New Normal

It's Wednesday and that means dance day for my girls.  We are doing a private lesson for them this year; their dance teacher graciously agreed to teach all four at once in a tap class and modify the steps for J so that she can follow along.  We figured it was a safe enough way to dance during COVID times-- their teacher wears a mask the whole time and the dance studio is cleaned and disinfected before they come, so exposure is limited.  And boy is it nice to have something outside the house when so many activities are on Zoom these days.

So here's my 45 minutes to myself-- sitting in the car with my pumpkin spice latte on this raw and rainy fall day.  I'm hoping to dedicate these Wednesdays from here on out to blogging, since I'm really missing it lately!

Our new normal is busy busy busy homeschooling, and late September I added in my teaching load as well, so in the afternoons I'm usually busy giving virtual lessons.  I have 13 students so it works out to about 1.5-2.5 hours of teaching per day, so it's manageable.  The older girls are a big help to me in keeping J entertained while I'm unavailable.

I have found, however, that I'm thinking back lately on everything I used to do pre-COVID, and wondering how I had the energy for it all.  Homeschooling is very different from having all the girls in school, to be sure, but I used to be teaching more plus managing J during the day plus managing transportation to and from school and activities, things like packing lunches, etc.  AND I was gigging a lot more on the weekends and that has slowed down quite a bit now.

However, I also can attribute a lot of my fatigue right now to the pandemic... the constant worry behind everything we do, always having to make a decision about whether some activity might be dangerous, wanting to protect my family but also keep us all mentally healthy... never mind all the crazy discord that is happening in America right now.  It's a lot, and it's pretty draining.  We're definitely doing less, but when everything in life feels so complicated, it's just as stressful.

But there's also a certain peacefulness and beauty to our days, and I really cherish those times and the special things that we have the freedom to do because of our choice to homeschool.  Like a recent trip to a nearby farm for a homeschool program about archaeology and artifacts:

Or bringing our lunch to a National Park, just because it's a beautiful day and we have the freedom to put off our school for a few hours and enjoy the sunshine.

I know that I am lucky to do these things and I feel pretty grateful.

Currently, we're putting together Halloween costumes for a mostly-outdoor, masked Halloween party with one other family on Saturday.  Excitement level is at an all-time high, because in these COVID times it just really helps to have something to plan for and look forward to, I think!

This was taken before we left for dance as it was "Wear Your Costume to Class" week!  Because J's Princess Peach costume had not arrived in the mail yet, we put together a last-minute makeshift Daisy costume made out of her Belle dress.  While we waited in the car I cut out some orange felt to cover up the Beauty and the Beast roses and we were good to go!

Mom and Dad have costumes too, so there will be pictures of us all together to post, come Saturday.  Stay tuned!

...aaaaand I'm out of time.  Hopefully back next Wednesday!  Air hugs, peace and love to you all.