COVID-19 Quarantine week three

Week three, the week I realized I can’t make the entire quarantine special for them.

I can’t make it special for me, either.

Three weeks ago when this whole thing started, we were still operating under a bit of naivety. School had been closed for two weeks, and I, ever the realist, told friends, “I’m sure it’ll be closed until after spring break.”

Oh, how young and innocent I was back then!

This week Virginia’s governor issued a stay-at-home order through June 10. We are settling in. My kids are amazing, they’re playing outside (all four of them!) for hours every day, and I don’t even have to threaten them to get them out the door.

We are finding rhythms, easing into new routines. We realize we are still at the beginning of all this.

Big sister reading a book while big brother pretends he’s too cool to care. (But I caught him listening.)

Mary started a gymnastics school and enrolled Thomas and Anna. She handed me this note and I thought, “Not polite in class? Why do you think I enrolled him in your militant gymnastics class?”

My kids’ school planned a teacher parade this week — the teachers drive through the neighborhoods of their students so they can wave and their moms can watch it and cry.

We made this giant rainbow for or dormers for the occasion of dressing our house up for the parade, and before I even had a chance to hang it up, the parade was cancelled.

The governor’s stay-at-home order was a blow that canceled our parade and put us in quarantine until June. I put up the rainbow anyway, and when I told the kids about the teacher parade, it was the first cancellation they showed disappointment about.

Still swinging, aways swinging.

Can you find Hulk in my tree?

A mid-week Zoom call with Thomas’s four-year-old preschool class. It was just as hectic and fun as you might imagine.

Anna learned to drink from a hose this week. That’s ok, right? Because it’d kind of become a thing…

David pulled Anna in this sled and I’ve never seen her so delighted. The top photo is out of focus, but I just loved her little blurry smile.

Thomas can tend a fire for hours. HOURS. The only problem is that we make him wear clothes and shoes if he’s going to be fireside. That’s been a real struggle for all parties.