Coronavirus Goals and St. Patrick's Day.

Being cooped up ain't my thang. I'm a people person. And I'm a HUGE WORRIER, and one of my worst fears has been that when we would finally buy a house that it would be right before a recession.

Let's review:

Bought a house in January.
Recession forthcoming in March.

Ding Ding Ding!!!

But. I know that my situation is pretty darn good compared to most people out there. I can't imagine being a small business owner right now. And while I don't like being cooped up, I DO like that we don't have to be a million places right now. Those two things probably seem to contradict each other, but they live together inside of me. Alongside my insatiable hunger for Cadbury mini-eggs that comes this time each year.

A lot of people have been posting their schedules for their kids now that everyone is home for a couple of weeks. I like a schedule, but I've noticed that what really works for me is a checklist. There are some basic things that do happen consistently in the morning (like breakfast, for one) and then I pick from the list what needs to happen next based on moods, conflicts, nap schedules, weather, etc.

So with that thought coupled with my desire to not sit around and be worried and/or antsy, I hereby set forth a checklist of goals for the next couple of weeks.

(Sound the trumpet.)

Exercise everyday (me individually. My gym is closed so I will alternate between running and workout videos.)
Piano lessons everyday (with Gwen and June)
Books everyday, both aloud and individual SSR time
Tons of play time.
Walk/bike/something outside everyday. We have a great loop that we live on that accommodates this.
Schooley stuff--art, writing, science, etc. We aren't in one of the school districts where we are expected to do some stuff online during this break but I also like to do fun educational stuff with my kids. Because I'm a mother superior to other mothers. (I kid but there has been some of that going on via social media during this virus and it makes me giggle a little.)
And absolutely and without fail--a movie for the kids. So I can blog or read or cry. Or all three! Multi-tasking!

I am going to try to blog more often for some accountability of the aforementioned things. Lucky you!

Speaking of anxiety, last night I woke up in the middle of the night with the realization that today is St. Patrick's Day and that I should DO SOMETHING about it. Honestly, I just wanted to sweep it under the rug because my kids would never know. BUT. Sweep I did not. St. Patrick's Day OR my kitchen floor.

So after my run this morning (why yes--that was a casual reference to me completing one of my goals for the day), I tried to figure out how to make green pancakes when I am out of butter. Alas, I was saved when I realized when I made muffins last week I used--wait for it--GREEN WRAPPERS. How fortuitous.

They flipped their muffins upside down so you could see how GREEN the wrappers were.

After piano (check!!), June came down in her oh-so-practical green outfit for the occasion.

Like a little mermaid. 

And then the girls wanted to make one of those leprechaun trap things that all of the elementary schools do now but we didn't do growing up so I didn't know really what to do.

So they did it all by themselves. Just the way I like craft time.

I subscribe to a great site that sends a list of books to request from the library a month in advance of when you will need them. So I had this book about St. Patrick on hand and we read it. Very interesting! By Tomie DePaola. 

Setting up the trap:

I guess the idea was that the leprechaun would see the gold-colored candy, step up onto the stepping stool,  and jump up and grab a hold of the green beaded rope.

And then climb through this hole on the side of the box,

seeking this final piece of candy inside of the box.

And then would be TRAPPED. FOREVER.

Dan pointed out the obvious flaw in the trap (clearly the ONLY flaw) that the box was open on top and so he taped it down. Now it was totally foolproof.

And you know what? When we came back from retrieving our Walmart grocery pickup, that leprechaun had eaten the candy, escaped and made a mess. Which was hard not to confuse with just the general mess.

Needless to say, it's fun having Dan around to help with stuff like this. And just to be around. I like him. And I know he LOVES me because I'm the type of person who will just shout out headlines of news articles I'm reading from the other room and he's just expected to stop doing his work at any given time and respond to what I'm saying. Without warning.

He's the best.

His office doesn't have doors yet, which explains the barricade he set up in the doorway. He's definitely one of those emotionally distant fathers who doesn't want his children coming into his work space to scream and jump and play when he's in the middle of a conference call with billions of important people. He also doesn't want a baby to unplug the internet mid-project. Cold-hearted.

I feel like every working parent in America is about to be that guy who did the BBC interview with his kids playing in the background a few months ago.

And finally, we actually have been doing some bike riding. I'll write about this more another day, but we're getting better. Even me. The first day of going up a hill and pulling two kids in the trailer behind me, I had to stop and walk. With a bunch of neighbors watching me.

I love impressing people.

The End.