Thursday, April 23, 2020

Day In the Life - Quarantine Edition

Today I thought it would be fun to share a day in the life "quarantine edition".  Even though we're kind of stuck in "groundhog day" mode every day does look a little different based on school assignments, zoom calls, what my classes are doing, Dave's work schedule, the weather (because recess!), etc. 

Yesterday was going to be a pretty "normal" day for us so I thought it would be a good one to document.

I've said it a million times before - I wish I could be a morning person... but I'm just not.  Quarantine has pushed me into ALMOST full on summer-sleeping-in mode :)  

Yesterday I was up around 8:30, which gave me enough time to get up...


... deal with all of this...


... and get a cup of tea before Griffin had a zoom call. 


All three kids were up when Dave and I got up and they were all playing in their rooms (BLESS IT!  When they were younger I used to DREAM of this day!) and they all grabbed a quick breakfast and then Griffin (and Jack Bauer) were on a ZOOM call for 1st grade prayer time by nine.


Dave went to work and we made the most of the cloudy/rainy morning by getting school started.  Some mornings we get outside for a bit before starting but since it was drizzly we decided to just get going.

Sometimes they work in their rooms, sometimes they work outside... yesterday they each picked a space downstairs and we made it work.



I got them all working and hopped on the computer for a few to check my email, take inventory of my to-do-list and get my morning game plan together.


I got a load of laundry started...


... before getting in a little quiet time...


... and then grabbing some breakfast (PB&banana toast) and responding to a few Google classroom messages before an online tutoring session at 10.


After my ZOOM call Mason and I worked on fractions...


.... Luke hopped back on the laptop to get a few more things done....


... and I vacuumed the kitchen and family room before getting Griffin onto a small group meeting for her upcoming project on pandas :) 


Luke and Jelly Bean read on cloud library :) 


After her call I sent them all outside to play and came out to find them like this :)


The kids pretty much do their own lunches and yesterday's lunch was pretty typical...


After lunch Luke had social studies class outside...


... and Mason and Griffin played trolls together :)  When Luke is doing school stuff Mason completely humors Griffin and plays all the sweet little games with her.

I graded some tests from yesterday, answered a few more emails, got Griffin started with a YouTube ballet class while I got some zucchini bread in the oven...




... and Luke's online class turned into 5th grade ZOOM social hour after the teacher was done and it was so fun to see a big smile on his face ;)


Luke was off his ZOOM and Mason and G were done with school and mama needed some "quiet time" so I sent them all upstairs to read/play for about an hour and I pulled the zucchini bread out...


... folded some laundry and grabbed some lunch while working on a few school things and listening to a podcast.


Sidenote - quarantine eating is about to kill me.  Not the snacking but the scheduling.  I feel like I eat a super late breakfast and then am starving at like 3:00 and then at dinner time I'm not hungry at all... until like 9:00 p.m. when I want to eat a full meal.   It's not ideal.  

Anyway,  this was kind of a snacky lunch... had to have some of that warm zucchini bread and then ate an apple and about half of this salami/provolone pack.


Quiet time ended and G sat in this chair lookin like a teenager and petting Jelly Bean while chatting me up instead of sorting laundry :) 


This kid ;)

I hung up a couple of things in Mason's room (hence the hammer) and gathered up some laundry from upstairs...


The sun came out and we did some bike riding for a bit while it was nice.


Our neighbors have two sets of twins and our kids all love to play with each other - the past month playing has consisted of just riding bikes around the cul-de-sac while shout talking to each other.  I can't wait until they can all play again!


Dave got home around 5:00 and this is when my picture-taking kind of went off the rails.  I got Southwest Bowls prepped and ready...



... and then I graded papers and hung out while everyone ate (thanks a lot, late snacky lunch).  Teaching from home is no-joke and while I get all of my prep and videos and lessons ready on Sunday/Monday when Dave is home there is still a TON of work to be done during the school days and so unfortunately my work/life balance lines have been kind of blurred lately. 


After dinner I snapped this picture as photographic proof that I got the big ol' laundry pile that was on our floor put away :) 


and then we headed to a neighborhood pond to fish.  The kids have been SO into fishing lately which I'm loving!  Sometimes I'll go, other nights I'll do a walk around the neighborhood while Dave takes them... it just depends.  Their little faces when they catch something is priceless!



We fished until well past dark and got home around 8:45 - just in time to take some bike lights for a spin and play a few rounds of glow basketball.  


We came in and Dave took over the showers/bedtime duties while I grabbed some leftover faux quiche and sat down to wrap up grading (we've been working on graphing which, unfortunately, I haven't found a student-friendly way to assess... so I'm doing google form components along with scanned graphs that they're drawing and it's just time-consuming).  I watched the finale of Little Fires Everywhere while I worked and OH MY WORD!!!


 I graded tests, entered those grades, graded two sets of Math 7 assignments, made my "game plan" for the next 3 weeks of distance learning, input these lesson plans into RenWeb, answered a few emails and worked on my weekly newsletter while uploading pictures for this post.  I started prepping polynomial notes and assignments for next week, looked over my kids school assignments for tomorrow (I just note when they have ZOOM calls so I don't forget) and answered some blog emails.  Right now it's 12:15 and I'm calling it a night/morning :)  

Time to wash my face and crawl in bed and (if I'm being totally honest) probably read for an hour or so because shutting my brain off at night hasn't been the easiest lately.

So there you go! A day-in-the-life lately.

Happy Thursday, friends!

30 comments :

  1. I'm tired just reading this! Just a little tip- we take about 2.5 mg of melatonin on nights when we teach English until around 10:30 or so. It's so hard to wind down, but morning comes quickly when we stay up too late. We only do it once a week so it doesn't become addictive or anything. Maybe that could help you, too. :)

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    1. I've heard great things about it - I'll check it out for sure! THANK YOU!

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  2. Oh my gosh! I got tired just reading about your day. As a former teacher I certainly admire present day teachers even more during this time on online education. You are a hero also in my book.

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    1. Oh goodness! Hardly - but thank you! So many people are adjusting to working from home - I'm just appreciative that my job offers a lot of flexibility - I know lots of people are on calls all day and don't have nearly the flexibility that I do so I'm grateful FOR SURE!

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  3. We had your southwest bowls for the 1st time on Monday night and all agreed that it's now going to be a regular dinner in our house! They were delicious! Thanks for sharing your day with us!

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    1. YES!! They're the BEST! Having one for lunch today :)

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  4. Girl, you are the organization queen! I'm so impressed with all of you mamas with more than 1 kid that are coordinating all of this at home learning!

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    1. Oh, girl! I WISH! I feel like it's just a form of survival at this point - organize or die :) hahaha

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  5. Wow! You seem to be doing a great job managing it all and still working in some fun! Way to go!

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    1. Such a sweet compliment!!! Some days definitely feel more fun than others :) But we're trying to make the best of it!

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  6. Two things... 1. Little Fires Everywhere is was so dang good! I'm so sad it's over! 2. What podcast are you listening to right now?

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    1. ME TOO!!! When I realized it was the last 4-5 minutes I kind of panicked because I didn't want it to end. I'm also desperate to know what happens to them now!

      I'm still working my way through old episodes of My Favorite Murder ;)

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  7. I think you are doing an amazing job with this distance learning! I've heard from some that their kids teachers are just "phoning it in" so to speak. I'm sure it's challenging but so appreciate your effort. I am getting Hulu just so I can watch "Little Fires Everywhere", read the book and loved it! You mentioned reading before bed, what have you been reading lately? Any recommendations? Hope you have the best day:).

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    1. I've been so blessed with the participation level of my students - I know a lot of teachers are struggling because kids aren't or can't do online learning so I feel for them! I'm currently reading Homefront by Kristin Hannah :)

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  8. PLEASE share the best youtube ballet rec's! My niece is 'x' close to driving her mother (my sister) batty.

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    1. We just search "beginner ballet" or "ballet for kids" or "Ballet one" and find one she likes ;) Best of luck to your sister :)

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  9. that shirt is super cute what and where did you get it!?

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  10. I was just looking for your SW bowl recipe. In fact sent you an IG message the other day. Can you link back to it for me please? Thank you.

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    1. Of course! Here you go: https://www.momfessionals.com/2019/06/southwest-bowl.html

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  11. I LOVE that tall white shelf that holds all your plants in one of your early pictures - can you tell me where you found that? Been looking for something similar!

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    1. I found it at a local furniture store (weirs) several years ago

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  12. Have you tried Kami? I think it might be good for your students to submit work!

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  13. I read that and I got tired. Bless you! You are winning at this quarantine life!

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  14. Your blog is one of my favorites, and I love the "Day in the Life" posts...thanks so much!!

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  15. What is that delicious drink?!

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  16. You are going to be so happy that recorded all of this sweet time with your family one day. And then you are going to wonder how you did it all ;)
    Honestly, GOOD FOR YOU. I can’t imagine how hard it is to work from home full-time AND Mommy full-time too.
    Prayers and strength and stamina to make it to summer - you and your kids will deserve the break!!!

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  17. Where do you find all of your cute plates?! I love them!

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