Thursday, March 26, 2020

Coronavirus Quarantine Update 1

We are living in a different world.  The coronavirus is all over the world now and Oahu is on "shelter in place".  That means we are supposed to social distance (six feet away from everyone that's not family) and only leave our house for food and essentials.  

The kids had spring break for the first week of all of this, but we've tried to get back into some kind of routine this week.  We haven't heard from the schools...just that we won't be going back until April 30th or later.  A lot of the kids in our hood go to private school and are facing hours of work every day for distance learning.  I hope we hear from teachers soon, but I'm not jealous of their stress.  It seems like a lot to ask of kids during this confusing and frustrating time.  

We've started some online stuff that the school offers and I'm making the kids read, some keyboarding online lessons, and chores.  Today I'm hoping to talk them into doing a lip sync video to send to the Grunig, Wright, and Perry families.  They challenged us to a competition.  

To add to the scary, there was a tsunami warning a couple days ago for us.  It was a really scary 45 minutes before they cancelled it and said it wasn't a threat.  A 7.8 earthquake off the coast of Japan put it all in motion.  Lucy got a text from a friend and was immediately very upset and crying.  I tried to keep calm while Jason talked about going to fill up the van with gas and gathering some food.  We were just trying to be quiet about it and knew the likelihood of it taking over our home was very small, but felt like we should be prepared.  

Our nerves are raw and we are wondering what the future will be like, but we're also enjoying this time together as a family.  Yes, it gets trying...the fighting, the whining, the constant noise..but I'm grateful that Jason isn't deployed and has been able to be home with us.  I can't imagine what all of the nurses and doctors and hospital employees are going through, not to mention their families.  Prayers for them and all the people working on solutions.  We know it's going to get worse before it gets better.  That's hard to think about.  

So many concerns for my parents and for my kids mental and physical health.  Lucy is so anxious about the future.  Tristen is home from his mission, awaiting possible follow-up mission in Lubbock, Texas.  Graduation, prom, her NY trip were cancelled.  Silver lining is that she hasn't been super invested with much at Radford High, so she hasn't been overly upset by that.  She had a counseling appointment yesterday via FaceTime.  Hopefully that's helping.  

Graham misses his friends, but only shows that sadness every once in a while.  I can tell he's processing.  Benjamin and Sullivan seem okay and are eating up the time together, although I'm sure it's confusing.  

That's all I've got for now.  I hope to get on and journal little bit every day and tell what we're up to.  Here's some things we're doing to pass the time:

Wall ball against the garage
Basketball
Card game tournament... think UNO, BS, Phase 10, Cover Your Assets
Lots of movies at night.  We set up a system to choose movies that's fair to everyone..I worry that I'm letting Benny watch more than he normally would (PG-13).  Sullivan is always in bed when we watch.
Benny and Graham are playing Fortnite A LOT.  George in Utah and friends down the street are meeting up online and playing.  It's fun to hear them talking and strategizing.  
Jason is baking lots of bread and has made a dinner menu for the next three weeks.  He's in charge of dinner and shopping.   

I'll check in tomorrow!  

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