Friday, April 24: Getting through another week and the sparkly shoes

This week, as every other week since social distancing started, was a roller coaster. I love my children. They are vibrant, funny, and bring me and my husband a lot of joy. But, I cannot tell a lie, they are hard work. And that’s on a regular rainy weekend, now we are not only spending the majority of time with them every day, but we are expected to help educate them.

You may think that is a strange statement coming from a teacher. I am a teacher, but I did not sign up to teach my own children. I love them and I believe them to be of average or above intelligence, but I also love hearing what they learn at school and turning them over to another responsible adult for the bulk of their education.

I digress. This week was a roller coaster. The most difficult time for all of us in our house is rainy or cloudy days. We can’t get out for a walk, let alone getting to play a bit. What did we do to combat the lows this week?

Just Dance on Wii – We dug out a game that is older than my son (he’s 8) and started dancing around. A) It’s great exercise. & B) It’s great for a laugh – participants and onlookers alike. Apparently, there are many versions of this game for Switch if you happen to have one.

Drawing tutorials on YouTube – Want to learn how to draw a walrus? A cat? A My Little Pony? YouTube tutorials aimed at kids are great. I had to go to school to do a bit of work the other day and in an hour Raina had drawn: a turtle, a cat, and three my little ponies! (Art for Kids Hub is great! Here’s the walrus: https://youtu.be/qc5BTPS2p7k)

Cooking with the kids – Now I often am in a hurry when trying to get dinner on the table. I know that all of our classes at YCS often get to cook together, so I think everyone may be missing getting the chance to cook. This morning we learned how to make pikelets (pike – lets), a snack food similar to pancakes. We learned from Kiara who is a ten year old girl with her own YouTube cooking channel based in Japan. She has lots of great videos that really appeal to kids. (Check out her videos here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM1x9dEVErMPiv-Q1SV5Wzw/videos)

The thing I missed the most about not being at YCS this week was not getting to share a birthday present that I received. Last week was my birthday and I got a package from Alaska and inside were some amazing shoes. Sparkles seem to be “in” at the moment and these shoes are awesome. I wish I had been able to show all the children at lunch, and in Ms. Yoko’s class in particular, these fabulous sparkly shoes. So, for everyone’s enjoyment – the fabulous shoes!