The Wards: COVID-19 Diaries--The First Two Weeks

I keep hearing the suggestions to make sure we document current times to reflect back on after we are past the COVID-19 crisis. Laura Vanderkam's post today sums it up well: https://lauravanderkam.com/2020/03/make-time-to-journal/

Our family is really two weeks into managing this new reality. On Thursday, March 12, it was a normal school day although I was home with the stomach flu. We had heard growing concerns that the COVID-19 virus was spreading quickly in places like Seattle. Several families we knew were reconsidering their upcoming spring break plans and orders were coming in quickly that gatherings of over 250 people should be cancelled. When Jonathan picked up the twins from PreK, he asked if the World Fair would be still be held. The teacher said yes, of course...it's not like they could close down everything...what about places like Disney World. The thought seemed outrageous at the time. By Sunday, however, Disney World was indeed shut-down.

On Friday, March 13, the older girls officially started spring break Mali had a wonderful outing of lunch and shopping with a few friends. They tried on dresses to wear to their 8th grade graduation. Only one of her friends was not allowed to attend due to her parents' concerns about the virus. Later that night, Mali and Brinnly had their much-anticipated basketball sleepover at the coach's house. As is the tradition, they went late out to "TP" the houses of the members of the boys' basketball team. However, TP was already in short-supply!

Early Saturday morning we went to Michigan to see all of our family there and to celebrate the twins' birthday. We had hoped to go ice-skating at a local rink but decided to avoid any potential crowds and we played at our church school gym instead. We had a lovely time catching up with everyone! We went to church Sunday morning and it was clear from Pastor's announcements that it would be the last service or church activity we would attend for a while. The numbers of people infected with the virus were pretty low in both MI and WI at that point, but we were nervous already about driving between the two states and tried to avoid stopping at places like big rest areas.

Monday, March 16 began spring break for the EGL kids and the first week of distance learning for the BCS girls. We had picked up their school work and checked out a Chromebook for each of them previous (we don't ha.ve enough devices to go around here!) and things started quickly. They soon learned how to Zoom with their teachers, work through Google classroom assignments, and even how to play trivia games and similar activities with their friends. We stated each morning with devotions and the opening video from their principal, and then they would tackle the approximately 7 hours of school work each day. They'd take breaks for lunch and outside time. Meanwhile, the younger kids had fun relaxing, being outside, making more of Carrigan's sangria, and enjoying a bit more screen time than normal We finished the read-aloud 'Wayside School is Getting a Little Stranger" and started "Pippi in the South Seas". Overall, the kids did really well this week. The news about the pandemic was growing worse by the day, however, Each day more things were closing and for longer periods of time. We learned new terms such as "social distancing" and "self-quarantine". Our doctor's office recommended to limiting playdates to one friend visiting at a time. By the end of the week, even this was not allowed. We may the hard decision to not allow any of the kids' friends inside our house and they were only allowed to play outside or go on walks/bike rides with them. We slowly began to realize that this was going to last a lot longer than we expected. It was especially tough for Mali to grasp that she may not be able to finish her 8th grade year at her school that she loves so much and with her friends that she will most likely not attend high school with.

After a make-shift weekend (pancakes on Saturday morning! Live-streaming church on Sunday!). we started a new week on Monday, March 23rd. BCS was officially on spring break so the older girls did not have school, EGL had a professional development day so I spent all day with the other staff members brainstorming on how to teach and serve students through distance learning. I am SO impressed by both of our schools and how they respond to this crisis! On Tuesday, the younger kids all started distance learning and they also did very well. We have been using paper packets from teachers, Zoom conferences and lots of other learning platforms. Much of their schoolwork gets done in the morning and then we eat lunch together and have a more relaxed afternoon. And evening. Jonathan and I both stated working from home this week which has pros and cons. It is nice to be all together...it is NOT nice to try to get work done when we are all together. But we fit in walks and other exercise and lots of eating together. The older girls make a sweet treat of some sort each day...and it's usually gone by the end of the day! We have enjoyed dinners like roasted chicken, salmon with cream sauce, and grilled burgers. We really appreciate not having to work meals around various activities although we do miss those activities. A big milestone this week is that Governor Evers formalized the list of "essential services" that were allowed to stay open now and that construction sites were considered "essential". That is encouraging for Jonathan's company which is already facing the threat of the recession. There is much unsettling news for all of this time but we are clinging to God's promises to provide for us and that he will give us peace during this time.