Covid Diaries Week 6

Our socially distanced life... week 6:

Saturday April 18th

This morning I baked “Banana bread breakfast cookies” from the cookbook Love and Lemons. I can’t find the recipe online, but I did find a carrot version on their blog which is very similar and I think I will try next. The cookies are a huge hit and a batch of about 16 lasts just over a day in our house. They are pretty healthy, with a base of oats and banana and just a ¼ cup of maple syrup as sweetener. I do add in chocolate chips though… really, any banana based baking is made infinitely yummier with the addition of chocolate chips in my opinion.

This morning it was very sunny so we were able to enjoy some time on the patio drinking coffee and babycinos. The morning is my favourite time to be outside. We have full sun on the deck and any wind is generally blocked by the surrounding houses. It sets up the day nicely and the kids play out there so well. It also gets them away from the TV, which seems to be on constantly during the colder or wetter mornings.

This afternoon we took the kids out on their bikes. Ollie on his trike, and Ella on her two-wheeler. Andy took her training wheels off and got this handle that an adult can use to hold her steady. She seems to like this better than the training wheels, but she is a long way off riding a bike by herself. Honestly I much prefer taking her out on her scooter!

Trudeau announced today that the Canada-US land border closure would be extended another 30 days. Seems like a reasonable decision, especially given the number of cases now in the States.

Sunday April 19th
My dad did this floor puzzle with Ella today, which was a nice activity for them to do together. 

We had leftover salmon in the fridge so I made salmon bowls for dinner. They were delicious!

Wednesday April 22nd

While I worked most of the day today, Andy did a rainbow project with Ella - creating a big rainbow out of lots of little toys. It ended up looking so cool!

Thursday April 23rd

On our walk around the marsh today we discovered a spot that is filled with snail shells. It's like a snail graveyard. Ella loves it and we stop there to check them out every time we go on our walk now.

We started playing the game Splendor with my parents... it's really easy to learn and play and was a lot of fun.

Friday April 24th

We did another rainbow themed activity I got from Instagram today. First Ella and I cut up small pieces of coloured paper - some were different textures like wrapping paper, construction paper and tissue paper. Then her and Ollie sorted the colours into bowls. Andy then cut out a giant cardboard rainbow shape, and then helped Ella and Ollie glue down the coloured paper. It was a great little project that both kids could do together.

Ella is doing some basic addition at school, so Andy set up this board for her which has worked very well.

I had a very busy week at work, which you can probably tell by the lack of pictures and writing this week. Five days of online school are just… too many days. It’s exhausting in a strange way. It’s just too much screen time for both teachers and students. Now that we are five weeks into the term cracks are starting to appear for some students. I can imagine that finding the motivation to work consistently each class, each day, is difficult. I really feel for the Grade 12 students who are missing their last term in high school, and all the rites of passage that go along with that: prom, graduation and celebrating university acceptances with teachers and friends. That, plus the uncertainty around how universities will operate in September, must be taking a toll on their mental health right now. Although they are quite demanding at this age, overall I'm grateful that this pandemic is happening at a time in my kid's lives where they are not missing out on things like this. Yes, Ella misses playing with her friends, but she equally loves the amount of time she has with her parents, so there are some silver linings for us. I'm thankful I don't have to deal with a stressed out teenager right now.