Quarantine Week 11 - May 24 - 30

Sunday, May 24th

Sometimes after a long day you just want to go on a walk with your husband, but well, Fiona wanted to come, and so she did.

Monday, May 25th

We have a really hard time getting back to school work on a Monday. The girls are very resistant - Fiona not quite as much. And honestly, I'm kind of okay with ignoring them because then I can get my work done.

It was Jersey Day today and Ken had popped by Sport Chek on Saturday and picked up a new bat. The bat he has is so heavy the girls couldn't swing it properly. We were going to go play after dinner, but homework was done after dinner instead. Alice was the only one wearing the theme day shirt today.

Tuesday, May 26th

Today was Villain Day. The girls were being stinkers, and Ken suggested we capitalize on that, so this is what I posted on Facebook: We all have a villainous side don't we?

Kate the hair puller.

Alice the screamer.

Fiona the open-mouthed chewer.

Alice and Fiona, creative destroyers of clean rooms everywhere.

Today after dinner we finally completed Jersey Day! We went over to the school - Ken drove over with Alice and Kate and all the equipment, and Fiona and I rode our bikes over. While we were playing we started finding all these signs. I assume they're put out by the P.E. teachers at the school, but I'm not sure. Fiona and I had fun riding around and finding all of them, well, almost all of them!

Wednesday, May 27th

Storybook Character Day. Fiona wanted to be Little Fairy, so all the girls were their characters from the Superhero Books and we took some more pictures for the Covid19 book that I'll write eventually!

After dinner? Or maybe before dinner? I don't remember, but Fiona was desperate to go back to the school and find the rest of the signs that we started to find last night. Today I printed off the work sheet that went with all of the signs. We found the one that we were missing and of course Fiona wanted to climb in the climbing tree!

Thursday, May 28th

Scientist Day. I just love how Alice is so into all of the theme days! She was excited about being a mad scientist - even if she thought mad meant angry, not crazy. She did experiments with apple sauce.

I don't know why they always want to sit in the trunk of the fit?! This is their idea of waiting for the dentist. So, in February at Alice's last dental appointment she had a cavity. It was supposed to be filled in March - over the March break. But then all dental offices were ordered closed. So her appointment was canceled. I can't remember, it was a couple of weeks ago that dentist offices opened for emergencies. Last week Alice complained that her tooth hurt - "but don't worry Mom, I just don't chew on that side". And Fiona has had this weird bubble on and off on her gum. Her dentist check-up was cancelled - and she has terrible teeth, Alice too...

Me ready to take the girls into the dentist. Mask wearing, the new thing. Well, new to the mainstream. (Christine Bosnjak - one of the women I used to visit teach in Orangeville made us some masks.)

At the appointment today they were both diagnosed with an infection, so I went to the pharmacy. (This was the first time I went into a store since March. I picked up their antibiotics.) After the infection's gone they'll have to have the teeth extracted and spacers put in. ARGH! It's pretty minor in the grand scheme of things, but the effects of Covid19 are far reaching! Not going into a store for two months wasn't really a pain. Ken was our family shopper, and we weren't really inconvenienced at all, and I sure didn't mind Ken being the shopper.

As to the dental procedure. I called when we got there. We had to wait in the car until the previous patients left. Then we were called in, temperatures taken, questions asked and answered and waiver signed. The dentist and hygienist were in full PPE. There was plexiglass installed in front of the one receptionist. All the toys were put away. The massage chairs weren't in use, and all of the chairs and couches had been spread out social distance style. I was allowed to go back with Fiona and Alice, so that was good.

Oh and last but not least, Fiona and the Duplo. She still LOVES to build and create. Today's build was a desk and chair. She's sitting on the chair.

Friday, May 29th

Crazy Hair Day! This is Alice's favourite day!

We were reading scriptures at a meal and Alice just needed to create. I love the picture she created. She wrote "when you are on the right track, you will know the way".

Our other masks came. I ordered them from someone on Instragram that my friend Jodi had ordered from. The girls all have a flamingo mask - each with a different backing, and Ken now has a mask - a Toronto Raptor's mask. Up until now he'd been using a scarf.

I love the trees that line the sidewalk on our street. I love that the world has exploded in green! Another Friday evening, another walk that Ken and I didn't take alone. Fiona is such a funny monkey!!

May 30, 2020

Sometimes Saturdays are nothing days, and that's okay...

In other news

This week. I'm trying to find the words. On Monday, May 25th in Minneapolis, Minnesota a man named George Floyd was killed. A police officer with a history of using too much force, kneeled on Mr. Floyd's neck for nine minutes. Three officers stood by watching and listening as Mr. Floyd begged and cried "I can't breathe". George Floyd died in the street. The incident isn't the first time that excessive force was used against a man with black skin. It isn't the first time that police brutality reared its ugly head. It isn't the first time that the inequities in law enforcement and policing people with brown and black skin has been in the media. George Floyd is another name on a long list, a long list of names of black and brown men and women that have been killed. It's all so horrifying.

Watching things unfold in the United States has hurt my heart. Of course I have no idea what it means to be a black woman or a black man. I have no idea what it feels like to experience the years of hurts, judgements, barriers, not to mention the generational pain that can be so destructive. After George Floyd's death the protests began, and they haven't stopped.

The unrest is everywhere, the streets, the news, social media. There are lots of peaceful protests, but there is also rioting and looting. People are done waiting for change. I hope that the rage will turn into positive changes. I'm not sure what use I am, but I want to be part of the solution, not the problem.