Balancing Act

"Mom! Mom! Look! Quick! Look at the broom! Dad said it couldn't do this, but it can! Take a picture, quick!" -Topher, adamant that I document the balancing broom. I want to record this moment because it happened while he was doing his chores, without complaint. Now, that is something to remember.

The Case of the Missing Retainer

I decided to spend my Tuesday deep cleaning the boys' room. There was a smell that needed to be unearthed and removed. Not only was I successful in making it smell significantly better, but I also found an item that Cooper has been missing.

I'll show you where I found it.

On a Roll

The number of emails I get each day is pretty ridiculous. I know I'm not the only one experiencing this. I try to skim the titles and read the important ones. Because I prioritize staying off my phone when I'm with my kids, I tend to look through big batches of emails in a few minutes, a couple times a day. That means that many of my emails are left unread. Usually they're the newsletter/spam/junk mail kind of emails. But every once in a while I miss something important.

Tonight I discovered a few of those important missed emails. I shared my frustration with Bryan and he suggested I take a little time to clean out my inbox. Except I had nearly 34,000 unread emails.

Yup, 34,000.

He kindly showed me a trick to batch delete emails, something he uses when his inbox gets out of control. Which is almost never, because he stays on top of digital clutter. (For what it's worth, most of my focus goes to physical clutter rather than digital clutter.) He suggested I spend ten minutes a day working on it until my unread count was zero. I knew that once I started this project I would want to finish it as quickly as possible.

And that is how I came to spend the last four hours deleting emails.

I'm currently down to 14,895, which I think is pretty decent progress.

I Spy

With everyone sick, I spent Monday washing lots of bedding and changing sheets. As I was making Cooper's bed, I looked up and saw something on his headboard that we've been looking for for two weeks.

I'll zoom in.

One more time.

Topher's glasses have been missing for two weeks. I deep cleaned his side of their room looking for them, but I guess it didn't occur to me to check Cooper's headboard. I asked Cooper if he knew they were there. Apparently he had noticed them for the first time the day before. So either we were all blind, or they recently migrated to this location.

I'm thankful they're back and that Topher can see clearly again.

Now we just need to find his second pair of glasses which have also been missing for two weeks...

Quick Work

The kids went back to school today. I spent my morning attempting to put the house back in order. I was pleased with how quickly I worked and then realized why I was so effective: no one was following me around undoing all my work.

I love when they're all home, but there are benefits to having them all in school.

Starting Again, Minus One

We spent the last week and a half in California and Utah. We flew back home yesterday so the kids could start school today. Well, most of the kids started today. We left Peter back in Utah so he could move into his apartment on-campus and then start his classes at BYU next week.

Has it registered that Peter has moved out? Not really. It kind of feels like he's on a trip. Though, his all-night packing right before we flew to California means that he left his room a wreck. I spent most of today cleaning it. I've filled four kitchen-sized trash bags just from his side of the room. So far. Maybe all the sorting of stuff will help it sink in that he's in college.

Here's our first day of school picture!

Everyone had a good day. We celebrated by going out to dinner and then getting ice cream, both at places that aren't peanut-safe. We all felt weird, like we were breaking the house rules. And we kind of were, at least the old house rules.

Fancy Baubles

We've been trying to spring clean. Bryan did a great job clearing space in the garage on Saturday. Cooper folded and put away all his laundry so he no longer has to perch on the edge of his computer chair while the unfolded laundry takes up all the sitting space. And Sophie attacked a basket that has been full of random stuff and tucked under her desk for months. She's not done, but she did empty it enough to find these earrings. The last time she saw them she didn't have pierced ears yet. She wore them to church on Sunday, her first time wearing dangly earrings!

Self Discovery

Today marks one month since school started. Now that I've had a month of being at home while the kids are at school, I've learned a few things about myself that I probably already knew.

• I'm really good at staying busy
• I'm not great at making myself rest when I need it
• I want to let the kids be responsible for their own chores
• I also want to jump in and help them with their chores when they're busy
• I'm much more bothered by the house falling apart than they are
• I can either spend my day picking up the slack from them not doing their chores, or I can work on my own projects that need to get done, I can't do both
• I often have more projects to do than energy to do them
• I wake up early to help the kids get out the door
• I still stay up way too late, usually sitting with a kid who has procrastinated their homework
• I am not taking enough naps
• I need to schedule time during the day to see and speak with other humans
• I miss my kids when they're at school
• I appreciate the quiet house when I'm the only one here
• I really love getting to talk with Bryan during the day, uninterrupted
• I like listening to audiobooks directly from my phone and not having to use my earbuds all the time
• I like chipping away at the to-do list I've held for so long
• I wish I could chip away at it faster
• I go on much faster walks by myself than when I walk with the kids
• I'm taking way fewer pictures of the kids than I used to
• I don't mind driving to pick them up from or deliver them to after-school activities
• I do a lot more listening than talking now

I wonder what revelations about myself will come from the second month of school.

Frozen

Friday and Saturday were cold. SOOOOO cold. On Friday evening I dropped Phoebe at a friend's house a few minutes away, froze walking her up to the door, and informed them that Bryan would be picking her up because it was too cold for me to go outside again. Bryan was a good sport and agreed that I should stay home. On Saturday morning I looked out my kitchen window only to discover this ice that had formed on the outside. This was during the warmer part of the day, so that paints a picture of just how cold it was.

I made good use of my time on this frigid Saturday freeing up space in my spice cupboard by pouring from these

into these. It was a good use of a very cold day.

At the Car Wash

Bryan gave the kids a lesson in hard work on Saturday afternoon. Some of them got pretty soggy. One highlight of the van washing was Bryan's discovery of two small wasps nests INSIDE the back door of the van. I'm sorry, no, that wasn't a highlight. At least they're gone now!

To the Grindstone

We have our final walkthrough for our townhouse at 11 o'clock tomorrow morning.

We are not ready.

Tonight there will be no rest for the weary.

On My Own

"I'm doing the dishwasher all by myself. No big kids are helping." -Topher, as he handed me a dish to put away since its home was out of his reach.

Do As I'm Doing

 

The Helper

"Oh Mom, I can empty the dishwasher."

"Thanks buddy, but that's Sophie's job." (follows him into the kitchen, sees that he's already in progress) "Oh, uh, sure you can empty it."

Thankfully I had already pulled out the knives and breakable items.

Deck the Halls

On Saturday, in an effort to inspire them, I told the girls that they could put up their tiny Christmas tree if they cleaned their room.

It was effective.

So while in the rest of the house it's still Thanksgiving, in the girls' room it's Christmas!

Quick Change

This picture was taken less than a minute after both girls were crying over having to clean their room, after I had spent an hour cleaning with them. Who knew selfies were such a powerful mood lifter?

And no, their room is not clean yet...

Only Take What You Need

For years Bryan has been half seriously/half jokingly saying that we should get rid of everything we own except for what we could fit in one suitcase per person. I've always brushed aside the idea as impractical and over-the-top. But I've also gotten the impression more times than I can count that we need to get rid of many of the things taking up space in our house.

 

After weeks of trying to stay on top of kids doing chores and putting away things that they've gotten out and being at home all the time and therefore having more messes than usual, I came to a conclusion. Today I told Bryan, "Well, you've just about got me on board with only having enough stuff to fit in a suitcase for each of us."

He laughed in a surprised kind of way. And I was kind of joking. And kind of not.

A Place for Everything

For the nearly five years I've had it, my desk has been the unofficial Place to Put Stuff That Doesn't Have a Home spot. I've gotten it nearly clean multiple times, but random items keep finding their way down to the basement and onto my desk. In February I decided I wanted a usable desk and I got busy sorting.

Then the world turned upside. Whatever free time I was using on my desk totally disappeared.

A few weeks ago I decided I needed to finish my desk. I took small chunks of time, sometimes only ten minute increments, to work on it every few days. Last night I saw how close I was to being done and I decided to push through.

Behold, a clean desk:

Those boxes are all organized with planned sewing projects, craft supplies, and birthday decorations. That makes it sound like this is someone else's desk, so I guess I've developed some surprising hobbies over the years.

As soon as I finished it my first thought was, "Now I can get my sewing machine out and get through some projects!"

A Public Service Announcement

If you're ever in the position of making a batch of crepes for dinner (a recipe that you've multiplied by six this time, because the people at your house really love crepes), be mindful about which burner you turn on, especially when all that batter is in your biggest plastic bowl that you use several times a week.

Otherwise, a few minutes after pouring the first two crepes into your two hot skillets you might look at the small skillet on the back burner and wonder why the crepe appears to not be getting any darker.

And then your eyes might fly up to the little orange indicator above the burner dial, at which point you'll see that the back burner light is off, while the front burner light is on.

Then, as your brain begins to understand what's happening, you might reach for that great big plastic bowl and two things will happen at the same time: you'll notice that the batter in the bowl is beginning to bubble and you'll attempt to rip the bowl away from the offending burner.

Alas, you will be too late.

It is at this point that you'll watch a dozen eggs, nine cups of milk, six cups of flour, and a little oil and salt pour from what used to be the solid bottom of your bowl, thereby covering your glass stove top (plus some of the floor) with what was supposed to be dinner.

If this happens, it's okay to take pictures.

And cry.

It's also okay to let your husband and oldest child begin the cleanup process while you do something else, like possibly comfort a child crying over a completely unrelated issue. 

If you ever find yourself in this position, it's okay to eat cereal or leftovers or something else for dinner while you mourn the loss of several hard to come by food items and that poor melted bowl.

But it's also acceptable to decide to show your kids that you can get back on the metaphorical horse and, after everything is thoroughly scrubbed clean, make another batch (times six) of crepes, this time in a sturdy metal bowl and with the correct burner engaged.

Quarantine Week One: The Words

Last week went exceptionally well. We had a good balance of school and work and play and family time. We can't really play outside (I'll explain that in a later post), which has been hard, but opening the windows has helped.

Many states canceled school last week and had the kids jump right into online learning as their teachers were scrambling to set it up. The state of Pennsylvania just canceled school without sending home required work. Based on what the superintendent of our school district has said (that every child in the district needs access to a screen and the internet) and what's happening with the spread of COVID-19, it appears that our time at home will extend beyond the original two weeks. That means our teachers are spending these two weeks getting ready to move their classrooms to online formats. But for now, we don't have that in place. So while the rest of the country complains about being suddenly thrown into homeschooling, we could take the two weeks as time off.

We aren't.

I mentioned last week that we put a loose schedule in place. We also setup some ground rules for each weekday (chores and school) and we chose to make Saturday (fun breakfast, more chores) and Sunday (church at home, attempt at resting) feel different from the rest of the week. Here are the ground rules:

• get dressed everyday, no pajama days
• open all the blinds in the house and let in whatever sunlight we can
• the kitchen is only open during certain times of the day, no all-day grazing
• we study the scriptures as a family as soon as breakfast ends
• everyone does chores
• everyone does school
• everyone exercises
• each of the three big kids has a thirty minute turn taking care of/playing with Topher in the afternoon so I can make dinner

Depending on who you are these either sound restrictive or lax, but they were just right for us. These rules meant that by 3pm each day all the kids had their charts done and were eligible to play video games. Peter and Phoebe are good at getting stuff done when they want to, but Cooper and Sophie really struggle. This plan helped them a lot, which means Cooper and Sophie love the schedule while Peter and Phoebe are not fans.

School consisted of Khan Academy, Prodigy, First In Math, Scratch, Starfall, PBS Kids, piano, reading lessons for Sophie (a review), worksheets that her teacher emailed, and lots of reading. My mild obsession with having educational materials on hand has really paid off this week. I guess I'm still a homeschooler at heart.

We did have rough spots. 

I am now on the clock and working with at least one child all the time from about 7am to 9pm, depending on when kids wake up and if Peter goes to bed on-time, so I'm very worn out. I've eked out time for my personal scripture study, but beyond that my usual reading has taken a major hit. Plus, I am an extrovert and, while I do love the extra family time, I need other people too. This means I've been on Facebook waaaaaaaay too much after bedtime. It's not real social interaction, but it's something. I've texted with several friends and family members, checking in to see how they are, and we've started using the app Marco Polo to connect with people. That helps too, but it's still tough.

Overall though, it was a good first week.