose to go in release date order, so we started with Episodes 4, 5, and 6. I know there are big feelings around making that decision, but considering that I grew up watching them in that order made that choice make sense for me.

Another side note (or two): Star Wars has a significant place in my family history. If I’m remembering correctly, it’s the first movie my parents saw together in the movie theatre (but I’m going to have to fact check with my mom to make sure I’m not twisting details). And my brother loved Star Wars growing up, both the “old” and the “new” (Episodes 1, 2, and 3) that started coming out when we were in high school-ish.

I remember watching the originals with my brother as kids and definitely saw one of the last 90s ones in the theatre, but beyond that, I’ve been out of touch with this world for years. It is *not* Ben’s thing and that’s totally fine. He said maybe he’s seen some of the old ones, but even then, he doesn’t have any real connection to it, so if it was going to be anyone in our family to introduce it to the children, it was going to be me. And by children, I mean Big 3, because no way could Trumy handle these films at this point.

And, honestly, I have loved it. It has been such a joy to share that time and that story-line (confusing as it can be) with them over the course of the last couple months. And yes, in that time we have had enough crappy weather days to watch ALLLL the episodes. Last side note (maybe): we got thrown off near the end by the realization that there are also Star Was Stories movies, not just Episodes, so we may have gone off course by skipping those, but whatever – we wanted to watch all nine movies, and we did. Yay!

What I didn’t expect from all this was the different way this experience would connect with each of my kids.

For Harrison, it was a hilarious throw back in time because years ago his beloved franchise, Angry Birds, released two different (and freakishly accurately done) versions of “Angry Birds: Star Wars” in which they essentially went through all of the first six movies in AB format. And somewhere along the line in his obsession, we got him an AB SW encyclopedia that he read cover to cover (probably multiple times), so he knew a TON of what was going on in the those first two trilogies. Thankfully he knows not to give away spoilers, so he did a good job of not ruining anything for the other kids as we watched.

For Raegan, it was all of the amazing female characters in the movies. Yes, there are some issues within the stories, but there are some seriously strong women portrayed and I loved watching her respond to that in the films. I think she loved all of the main female characters, but I know for a fact she loved Rey the most and that she is going to have a character connection to her for a long, long time to come. We even had to attempt some Rey hair because, I mean, why not, right?! We’ll work on our costume skills; check back by Halloween for how far we’ve come.

For Lincoln, it was a whole lot of extra, unanticipated snuggles during the movies. He liked all of them and definitely liked acting them out in the yard after the fact, but he was a little less thrilled with the actual fight scenes in the actual movies, which meant that during each of them, at some point or another, he ended up right next to me on the couch. And of course I don’t take pleasure in my kids’ discomfort, but I definitely enjoyed being a source of comfort to him in the midst of that. I honestly don’t think he got as much out of the story as the other two, but the nice part of watching from home was the ability to pause, answer questions, and discuss as we made our way through them all.

And then, to bring the WHOLE thing full circle, B and I decided to get the children a surprise in the form of, yep, LEGO to commemorate this time of life and our movie watching that helped us get through some of the longer hours and days. What I didn’t realize until this morning, though, was that we had to perfect opportunity today (because again, some crappy wind and weather this afternoon) to present them a May the Fourth gift! So now, we LEGO which has been a huge and helpful strategy for our family during this whole quarantine existence.

And you know me, I love a good theme and a good story! 😉 And, LEGO! But let’s be real, having three kids trying to navigate building the same set did not come without squabbles and attempts to take each other’s turn. Such is life in a busy, big family, especially when we’ve been with just each other for close to eight weeks! But at least the building got started and not every moment was fighting.

Today was a Good Day

April 25, 2020April 25, 2020 ~ The Modern Maiasaura ~ 3 Comments

Just like any blog post right now, it feels a little strange to document something with that title, as if it were a totally rare occurrence, except that lately, it sort of feels like a full day of a good day really really has been few and far between for us. I actually can’t put my finger on what would have been the last one during or even before Quarantine Life started that could be given the same title. Instead we’ve been clinging to what my therapist calls “Glimmer Moments” – little bits and pieces of good that are always mixed in, even on the hardest and longest of days.

But today was indeed a Good Day.

The weather was perfect – warm sun, cool breeze, big puffy clouds floating across the sky. (I mean, it IS April 25th, so….)

The agenda was different than normal but still turned out OK.

Ben spent the whole morning on a Zoom meeting for his statewide education association but was able to just listen to the content and didn’t have to be parked in a chair in front of the computer for the whole thing. During that time the kids and I hung out, working on Lego building and book reading to the littlest two

(we’ve been slacking on keeping track of their 1,000 books before Kindergarten lists, so we’re trying to start that up again), and I even managed to get the dishes done which is always nice when it happens before evening time.

After lunch the baby went down for a nap and Ben took the Bigs for a (socially distanced, don’t worry) excursion while I stayed to work on some projects I’ve been meaning to do but haven’t gotten to yet. One was simply putting the handwritten lyrics to a favorite song in a frame, but the other was a COVID-specific project that we can use as a keepsake for this crazy and uncertain time (because even though we don’t know when, we’re still hanging on to hope that life will return to normal, which will make this a reminder of The During once we finally get to be in The After). It felt so good to sit and work on these things and I was reminded of how meditative creating can be.

From there we headed out to Prairie Loft for our second Exploration Reservation (local and local-ish friends, you should really check it out – such a fantastic way to spend up to two hours out in nature) of the month and once again, we loved it and it nourished our souls.

This time we went straight for the downed trees so the kids could climb, but then we quickly moved on to walking a ton of ground that we didn’t set foot on last time. We found a bunch more trees to investigate (including some insanely thorned ones that just blew my mind, so much so that I forgot to get a picture of them), and the kids had a blast getting up, in, and on every one they could. Even Mama got in on the in-tree fun!

As we walked through the grass, keeping an eye out for little trees, pokey weeds, holes, and snakes, we got a chance to talk and question and just be. Again, I think we’ve realized that it is so soul-filling to be able to be together by ourselves but away from our house, and we are so lucky to have this so close to home.

Along the way, we took a ton of pictures and I took some quick notes of memorable quotes because even before the kids said it, I was already thinking, this is SUCH a great day. And what a gift it is to have one of those as we continue to chug along in this great unknown.

“We can find a way – we’re Welsches!”

“We an outdoor exploring family!”

“I like walking with you.”

“I’m having one of those emotional moments like you see on reality television!” (LOL! That one was maybe the best!)

We ended our time playing in their “yard” area and hunting for four-leaf clovers, which HD managed to find lickety-split. RL and LT found a four and five, too, so seriously – we were on a roll!

From here it will be tacos for supper, bath and bedtime for the kids, some Hard Booch for the parentals, and then a continuation of our Parks and Recreation marathon because just like creating and getting away, Leslie Knope is one of the best things for my heart and soul these days.

Sending you all lots of love and wishes for glimmer moments, and hopefully even a Good Day, while you’re at it.