We are fortunate to have two very bright children. We are unfortunate that, although we love our city, our school system is not geared for challenging bright children. So we had been looking ahead to moving into a city with a better school system within the next year or so, so my son could start middle school in a more challenging system. We started looking at houses, just to see what was out there and to get a better sense of the types of homes that appealed to both me and my husband, since we often have very different tastes.
But then we found a house that we both loved. We took a virtual tour online and immediately felt a kinship with the owners. It had a lot of similarities to our current house (fireplaces, a pool, a grand piano in the living room, hardwood floors, multiple bathrooms, gas appliances, a large semi-finished basement for entertaining) but also a lot of features we'd been wanting (master bath big enough for two, larger kitchen with an island, a guest bedroom, a garage, two offices, large wraparound porch). And it was in a city with one of the best school systems in the state, within a reasonable commuting distance from both our jobs, and non-prohibitive tax rates and real estate prices. After much thought, we decided to move up our timeline and make an offer on the house.
So we've spent the weekend lining up our financial ducks; talking with a real estate agent, a mortgage broker, inspectors and appraisers and stagers. We discussed options of managing a gap between buying a new house and selling our old house. We ordered packing materials and pulled out the heavy moving boxes my husband has been saving in the attic for years. And we began packing up decades of accumulated life in this house. Throwing out some of it, setting some of it aside to give away, and carefully packing some of it in boxes and tucking it lovingly into the POD.
It's...cathartic. And terrifying. And exciting. And our combination of excitement and nerves has been passed on to our children. Naturally, they're nervous about moving, since they've never done it before. They have questions and concerns. My daughter wants to know which room will be her bedroom. My son wants to know if he'll still be able to play with his friends. They both want to know if we're going to throw out any of their furniture or toys. It has definitely affected the way they're feeling right now.
So when they requested this morning that school be a little "light" today, I immediately agreed. Their mental health is being buffeted right now, and the last thing they need to be worried about is school work. I decided to let them choose their own assignments from their classroom lists, including how long they'll spend on each assignment. I fully expect that my daughter will do mostly art projects and that my son will do mostly reading. I encouraged each of them to think about including some exercise, like Workout War, and to fit in a little time to practice their instruments. My son has a class meeting at 1pm that I am requiring him to attend. And I plan on baking leopard bread at some point during the day, which they are both invited to help with. But other than that, their time is their own (within reason). We'll see how it goes...
7-8:30am: Dad went shopping yesterday and managed to stock up on eggs, so by request, we had French toast for breakfast. Then we all got dressed (sort of; there were definitely fewer pants than people), washed, and brushed (again, sort of; various degrees of bedhead still abounded, but teeth were uniformly glistening white and mint-scented).
8:30-8:45am: My son decided to plan his entire schedule in advance, as follows:
8:45-9am: Finish previous assignments.
9-9:15am: Zearn math.
9:15-9:30am: Virtual escape room, part 1.
9:30-10am: Independent reading.
10-10:45am: Atlantic White Shark Conservancy Facebook Live Feed, and complete worksheets.
10:45-11am: Exercise break.
11-11:30am: Virtual escape room, part 2.
11:30am-1pm: Free time and lunch break.
1-2pm: Google Classroom Meeting and chat with friends.
2pm+: Help with baking leopard bread.
His actual schedule is given below in our hourly list.
My daughter decided to choose one assignment at a time.
8:45-9:20am: My son did finish his previous assignments, then went on to do a couple of Zearn problems. My daughter's art teacher assigned an Earth Day project to make something in the style of artist Andy Goldsworthy, who uses repeated patterns of a single object found around him (such as rocks or leaves) to create art. We brainstormed about items we have on hand (it's rainy, and windy, so we're limited to things inside the house), and came up with using jelly beans, since we have a huge tub of Jelly Belly jelly beans, which come in a large variety of colors. I warned her that she needed to wash her hands really well before she started, and if she ate any beans or licked her fingers, she had to re-wash. (We'll also save her "used" beans in a bag this is for her alone.) She also decided to make a video of herself making her design. She began by sorting the beans by color into a series of small bowls, and already I can tell this project will take most of the day. And I'm totally okay with that.
9:20-10am: They agreed to play Workout War together. They actually managed it without killing each other! There was exercise, and there was laughter, This may have been the highlight of the entire day - for me, at least, and possibly for them as well.
10-10:30am: My daughter watched Circle Time with Tracey O'Farrell and then spent a few minutes playing with the hamster; my son watched the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy Facebook Live Feed.
10:30-11am: My son started working on this Alice in Wonderland virtual escape themed room. My daughter requested doing a research project about hamsters, so I assigned her to write a short paragraph when she was done.
11-11:30am: My son continued with the escape room (at least, I think he did; I'll be perfectly honest and admit that I didn't check and I don't really care all that much if he was goofing off), and my daughter went back to working on her art project.
11:30am-1pm: Free time and lunch break!
1-2pm: My son participated in his Google Classroom Meeting followed by social chat with his classmates, and my daughter...I don't know what she did. She played something online. It may have involved math, or possibly geography (the latter thought is based on the fact that she is repeatedly singing the theme song to "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?"). I can't even deal with it right now. We'll make up for it later. She's good.
2pm: And now, we bake leopard bread! Stay tuned for another blog post describing that particular adventure!
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