Our Life.

Social Distancing: Notes from the Inside (of our house)

We keep to ourselves most days. We homeschool, so our lives often move at a slower pace, making the most out of time spent together.

But this feels different.

First of all, our adult son is home for the time being, with all of the Covid-19 related closures. This has changed how our days function with another person’s thoughts and wishes to take into consideration, not to mention another man to feed. It makes for a different kind of day.

When we decided to physically distance ourselves from the world, on Sunday, I felt a surprising sense of community. If you follow Myers-Briggs, I’m considered a INFP. My sense of the way the world should be is driven by my rose-coloured glasses, and I’ll trade almost anything to make it better.

So now the four kids and I are completely at home.

Thankfully, everyone here understands the importance of protecting our aging community, though we’ve already had to support each other in moments of weakness, coming up with alternatives for quick trips to the store to grab something easy for supper, or substituting usual treat-purchases with home-made iced tea. We’re working together thus far.

Though I have to say, yesterday, the reality started to set in. Our eldest was restless, since it’s tough to sort through the discovery of one’s individuality in the same for walls as EVERYONE else, and I began to see that this period of isolation could go on much longer than originally suggested. Although I love homeschooling most days, I always know I have a backup plan, which would be to call the big yellow bus and be left in peace and quiet.

That doesn’t exist right now.

It seems a lot of the ‘normals’ will cease to exist for a while, and that can easily have an ominous glow, if we allow ourselves to think about things too much.

Another surprising revelation has been how little parent-led learning we’ve taken on this week. While other moms are rolling up their sleeves and trying to teach at home, we’ve taken the opposite approach.

I think we’re on hiatus for the week, until we find ourselves craving some rhythm.

I know we have the advantage of knowing how to thrive at home. I’ve learned when to add structure and when to let things slide. I understand that working out of a stack of exercise books is going to knock down morale if that’s all we’re doing. I’ve learned not to replicate school at home, but rather use the best of both worlds in a recipe that works for each of our children. But most of all, I know that when we’re feeling unlike our usual selves, it’s best to just enjoy each other.

So that’s what we’re up to today.