Month: March 2020
Kaitlyn wanted to cook – so of course we did. She still loves all things pink so we decided on a strawberry cake. I’m pretty sure Kaitlyn was most excited about decorating the cake, but she went through all the steps of making the cake, waiting for it to cook, and then waiting for it to cool. Then I let her go crazy with frosting and sprinkles.
The feeling of uncertainty makes the day to day more difficult. As of right now, there are no daily plans from the schools (that will be changing). Some parents have created their own curriculums, some are entertaining their kids with crafts all day, some are hands off completely, and some let their kids play electronics all day. At our house, we’ve tried to do a combination of everything, but nobody is very interested or cooperative – except Ben and sometimes Kaitlyn.
Day 10 of the pandemic. Grocery shopping has become quite an adventure. It started with everyone bulk buying at the beginning of the shutdown. Now people only venture out for a planned grocery run every 1-2 weeks. Many people are doing grocery deliveries, but I prefer to still do my own shopping. It has been a nice treat to go by myself since only one family member is recommended to be in the stores at a time and definitely no children. With Wade working at home, I can really go anytime which is also a newfound freedom.
The weird parts are wearing a mask, walking one way down an aisle, maintaining social distancing, and not being able to find things on my list. I know our town isn’t unique, but I thought I’d take pictures just to document how empty some of the shelves have become. Some items have been bare since the beginning and others are hit or miss from trip to trip or even store to store.
Items that are impossible to find anywhere – toilet paper, pasta, chicken breasts, frozen vegetables, and flour.
I’m not sure there is a “typical” or “normal” anymore, but here’s a little peak into our day. We were a little thrown when it snowed (and stuck), but we just went with the fact that this is the craziest spring ever.
We started the day with Cinnamon Toast made in the oven, but somehow I lost track of time and managed to burn several pieces. While I was cooking breakfast, Kaitlyn and Ben created an obstacle course in the kitchen.
Then everyone got dressed or rather, dressed up for a little pretend cooking. Kaitlyn had a virtual playdate with her Kindergarten class. Everyone got their playdough and they played and chatted. It was adorable! After that, I logged the kids on to “Lunch doodles with Mo Willems.” Alex and Kaitlyn really enjoyed it but Teague and Ben quickly grew bored and ventured outside for a walk.
I had a really easy time potty training my first three kids. In retrospect, I should have known that meant Ben would be a bear. We tried potty training and it did not go as quickly or as smoothly as with the other kids (3 days and done with the others). It has dragged and dragged. We took our road trip and Ben did amazing – no accidents!! Then we’ve been home a couple of weeks and he’s had nothing but constant accidents. I’m about to throw in the towel and go back to diapers – something I swore I would never do once I started potty training. However, I am sick of doing laundry.
Kaitlyn spent the day playing with Ben – which is fairly rare. Normally Kaitlyn and Teague are the two to pair off. Kaitlyn discovered that not only can she wear Ben’s clothes, but he is pretty agreeable to being dressed up in various outfits. After playing with a human doll all morning, she was so excited to entertain him when he woke up from his nap by reading him books in his room. It was quite adorable.