How We Practice Social Distancing

Well, I meant to catch up. I really did. Then March came in like a lion. Not only did it snow on March 1^st, but the stress of a worldwide pandemic started happening. Was there really something to worry about in our country or was the media blowing things out of proportion? Enter Friday the 13^th and the state started shutting down. Events were canceled, certain businesses shut down, no more meeting together at church, kids were told not to come back to school. They missed two days of school then started online learning. We’re still trying to figure that out with 4 school-age kids trying to do their schoolwork at home every day.

And all of this happened at the beginning of Spring when I was going to start taking our baby places after keeping him isolated at home during cold/flu season. Apparently the Winter continues. 

Actually, we’ve been asked to practice social distancing due to Covid-19. That means keeping a safe distance from others (not including the people you live with), avoid large gatherings, that sort of thing. It does not mean we have to stay inside 24/7. Actually sunlight, fresh air, and exercise are very healthy. And some days there actually is sunshine. Not all days.

So I may not be able to take Jet to the Orem Library and Thanksgiving Point which I was looking forward to (but both are closed anyway), I may not be able to take him to church which I was also looking forward to, but we’ve found a lot of things our family can do during this time of social distancing. Here are a few:

Birding and going for walks. When the kids get enough schoolwork done early enough in the day (we still have a few school days that end at night- we’re working on it), either Jeremy will take some kids out or we’ll all go out. We just have to follow a few rules. 

1. Don’t touch anything that someone else may have touched (we don’t go to playgrounds). 2. If someone is coming along a trail, move to the side so there is as much distance as possible between you and them. As Lucky told us, turkey vultures are very good because they have a wing-span of 6-feet which is the appropriate social distance we are supposed to be observing (not exactly his words). So we know we should keep a turkey vulture’s wing-length away from others. 3. No bathroom breaks. Use the toilet before we leave then wait until we get home. This means we can’t travel as far but we’re encouraged not to travel far anyway. There are rules right now saying you can only go to state parks in your own county. At least we still have Utah Lake State Park and the birds there. No Antelope Island. Sigh. Too far for bathroom breaks anyway. 4. Use hand sanitizer as soon as you get back in the van (or right before). 5. When going for walks in the neighborhood, resist the urge to give hugs or handshakes to people you know.

Church. We may not be able to meet in our church buildings right now, but we are blessed to be able to have church at home. Jeremy is able to bless the sacrament and Joshua is able to pass it to the six of us. I’m so grateful for that since I didn’t go to church all Winter so I’m able to have that blessing right now. We’re still working on figuring out talks and lessons but the sacrament is the most important part anyway. And we’ve been preparing for this for a while without realizing it. Yay for home-centered church-supported gospel learning and Come, Follow Me program. The kids may not be able to have their weekly youth and Primary activities, but we still have Family Home Evenings and daily family prayer and scripture study. And I’ll tell you, personal prayer and gospel study is getting me through when I go between panicking and not panicking.

Checking up on people/ministering. We may not be able to have much face-to-face contact with others right now but we can still keep in contact through texts, phone calls, video conferencing, Facebook. And you can still serve others and be careful. Jeremy let someone borrow our stud finder the other day. After cleaning it off, he handed it over with a Clorox wipe and it was brought back in the same way. I’ve really enjoyed texting pictures to my mom of what we’ve been up to and finding out what they’ve been doing. Now I’m sharing our adventures through my blog again.

Finding reasons to celebrate. We’ve still been able to do a lot of celebrating and I need to catch up on those celebrations we did in March. I tell you I still love finding reasons to celebrate for menu planning and I’m again grateful to our friends who gave us that National Days calendar this year. There is so much that can be done, even if you are spending most of your time at home. Look back at my blog for activities we’ve done in past years if you want some ideas of things you can do instead of dwelling on things you can’t do.

Trying new recipes. Sometimes I get bored with food and want to try new things- but new things that fit in our budget. I had been watching some food videos on Amazon Prime and a show on BYU-TV that led me to some websites, which led me to some books at the library. Jeremy checked these books out for me not long before the library closed so I have access to these books now for as long as the library is closed. I’ve been loving trying new recipes and learning new things about cooking and baking. And the kids have been interested in trying new things as well, both with making food and tasting new things. 

One day, Jr. Jr. came to me and said he wanted to learn how to make a smoothie. I gave him directions, he made a smoothie, and it tasted so good. Mmmm. 

On a couple of occasions, I made something and Jr. thought it tasted so good, he made it himself the next day. One time he liked it so much he made enough that everyone got their own loaf of french bread.

I love it and love the bonding that comes with preparing food together. "Armpit fudge," anyone?

I also love taking a break from time to time and letting someone else take care of things. I reintroduced the kids to grinding wheat and they had fun taking turns hand cranking the wheat grinder. One night, when pizza was on the menu, I even shared with the kids one of my hidden talents- tossing pizza dough. They got a kick out of that. 

I also realized an easier way to eat oranges. For so long, I thought I had to find the time to sit down, peel an orange, and eat it. I don’t always have time. One night for dinner, I got the kids to try oranges by washing them, cutting them in slices, and showing them an orange “smile.” They thought that was fun and wanted to do it. It only lasted that one night, though, At least they’re eating mandarin oranges, I’m the one who likes regular sized oranges, though. And I can’t believe I hadn’t thought to cut my oranges in slices for years. Now I’ll cut them up and put the slices in the fridge for whenever I want them. I can even eat them while holding the baby (I can’t peel an orange and eat it that way while I’m holding the baby). Ah, Vitamin C.

 
Bonding and helping each other. One of the things about having everyone home so much is bonding time. I’ll admit it’s not always easy- multi-tasking- helping kids with school, cleaning, preparing food, taking care of the baby, etc.

Sometimes the kids are a big help, though. Jet loves attention so when kids are waiting their turn on the computer to do school work, they’re sometimes entertaining Jet so I can get some things done- like eat. 

Jet absolutely adores his oldest brother, Jr., who can get him to laugh so easily and likes to play with him. 

I love that. The kids also play together and tech savvy Jr. has been a big help in getting computer things set up and figured out for online learning.

Most of the kids turn in their schoolwork online, but the kindergartners do a lot of work on paper so the teachers said they can send them pictures of their work if they want.

Some assignments require the kids to take pictures and send them in. Nichole made a container that could handle so much weight on top of it. Jr. made food and presented it in an appealing way. I'll tell you that fudge was so good and so rich and used so many chocolate chips.

The teachers from our elementary school did something that other schools in different places also did. They made a parade of their vehicles and drove them through the neighborhoods of the school boundaries. That way the students could go outside their homes and see them and cheer them on and the teachers could cheer the students on as well. 

These teachers have been working hard and they are appreciated. Since the teachers aren't able to teach their students in class, they are encouraging communication. Lucky had a nice chat with his teacher over FaceTime.

So this is how it's going so far for us with social distancing or as my nephew pointed out... it's more of physical distancing.
I don't think March went out like a lamb. I could hear the wind blowing on March 31st so it must have been strong enough. And of course we're still in the midst of a worldwide pandemic.
Yay, I blogged. I have to wait my turn for the computer just like everyone else and I have so many other responsibilities so I don't get to spend much time on the computer. Hopefully, I can get more caught up soon, though. Yay for Spring Break (and National No Housework Day- eventually I'll blog about that one. Let's just say I don't feel guilty for reserving the computer all day when the kids don't need it for school and I just got a whole bunch of dishes done the day before).