Heading North

 After Robby is done with his extracurricular classes this afternoon we are heading to Pennsylvania. It has been a month since we've visited with my mom, and I think that we could all use a change of scenery and schedule. Robby has been busy planning out his time with Tiffany. Although my nephews won't be there, the pair will still have a great time together.

Ever since he found out we will be going to see Nana Timmy has been preparing. His bag has been packed several times, stuffed with a menagerie of animals and toys. He has also been sending her messages through his heart with the hopes of receiving his favorite treats. Thankfully he has cued me in on his secret heart messages, so I'm fairly confident that Nana has received his requests.

Scott is staying here, surely happy for a few days of solitude and quiet even if he hasn't admitted it. I'm looking forward to hanging out with my Mom and relaxing a bit. The transition to school has been difficult for everybody and we all need a break!

Nastiness

 Between virtual schooling, work and life in general, I feel like I'm running on fumes and holding onto my sanity with a thin thread. I turn on the news and it feels like the world is spiraling out of control. The country seems to have evolved into a pit of chaos and anger. I'm busy and frazzled at home, but compared to society, it is my happy place. 

For the next few days I am going to focus on resetting. I'm turning off the news and tuning on movies. With only 85 days until Christmas, perhaps we'll resurrect the Polar Express and Grinch to kick off my news fast. I'm not sure about anybody else, but Timmy is sure to be delighted.  

I wish I could unplug completely, but work requires that I stay connected and active on social media. My goodness that little world has become nasty. I try to scroll past the political posts, but after awhile the images and the vitriol seek into my mind. 

The pandemic would be so much easier to navigate if everybody was kind.

Debate Trainwreck

Robby was encouraged to watch the Presidential Debate by his history teacher. He is a smart kid who is pretty plugged into the issues, so I agreed to allow him to watch. In order to set expectations, we spent our dinner talking about debate rules and the role of each candidate and the moderator. Needless to say, that was a wasted conversation!

Last night we grabbed a cupcake (our special television watching treat) and settled onto the couch to watch the debate. Robby was expecting to see the orderly exchange of ideas and ideologies. What he ended up seeing was little more than a playground scuffle. It was a disgrace.

When the debate was over, neither Robby nor I spoke for several minutes. We both just sat on the couch, silently staring at the television trying to comprehend what we just witnessed. Robby was the first to break the silence. "Well, that was a loud train wreck."

Yep, it was. An absolute train wreck. Last night was the textbook example of what happens when rules are disregarded. Louder does not equate smarter and insults do not indicate a stronger vocabulary. Those are the takeaways from Robby's first Presidential debate.

Charlie

Yesterday we returned to our normal virtual schooling schedule. Unfortunately Timmy fell a few days behind when he was sick, so we pushed to get back on track. I'm hoping that he will be all caught up by the end of today, but it won't be without frustrations from both parties.

Our new school schedule involves virtual circle time three times a week. Every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday Timmy logs onto the computer and meets with both his teacher and classmates for stories, calendar work and other gentle curriculum objectives. It feels like every time he participates in circle time something goes amiss, so I do have to admit I worry about his teacher's perceptions of our family.

Yesterday Charlie Cat jumped up on the table during Timmy's Zoom session. Per feline habit, Charlie started to aggressively rub against the side of the laptop in a quest for attention. I shooed him away, but not before he made an appearance on camera.  Timmy's teacher asked, "Timmy, is that your cat we see on your camera?"  Without missing a beat, Timmy nonchalantly replied, "Yes. His name is Charlie. He is my cat. Sometimes he is a real pain in the ass."

Oh dear. Right after that the teacher made use of the master mute button. After that, Timmy just ended up putting a stuffed turtle on his head as he watched the rest of his lesson. Hopefully we will get through today's circle time without another "honest" observation or misstep. 

Return to our Schedule

Our weekend was quiet and uneventful, which is exactly what we all needed. With both Scott and Timmy ill, last week was hectic and stressful. I'm so glad that everybody is feeling better. After some much needed rest, I think we are all ready to tackle the week ahead.

I spent most of yesterday in the kitchen, prepping meals to store in our freezer. I made over 100 meatballs, three full lasagnas and about 50 stuffed shells. Our freezer is full and now I have easy meals ready to go on those busy work nights. I was tuckered out by the time I was finished, but I feel a huge sense of accomplishment.

Now that everybody is feeling better we are back to our "normal" school day chaos. Timmy missed a few days of classwork last week, so we need to double our efforts to get back on track. Hopefully he will cooperate and the missed time won't spark another protest attempt. I feel like we just found our school time groove and I would hate if he regressed back to the "I hate school" mentality. 

Wish us luck!