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Don't underestimate the talents of the “tic- toc” er in your house. The efforts put into that 30 second video may take all day, making every recipe concoction they can as they scramble through our home finding things you never even knew you had. Evidence left everywhere even though you’ve said several times, “I don’t care what you do, don’t leave any evidence”, translation in mom terms, clean up your crazy mess! They must not think I use the bathroom at all because there it all is, laying out on the counter; coconut oil, baking soda, honey, raw egg mixture to strengthen your nails and next to that lab experiment; the makeup, bag of ice, food coloring and sugar for another face scrub sampling. Never ending. Including a Churros Recipe that was found on TicToc with no measurements so timing out the “Pour” with the video seemed efficient enough… what? No? Yeah, 3 lbs of flour down the drain and we started over finding an actual recipe that I ended up finishing and called the crew back in to eat it when done (I never learn and Flour is too hard to come by wasting it in these times!) So then I thought I’d join their fun- together WITH them. No, not on the new found experiment of the hour, but on a TicToc dance. How hard could it be, they are pulling out these dance moves in seconds? Yeah, that short dance spot took them at least 3 hours to teach me and get it right! It kept them out of the mixing labs and outdoors with the sun as I shook my big bootie off on the patio with them laughing and loving every bit of it. My moves may not have been perfect but calories were definitely burned! Dance class, choreography, chemistry and film all in one day, done. 
Don’t underestimate the cooking in the kitchen together, sure the counters have those little corner crumbs when they complete their “make dinner” task and the dishwasher is not filled exactly the way you would do it but they learned the magic of a measuring cup and why it’s so important to get the perfect ingredients mixed in the best way. Dry to dry, liquids to liquids. Or the timing of making a meal when the breads go in last, the meats first. Things at the age of... well, 30 plus, haha that I’m still learning myself but expect them to know at the age of 10. What?!! Really? My Nana cooked up the best of meals, she was a perfectionist to the finest; we watched her pinch this and dash that and we went off to set the table or butter the pans and wash the dishes needed, so we never learned the magic technique of a homemade Italian meal. Her sauce, however, is something I’ve come to be proud of making myself and should do it way more often than I do! At least I get one thing right when it comes to kitchen time and channeling my inner Nana. So Cultural Cuisine and serving others, with custodial cleaning skills, done yet barely passing.
Or how about the baking and decorating, simple science itself so let's check the Science class off for the day and another cake complete for us to eat or share at this point, our belly's are caked out! Our baked goods are made quicker than they are getting eaten, unlike they did a month ago. I’m sure you would agree that decorating and baking count also as Art- Done… well, Art is in every lesson in this house, possibly Honors Art Class, haha, so let’s carry on….
The Art of tidiness; cleaning their bedrooms, putting everything in its place and organized. I can’t say it happens as often as I’d like in each room but seeing paints, brushes, and almost finished paint projects are in sight as we speak. If I’m not hiding objects, they are getting painted. The staircase is their next project and possibly two wooden chairs after that since the girls feel they need a little pizzazz. Don’t leave any evidence I say and they do their best shoving it all in a corner, letting me know they are getting back to it, painting is a process. Yes, of course my perfect little darlings (as I eye roll and calm my OCD down) it’s a process.
Gym Class- Let’s do gym. Only when you ride your bike, wear your helmet and do everything you can not to fall. In fact, just don’t do anything that will risk you getting injured because if we see your arm is broken, we will duct tape it to a piece of wood and have you rest with Tylenol/ Ibuprofen doing everything we can to keep you out of the hospitals at this time. Yes, we want to keep all of you in a bubble to keep from getting sick. If you are at the hospital, you may be alone, we may not be able to go in with you and, IF we are with you, we take the risk of all getting COVID19 not knowing how our body will react. Possibly walking out with the ability to fight it off at home, or one thing leading to another and breathing off a ventilator. So no, don’t be too risky in our at home gym class because this mother is doing her best to avoid fear, but it’s there and it’s real. Gym, we’ll check it off, safely and with as much activity as we can for now; walks, basketball, soccer, baseball, all in the backyard WITHOUT your teammates and friends, that they don't need to be reminded of. So let’s talk video games now, maybe a safer bet, right?
Well, if when they start coming out of their room looking a little pale and the stink follows them, they may need a major scrub down from the week of coming out of the video cave. Video games, no, my very least favorite at all but hearing them from the room yelling at friends through the headset, laughing, and from what I think they are doing when I peak in, directing one another where to go and what to do? I find them learning to be an effective team member and how to conference call in the future. How communicating together, with a friend through a headpiece to achieve a goal may be beneficial in years to come when looking into the workforce, whether it be owner, employee, adventurer, whatever and wherever their journey may take them. A little far fetched right? The personal connection not exactly on, but working together, in any way possible and communicating with the outside world, through electronics, yes! So Communication Class, check, done.
40 days being quarantined at home would’ve sounded completely crazy and never possible as many of
the new home classes above were all so not lesson planned. But we are doing it, we are all doing it. Each in our own way. The best is there, in each day, nothing wrong and nothing right but what works best for your family. Some days you’ll wonder what was best at all and other days, you wouldn’t trade for the world. But when we give each day our best in whatever it is we do THAT day, does it really matter? Absolutely.
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| Fox 6 News 4/2020 |
Some teachers are giving it all they got, going above and beyond teaching their students in every way they know how and most teachers do it while taking care of their own families at the same time! Maybe even with little ones at home while their spouse is working or on the front lines working directly with COVID19! Maybe some restaurant owners are doing everything they can to keep their employees working and their businesses afloat by doing pick up orders from their parking lot. Maybe postal workers are going in each day covered from head to toe, in fear one minute but grateful to have a job the next, along with grocery store workers and truck drivers feeling the same way.
We are in this together, however surviving it in all different ways. I wake up creating a perfect breakfast one day and grab your own bowl of cereal the next. Then breakfast turns into lunch because we are all staying up as late as we want and everyone sleeping till they are no longer tired. The fork left in the sink and the crumbs on the counter made me a crazy woman flipping out that our house is a disaster when in fact, it’s not the entire house, it’s just my “dishes in the sink” chaotic mentality and no sleep the night prior that made me lose my mind over the dirty dishes. Thirty minutes later, we are all at the park together flying kites and playing soccer while running up and down the hills.
Movie nights come and go and family games become old quickly but we come together and laugh and yell and lose it with the best of each other. We are not perfect, we never will be but we are family and that family never changes. What does change is the way our world will slowly come together again. How we will look back at this as our kids struggled to be with friends and what they are missing out as their last year of school, how parents found the best of times and still needed their adult space even from one another, how we felt blessed and guilty at the same time, knowing we all had one another at home while others were dying and risking their lives to help others. We may be in a Howie Mendell introverted, and germ free world not touching one another or even coming close. This introverted world is uncomforting to me and unacceptable but I’ll still hug and hug as much as I can... with my own family for now and feel ok with that.
I’ll bake each day and let them make their messes, I’ll spazz on them one day and laugh and love it the next, I’ll let them find their own daily life lessons each day, I’ll turn off their WiFi to force them out of their rooms one day and let them play it out the next. I have many more years on them when it comes to taking care of our home, and patience is something that tests me but we will pass it together. I’ll let them teach me TicToc Dances and fold laundry with them even though it’s not to perfection. I’ll make breakfast for lunch because they slept in and I’ll make all frozen foods one day and a hopefully delicious meal the next because I can.
I’ll hug, pray, and reach out to a friend each day. I’ll take my “me time” getting outdoors completing a grateful mile each time, telling myself all the good I have in my life and yes, it’s there, we just have to take the time to see it. I may even shut down the next, meditating and refilling my cup.
These past 40 days have not been easy, but I’ve been able to take a breath each day, with my family together, food on the table, and a roof over our heads. As the chaos remains and the unbalanced life still holds firm under this roof, I am always and forever grateful….one day at a time, imperfectly unbalanced.
Until then as I complete this blog at this noon hour, my kids are slowly coming out of their rooms as they smell food from the kitchen; my pancakes need mixing, my bacon is burning, and maybe I’ll turn the WiFi back on when we’re all done… have a beautiful day my friends.
