Dear Momma – One More Thing

March 24, 2020

Dear Momma,

I’m ready. I’m resting my head on your lap. Nudging your arms with my snout.

Do you see me?

You’ve been sitting at the back table tapping your fingers like they are dancing. Sometimes it looks like you might be in a race!

One more thing.

Your feet aren’t ready. Those fuzzy things won’t keep you warm when we go outside.

Shoes. That’s what you need.

Please, pretty please, will you sit on the steps and put your shoes on?

Oh good. You are sitting and taking off the fuzzies.

It’s cold out there. I know because I’ve already been out in the back yard a few times.

One more thing.

Coat. The long blue one with the bright orange fur.

I hope you grab that one to stay warm and dry!

Phew! You read my mind.

One more thing.

Gloves.

Don’t forget them!

You will end up hiding your hands inside your coat to keep them from freezing.

One more thing.

Leash. I see it hanging on the hook.

You go to grab it, but then you place it next to me.

What’s going on?

I know I don’t love the gentle lead, but you need to put it on me, not next to me.

One more thing.

You open the door to the basement.

Where are you going?

I hear Jackson add sarcastically, “You might want to go take a nap while you wait.”

But I’ve been waiting. Patiently, I might add.

I hear the dryer door open, then close. Quick footsteps getting louder.

Finally, you are back!

Let’s go!

One more thing.

You grab some crinkly white things and put them in your coat.

You ask me to sit while you put my leash on my neck.

I look outside and see giant white dots falling from the sky.

This is one more thing that I don’t mind.

Signing off with love,

Leo

 

Party of Five

Over the weekend, we all took a well-needed break from distance learning and working.

Our Party of Five chose to pack a blanket, pick up pizzas, and dine amidst the snap, crackle and pop of the waves crashing at the shore of East Beach in Westport, MA. The beauty of this chilling culinary experience was that we could include our fur baby , Leo as our plus one.

We made a couple of stops along the way, most notable our drive-up visit to Gramma Sukey who has been self-isolating in her home most likely curled up with a stack of mystery and history books. She was so excited to open her door, stand on her porch, and have a face to face conversation with our Party of Five at a safe more than six foot distance apart.

Our Party of Five perused movie titles and voted to watch Casino Royale when we returned home. Reader, I have to tell you that the last James Bond movie I watched was in the theater, and I am ashamed to admit that I found myself nodding off throughout its playing. Fortunately for my family and me, that was most definitely not the case with this edition! Daniel Craig is equal parts skilled, resilient, handsome, and human and we all remained engaged in the plot as it twisted and turned even when we thought nothing more could surprise us. If you haven’t had the pleasure of watching this movie, this Party of Five gives it 5 stars, one from each of us!

Yesterday, our Party of Five stayed extremely local, spreading out in our yard to enjoy the sun and continue working on the spring cleaning sprucing that has been ongoing. We cleared leaves from areas that haven’t been touched since we moved in over 20 years ago and others that have been sporadically neglected due to lack of time. The kids raked, moved large branches to the back of the yard, rebuilt a stone edging around the back garden, and swept the patio and surrounding walkways among other things. When not directing our child labor, my husband and I found ourselves pitching in by clipping limbs that were overgrown and hand-cleaning the row of boxwood plagued by leaf deposits. Our yard is going to look amazing come summer!

It’s now Monday and this Party of Five is back to business. Our goals today will vary and we’ll convene as one for dinner later tonight.

Simple Pleasures

She’s out of the wilderness!

Here are snippets of life she views with new appreciation:

pillows instead of using a heavy pack

television instead of conversation and singing around a campfire

heat contained within four walls instead of blocking the wind with a tarp

pajamas instead of wearing layers of clothing

hot water from a faucet instead of making a fire and heating snow

homemade meals instead of instant and packaged foods

Simple pleasures return.

Life is good.

 

 

Mindset Matters

I can’t help but wonder what the state of our country would be under different leadership.

Would people still be filled with fear?

Maybe there would still be toilet paper, paper towels, and tissues on store shelves.

Would people follow directives for social distancing to flatten the curve?

Maybe the public would know that this is not a vacation and stay home voluntarily.

Would schools have closed for shorter periods of time?

Maybe we could have learned from China, Italy, and Iran and gotten ahead instead of behind.

Our lives are drastically different, and yet we are still a country divided.

Maybe we need to be thankful for local leaders who have had to take ahold of the reigns and make tough decisions for the greater good.

Thank you for showing up. For making the tough calls. For trying to rally your constituents.

Someone needed to step in and be a real leader.

Zoom into Action

I don’t know about you, but the last week has been intense.

From learning that school would be closing for two weeks at the end of the school day on Friday to having the Governor mandate that schools close for at least three weeks. From coming to grips with the fact that my students may not have left school with enough physical books or their writers’ notebooks as we weren’t given enough notice to plan for that. From sifting through the overwhelming amount of free resources that have been offered on social networking platforms to select the ones that will best match the needs of my students. From listening in on a variety of professional development podcasts and LIVE sessions on Facebook to choosing the takeaways on which to act. From stepping out of my comfort zone to being ready to try new things.

Shoot, this whole situation is brand new to everyone.

Unprecedented.

Uncertain.

Wild.

A common thread that has been woven through all of the turmoil has been the need for connection. Be present for those who are in your immediate space. Be kind to yourself and connect virtually with others who lift you up. Make yourself available to others to offer a sense of stability and assurance.

This morning I tried something new. I sent an invitation to all of my students last night to join me at 10:00 this morning for a “Virtual Morning Meeting” on the Zoom platform. We connected. We smiled. We greeted. We laughed. We shared. It felt so good.

After a few missteps, I was able to figure out how to share my screen and talked through a slide show I prepared for my students. I had shared it on Google Classroom, but wanted to let students know what was there and nudged them to explore many of the resources. I know that students will now enter the weekend armed with an incredible arsenal of opportunities to further their learning in self-directed paths.

If you haven’t heard of Zoom or have been hesitant to set one up, I urge you to check out the platform and Zoom into action. It’s now free with time limits waived for educators. Fun fact: for those of you who remember the Brady Bunch, the “Gallery” view sets up the screen to look like the iconic opening multi-box page.

Eleven

Eleven.

Eleven Questions.

One for each day you were in the wilderness. Off the grid. Unable to ask.

I promise not to bombard you with them all at once. Though I am eager to know your responses.

1.  What was the first noise that made your body shift into fight or flight?

2.  What day did you feel that you got into a somewhat comfortable routine?

3.  Who did you bond with the most – a classmate or a leader?

4.  What is something that you were surprised you could do?

5.  Did you realize that the Playmobil family Dad packed was modeled after ours?

6.  When you gave the fist bump on your way to Solo, about what were you most anxious?

7.  Did you make your letters last over a couple of days or did you binge-read them?

8.  Whose letter was the most unexpected and why?

9.  Were you able to journal about your experiences at any point during OB?

10.  What was the best part of re-joining the group?

11.  What was the special meal on your last night?

You are catching your last winks outdoors as I close this post. When the sun rises, you will be packing up your life from the last eleven days.

I can’t wait to welcome you with a great big hug.

Words cannot express how proud I am of you.

The Scribble Game

Watching the #kidlit community come together to pool resources over the last week has been nothing short of incredible. There is a free virtual opportunity out there – oftentimes multiple ones – pretty much at every part of the day. As a parent of three teenagers, I find it odd that I’m experiencing FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) on these elementary gems. But I am.

One of the first announcements I saw on Twitter was for authors who were making themselves available at a specified time daily for the foreseeable future. Jarrett Krosoczka at Studio JJK is one that caught my interest from the start. He has been offering “Draw Every Day” at 2PM weekdays on YouTube. Not having any elementary-aged kids of my own, I visited the page on Day 1 and actually participated in the exercises myself! That first day, JJK (as he is affectionately called and invites viewers to call him that or Jarrett) ended his introductory session with a game called “The Scribble Game.” He brought his 11-year old daughter into the frame and they proceeded to “play” the game onscreen.

My first thought was that this game would be a great Morning Meeting or Closing Circle Activity in the classroom. Sadly, I thought, when will that be? It’s a game you really need to play with at least one other person, so I couldn’t do it alone.

After dinner last night, I enlisted our youngest daughter Caroline, (15), to humor me and play a round of the game. I had her pick her color and I picked mine. I asked her if she wanted to scribble first or be the one to complete the scribble. She wanted me to scribble first. I tried not to think too hard and just let the marker move on the page with a flourish. She looked at it and immediately feigned being stuck. I think she was expecting the scribble to instantly become something and clearly that wasn’t the case. I explained to her that she could turn the page in any way that inspired her, making the scribble take on a different angle. She settled on turning the scribble clockwise and was able to create an underwater scene.

She laughed, she rolled her eyes, and she loosened up. I took this as a sign that maybe we could play another round. She consented. Reader, we played 6 rounds, alternating jobs, and probably could have played even more! My favorite scribble is this one as she turned my scribble upside-down and made it into a fancy glass complete with accompanying wine glasses and an open-corked wine bottle!

If you haven’t checked out Studio JJK yet, hop on over to YouTube at 2PM or use the playback function to catch up on all that you’ve missed! I’m excited to infuse some family fun into our social distancing plan and creative ideas like The Scribble Game are easy, require few materials, and most of all, are inclusive!

Blissful Ignorance

We may crave some of the same snacks like anything dark chocolate or mixed nuts. Our interest in classic movies such as Sound of Music and older television series like Friends and ER may even align. We share an inner drive to succeed and can be incredibly hard on ourselves at times. But the similarities between my daughter and me stop there.

Abigail’s a blonde-haired, blue-eyed middle child to my brown-haired, brown-eyed oldest child. While I may be a creative person, I do not consider myself the artist with which she identifies. Abigail is a graceful dancer who was fitted for her first pair of pointe shoes at 12 and I’m just slightly above Elaine’s dancing abilities on Seinfeld. She enjoys skiing down the powdered White Mountains at speeds that should be considered illegal while I relish the opportunity to glide through water in its liquid state during the summer months at the lake.

The biggest difference between us today is that Abigail has been living in blissful ignorance of the world crisis while on an 11-day Out Back adventure with her classmates. I envy the simplicity of her days free from news reports, social media, and anxiety that has crept into the lives of many as we navigate these uncertain times. May she channel some of that bliss upon her return to the other side.

 

Little Red Wagon

You arrived as a gift from Gramma and Grampa.

Within months, your clones were sent to each of the cousins.

little red wagon

Your seat belts held our first babies,

Two peas in a pod – precious cargo.

little red wagon

You helped the kids enjoy the St. Phil’s Fair,

Offering a resting spot for tired little feet.

Your regal red caught the attention of the local photographer.

Our visit to my alma mater captured for all to see.

little red wagon

Your bench seats welcomed the kids for adventures,

Short or long, you didn’t seem to mind.

A favorite destination – the fountain across the street.

little red wagon

You established yourself in the household.

The kids transformed you over and over again.

A baby carriage.

A taxi to take each other for a ride.

I think you were even a boat.

The possibilities were endless.

little red wagon

Long days.

Short years.

You were always ready.

little red wagon

Time has passed.

You have been demoted to a catch-all for a variety of balls,

game pieces, empty earbud holders.

little red wagon

Today I emptied you and took you for a spin into the sunshine.

You were sluggish from lack of use.

Once we got going, you were smoother.

It was my turn to transform you into a wheelbarrow as ours broke.

Piles of leaves filled your inside cavity.

Not once did you complain.

little red wagon

Taking me back to a simpler time.

Reminding me to notice the little things.

Grateful.

 

 

Pockets

Face front,

Turn to the back,

On the sidelines,

Smack in the middle.

Flexible

 

Available in all shapes and sizes.

On shirts, sweatshirts, and sweaters,

Jackets and vests,

Pants, shorts, and skirts.

Versatile

 

Holding treasures,

Storing supplies,

Warming hands.

Dependable

 

A teacher’s best friend.

Until one day,

Her outfit doesn’t have any.

Regrettable

 

Empty pockets are better than no pockets.