Another Week

Well, another week is over.  Nothing much to report.  I am mostly feeling okay except when I read/think about the upcoming election.  The way that I am mitigating election anxiety, on top of donating $$ to Dems, is postcard/letter writing.  I even have Tiny Boy writing letters for our congressional rep, as they offer child approved messaging.  

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Cat is holding steady.

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Work is about to get super busy but it hasn't yet.  Right now it's manageable (this is only true because I have a course release and my admin job has been somewhat pared down for pandemic-related reasons.  That is, people are reluctant to have meetings.)

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My turn in tent/porch school went okay this week.  Kids were not super motivated but they worked.  And I read a book of poems.  And then for reasons only known to them, we needed to have a dance party to 80s tunes, including Rick Astley.  

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This weekend involves a number of social engagements, because I cancelled a bunch of stuff with sick cat.  Yesterday was wine celebration for friend to celebrate book contract (hers); today is tea with someone I haven't seen in person in a couple months, on her porch; tomorrow is more in the zoom cocktails.  That's a bit much

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I can do the aforementioned mostly due to benign neglect.  Tiny Boy and his tent-school-mate just run around outside vaguely supervised, which in our neighborhood feels mostly okay.  (Although, to be fair, yesterday I did hire a babysitter.)

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My primary care doc keeps sending me for repeat bloodwork because I have slightly elevated calcium levels.  I've decided I'm not worrying about this too much for now.  Right now it falls into the category of just annoying because (a) turns out I'm still a bit infertility-PTSD triggery about blood draws and (b)  OMG the wait times (I've been checking in and going home and coming back, as longer than an hour).

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What else?  I've gotten really into home manicures (nothing fancy, just old school polish) which is something I did in college/grad school and then stopped.  Right now I'm wearing some dark pink with glitter.  This serves my need to be creative and do something relaxing that doesn't take a lot of time or concentration.  I think I'll return to knitting soon, as I'm 3/4 through a mulberry colored scarf.

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This week I started cycling through I JUST NEED THIS PANDEMIC TO BE OVER AND GO PLACES.  Sigh.

Exhausted but Alive: A Five-Minute Post

 I noticed I hadn't posted here in more than two weeks, so here's a quick rundown:

• We had a major cat emergency last week with one of the little guys (okay, not actually little--11+ lbs--but only one year old).  Involved driving more than an hour for care, daily visits with different local clinics, and desperately close to ICU with feeding tube or euthanasia.  (He hadn't eaten literally in six days.)  I will write more later.  Suffice to say:  appetite stimulant + steroids + anti-nausea meds + pain killers + fluids = much improved.  Too close of a call.
• Tent school (which is now sunroom/screened porch school) is going pretty well.  The major issue is the "teacher" who has three days per week (my kid's friend's father) is, per Tiny Boy, the worst of the three of us.  We have regular staff meetings in the yard.  It's pretty sweet, actually.
• Synchronous learning for Tiny Boy is going better, after a talk with his teacher and some streamlining of on-and-off the computer for him.  She's cut out three (!) of his morning transitions.
• Online teaching for me is not as completely horrible as I thought but it is also a completely different beast and I really don't like it.  Today I'm holding office hrs in a university garden because I need to see these people.  (Also need to pick up some books anyway, so I'll just fill out the form, put on my mask, and go.)
• I bought a sampler pack of pens and learned some things about myself.  It turns out I really like the pen I was using all along (Unibal Signo 207 Micro).  Sarah, turning me on to Jetpens was probably not a good idea. 
  
  
  

Not Completely Terrible

Well, it's been a full week of school and work.  And I will admit I anticipated things to be much worse than they actually were.  There are certainly--how shall I say?--pressure points and areas of stress and conflict.  Some of that will improve with time, and some will get worse.  I really really really hope the kids can be in a school building by mid-November, because the saving grace of tent school is that it is outside.

I had my afternoon with the kids in the tent on Tuesday, and according to Tiny Boy (surprisingly?) I am the best tent teacher because I don't micromanage them.  (He didn't use this word.)  Also, on my watch there was an assignment to make paper airplanes.  I didn't expect to get a lot of my own work done in the tent (how do you spell? how do you spell? how do you spell?) but it was a good place to do an admin block of email and so forth.  I imagine I could comment on student papers just as easily.  I don't want to say it was fun, exactly, but it was sweet sharing time with them and then letting them skateboard down the street for "recess."  If Tiny Boy has some good memories like that, well, it does something to mitigate the other damage this time is creating.

The issue that I see happening already--like last spring--is that it's really hard to get buy in from the kids to do work that is not submitted for a grade if it is not watching a video.  And I have no interest in enforcing busy work.  If the goal is to keep the kid occupied, there are kid-friendly ways to do that; if the goal is actual education...well, have it be "must do" not "can do."

There is no question that Tiny Boy focuses better in the tent.  The tent is largely free of distraction (other than being a tent, which is fun).  Most critically, there are no CATS in the tent.  When he's working in the dining room, which is really the best place for him (other than his bedroom, which would present its own issues) he gets up frequently--whenever his teacher isn't actively talking--to chase cats, pet cats, point a laser at the cats (yes, I've taken that away).  There's a sensory seeking behavior here we're working on in therapy and really no substitute that I've found that meets his needs; next week we're going in person because, not unironically, it's hard to focus on impulse control when you are in an environment that makes it hard to control your impulses.

My own class went about as well as a synchronous zoom class first day could go.  I set up a "jamboard," which both Tiny Boy and LG also used this week, which was a great way to replicate some of the write-random-shit-on-the-board type activities I often do with my classes (this one was on writing habits they want to build this semester).  It is taking some mental adjustment as well as work flow adjustment, since online teaching requires so much up front but much less in terms of contact hours.  Also helps substantially that I have a course release this semester for admin, and committee work has not started yet.  (Also, the word NO.)

In other news: I am working to check things off my list of life-stuff-that-never-gets done.  My computer that died early in the pandemic?  Took it in for a data transfer.  Our toilet that squeals and needs to be replaced? Decided it was just easier to pay a bit more for the plumber to bring out the toilet they have in stock rather than me go to Home Depot or somewhere and buy as a separate errand.  I've also done really small satisfying things like purchased a new lid for our city garbage can that was cracked when we moved into our house....almost two years ago.  Also, our glasses keep breaking, and I found the exact set at Walmart for $10 (major clearance) and will pick up today.  I'll do some more of this during the long weekend, as well as some online shopping of the will-make-life-easier sort (i.e. some type of storage for Tiny Boy to keep his school stuff in, as it's taking up half the dining room table right now).

So: a combo of ignoring my kid, lots of screen time, lots of vaguely supervised outdoor play while I work on the front stoop, getting up early, having two hours day (or more) of "childcare" (tent school or babysitter) seems to be....okay.