Kris's Covid Pandemic Blog

Okay, so I spent a week in July on a road trip through Idaho to Grand Tetons National Park with my kids, two friends, and a friend's seven year old. Six people, two cars, three adults, three kids under ten, and a partridge in a pear tree. And that was HOT. Like 105 degrees look what melted in my snack bag are we really getting out of the car to see that kind of hot. When we had been home about a week, Seattle had a heat wave which we're still in (today was day 4? I think?) And in Seattle, heat waves are like 90-94. A little hotter down at dad's where we were yesterday. So in reality, it's not been awful. We've gone down to the creek to play, been in sprinklers, that kind of thing. It's not awful in the shade if you regularly get wet to cool down. Not like places we were. But I like living here because I like being outside in the summer. Other places that regularly live with this kind of heat people don't go outside. And I'm going nuts. Yes, I've read...

I know it is weird to think that I have moments where I don't know what to do with myself. Because there's ALWAYS something to do. There's always dishes. There's always laundry. My kids want me to go outside and play with them. And the kids' bathroom could REALLY use some attention. But I'm writing because I don't know quite what else to do with myself. I feel like I should be reading. Or something. But I've kinda been sitting helplessly looking at the computer and doing nothing for a good 20 minutes so I opened a blog post to see if writing could settle me a bit. It sometimes works.  It's Father's Day weekend and also the first federally recognized holiday of Juneteenth. Like a lot of people, I don't have a history with Juneteenth. I like the idea of people getting a recognized holiday to celebrate, but there's a flip side to it. The timing is terrible. To have a holiday in the third week in June here screws with our school calendar in m...

This one probably calls for a picture but I don't want to work that hard. Right now, I'm "working" with Max. I'm not sure when we started doing this, probably around the time James went back to school full time. (James's last week of school is this week.) Max is pretty good at entertaining himself...wayyyy better than James was at that age...but he likes to be with people. It's like he never really outgrew parallel play. So he brings his crayons and markers and a coloring book or paper to the table and sits with me. At first he wouldn't let me be on the computer because he thought that was just messing around, but eventually he mellowed. I sit with him and write on the typewriter or in my book journal or do book reviews or whatever it is I do and he colors and chats with me about what he's doing. Sometimes I have a cup of tea. He can do this for upwards of an hour and when he's done will often wander into the living room to play and let me cont...

On Thursdays I volunteer in James's class. It's actually a pretty sweet gig. My role is to work with the members of the fluency club, who are kids who just need to practice reading out loud to work on their reading fluency. I listen to them, time them, encourage them. And because reading is not an area where James struggles (believe me, there are areas where James struggles,) I get to be around without needing to be in his space which is good. As I was cleaning up to leave today (I'm there first thing in the morning for about an hour while Max stays home with Daddy while Daddy works,) they were working on writing their nonfiction books and James was extraordinarily proud of the book he is writing on tarantulas. I want that back. I want to be just delighted to be writing something, anything. Not struggling with imposter syndrome or wondering why I've never published that book I've been saying I'm going to write my entire life...to just be doing it. I miss that so...

Max and I write together a lot. Sometimes I'll type on the typewriter and sometimes I'll write in a notebook or update my reading journal. He'll sit at the table with me and draw and he's practicing writing his own name. To Max, turning on the computer is NOT an act of writing. He's right now whining at me and complaining why dinner is not THIS INSTANT and various other things. I don't miss the early days of the pandemic. Like at all. But I do miss blogging every day. I don't entirely remember how I did that. I know I'll probably not get back to it. I never do. But I am going to try and see how many days I can update the blog in a row. Today is Day 2. Today was, as predicted, rainy and stormy. I made spaghetti bolognese, which doesn't actually take that much work but it does require being simmered all day so it not only makes me feel like an amazing cook but also makes me feel warm. And I did some writing. Back in...I wanna say March, but months blen...

TL;DR: We are okay. Do what you can to not get Covid. Blogging has been tough lately. My favorite and most loyal blog reader died in January and then, as you're about to read, April was kinda rough. I would like to get back into it. I also have a writing project which I'm supposed to be working on as well that I probably won't have much time to talk about tonight. I'm starting to use my laptop more just so I get more done. I still love having my office, but the reality of my life these days is I'm just not down there hanging out in it all that much. And stuff has to get done. I've done some typing on my laptop the past few days and it's weird...I definitely notice that I haven't been typing as much, because I feel it, especially in my non dominant hand. And for me, feeling it is weird because I have typed a lot for a very long time. So, time to get back in the habit. April had some very good moments but was overall a tough month. It started with Max spen...