Mulberry Street

In a new strange reality, it's difficult to feel content regularly.  So as we adjust and adapt to our new norm we are trying to hold on to moments of contentment.

It turns out that trying to be both parent and teacher is tough, like really tough. When you're isolated from everyone else and spend A.L.L. D.A.Y. E.V.E.R.Y. D.A.Y. with your family, it is difficult to focus on various things. We have also discovered that keeping to a schedule has been important for anxiety, but that we need to build in time to process all the feels that arise and fall on a daily basis. This all means that we are trying to be flexible and creative. This also means that as we each try to do our best, we will try to be understanding with one another.   

We converted the dining room into our homeschooling home-base.  I imagine we will be tweaking ideas, schedules and assignments as we figure this out.

Good things about our field trip today include: stopping to buy rain boots from the thrift store, bringing enough umbrellas and zero crowds.  Also, there was a day camp there with low attendance so they shared their pizza and juice boxes with my kids.  Super generous leaders and I am grateful for their kindness. Some not so good things about our field trip today include: the rain, leaky umbrellas, and falling in the mud.  I also learned how difficult it is to hold an umbrella with one hand and shoot photographs with the other hand. It was raining hard enough that I didn't ever put the umbrella down, just attempted to pin it between my head and shoulder if I needed to use my other hand to get a shot. C'est la vie they say. The kids earned Junior Ranger badges and I managed to get a few good shots which almost makes all the whining worth it.  Next time, I wouldn't mind visiting the aquatic gardens on a sunny day, alone.  

Genevieve loves to read.  She loves mysteries, comics, novels and everything in between.  This love is so strong that sometimes, it hinders her motivation to get anything else done - especially homework. Since their are worse obsessions out there, I won't worry too much about it and for now I'll enjoy Genevieve's bursts of giggles when she reads Calvin & Hobbes.  

Since we had a two hour delay we rushed outside to play in the snow before the bus came.  You never know if the snow will melt by the time school is out in the afternoon so you have to cash in whenever possible. Jake continues to impress us with his non-cat behavior.  He runs through the snow, climbs trees and follows us through the woods despite the cold and wet.  

Participating in today's march for women meant a great deal to me. I won't be complicit nor complacent while people face real social problems. I will not allow my children to fear their Mexican heritage. I will not let my little girl grow up in a world where "locker room talk" is acceptable. As a mother, I feel the responsibility to teach my children that: "It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences." — Audre Lorde My family and I have a role to play in this important work.