Saturday March 14, 2019 was our First Day of Quarantine/Shut Down During COVID-19
Today was the first day of quarantine/shut down during COVID-19. The First Day since our School District announced closing. All activities were canceled. Skate lessons for the full 4 weeks, Loews Build clinic, even our kids Faith Formation classes. All while my husband and I both need to continue to work so we need to figure our schedules out.
Today was our first full day home since our vacation 2 weeks ago so we were playing catch up. It was a Saturday so I didn’t feel pressed to start a schedule. We will need to be prepared for Monday.
Today’s accomplishments on our First Day of Quarantine/Shut Down
- Cooked Pigs in the Blanket with our daughters
- Kids played Legos
- Kids played a lot of roblox
- I did a ton of laundry and put it all away
- I got my leg pain checked out (apparently I just need to stretch)
- My husband cleaned the kitchen and half bath
- Ordered lego kits for our daughters (they will likely take 4 weeks)
- Ordered a 20″ Bike for Our son (will take up to 10 days sigh).
What today’s schedule looked Like
Breakfast
Kids were allowed to play Roblox while they ate breakfast. Croissants and Cantaloupe. I actually made myself an egg and prosciutto sandwich before I headed out for a doctor apartment.
Side note: my doctors office specifically asked what my symptoms were before making my appointment. They specifically asked if I had a fever cough or difficulty breathing (i was going for leg pain). The sign on the office door specifically said something in the line of if you think you may have COVID-19 please go back to your car and call the office.
Early Morning
We all slept in today. We allowed the kids to play on the computer as today we were focused on house work. The reality is we know they will spend more time on the computer than we would like. It’s tough balancing kids, household responsibilities while we both work full time. I am hoping that having an established schedule will help us cut down during the week. Both our kids love Roblox and often connect with friends while playing. This will be one way they can stay connected with friends while school is closed . We are hoping to establish some other non contact ways as well.
Late Morning
We took a a technology break late afternoon and the kids played legos. Our son likes to build his own things and our daughter loves the kits. Our daughter builds a tractor trailers. Our son redid the kitchen he previous built and turned it into a house with a mailbox and security camera. Mike and I were shopping on Ali Express today as well. Our daughter picked out 4 lego sets that she had earned as prizes. They are a fraction of the price on Ali Express. The difference of these generic sets is that they do not come in a box. they need to be sorted by color but our daughter does well with them sorted that way. we also experience one that only had on-line instructions.
The kids also played with this Demolition set where they build up a building set and then push a button to watch it explore.
Lunch: Grilled cheese and tomato soup
Afternoon on our First Day of Quarantine/Shut Down
Kids spent the Afternoon playing Roblox while we picked up from lunch and did some more laundry and cleaning.
Cooking: Pig in a Blanket
Since we were focused on catching up today I picked one of my go to cooking items: Pig in the Blanket. It only takes 2 ingredients (mini sausages and a crescent roll dough) and is easy for kids to do and no mess. Its as easy preheat oven to 375, Have them open the tube of crescent roll roll out on a baking pan. you may want to set part of it aside so there’s space. cut the triangles into thirds and roll the sausages starting at the wider end. Our daughters loves to make and eat them. Aldi’s beer mustard is a great condiment to go with them. I usually buy a few jars in October when they are available.
In addition to Cooking with Our daughters. I made a double batch of this Chicken soup that our family loves. Our daughters helped dump some of the broth in the pot but then quickly got over cooking.
Dinner
We had Pig in the Blanket as an appetizer, chicken cauliflower rice soup and crab raviolis for our main course that we picked up from aldis.
Movie Night: Frozen 2
My husband was trying to find Goonies but with no luck Kids have never watched the Goonies. We were reminded of it when we were in Congo Caves in South Africa and vowed to watch it with them when we returned. so its on the list for later.
Oliva got to pick the movie and she chose Frozen 2.
Inventory and Shopping
Activity Inventory that is. We are in the process of taking inventory of what we have so that we can create a schedule for various activities.
Art Supplies
- Art supplies are stocked. I am sure we will need tape or glue but i would love to get rid of the large stock of rand of suplies so hoping this is our chance!
Lego Kits
- Ordered lego kits from Ali Express. they are not lego brand but they are around 1/3-1/4 of the price. they do not come in a box . the legos are sorted by color not number in the book but it works for Our daughters. she got 4 huge sets for around $130 and those sets will take her 3 days to a week depending on hour long she spends each day. we ordered one before our trip to South Africa and it arrived in about 4 weeks time. Its part of her Easter gift.
Science Kits
- We have a load of science kits but they require some additional resources. ill need to go through them to see what supplies we have and what we don’t.
- My Husband stopped by lowes on the way to the grocery store to get the building kits for the event that was canceled since they were kind enough to still offer them to take home for free. we purchased some other building kits when lowes has stopped doing the kids program. since we have a few I may make building another subject or a once a week special.
- We ordered our son a bike. He out grew his old one and we dropped it off at my parents for my nephew. I had wanted to order one for Christmas but my husband swore they would be the same price in the spring time. Now i’m hoping it arrives sooner than the 10 days estimated.
Overall Feeling on our First Day of Quarantine/Shut Down
Today felt like a blessing. While the kids didn’t do much more than play video games they had a chance to binge play and we got a lot accomplished. Hoping tomorrow is just as successful and we are ready for next week with a schedule and a plan!
I am hoping that my as we develop a route I will be able to share our Daily schedule and activities in hopes some of the ideas help everyone during school closures.
Today I feel hopeful. We are all struggling with a lot right now. How to react and what it all means. What are we going to do about work and/or money. How will we get through this. Today I am happy to have an empty day to catch up. I look forward to tomorrow but I know there will be days that I am just trying to get through.
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