Homeschooling?

I didn't even know what to title this post.

His first coloring book. 

He just likes looking at the pictures. 

He doesn't get "coloring" yet. I tried. 

We could also go with the title "NO ONE HAS ANY IDEA WHAT THEY'RE DOING RIGHT NOW SO JUST DO SOMETHING".

First, the idea of homeschooling my child long-term is a special kind of nightmare for me.

I have nothing but respect for parents who choose to homeschool. That is AWESOME. Good for you. GREAT for you. I just know it's absolutely not for me.

I've always stood by two things:

1. I always said I could/would homeschool our children if I had to. If we lived in a particularly undesirable school system for a short amount of time, or if we were moving at weird points in the school year; I wouldn't register a kid in a new school in April or May, if that's when we were moving to a new location. I'd likely keep him at home and just start over in the fall. There's a lot of variables that go into those situations and decisions, so that's just my framework and starting point on the topic.

2. The other thing is that I don't want to be my child's only teacher. I could teach him, sure. I just loved my students over eight years so much that I couldn't imagine not having them as part of my life experience. I want my child to have that too. I know there's a lot out there about schools not being good enough or public education being awful. But I still believe in it. I would send Wells to a private school in a heartbeat, if that was our best option. But I want him to be part of a school because being part of a school for these last however many years has been a huge part of my life experience.

So.
With that out of the way...here's my thoughts on what's happening now...

You've seen a lot of fallout over the last few weeks concerning how the government just cannot get their act together. You know who was able to make this transition as seamless and tactful as possible?

Teachers.

Platitudes aside, being a teacher in the last two weeks had to have been rough.

But for all the kids who are now at home, I have thoughts...

If you have kids you homeschool by choice, awesome. Seriously. I couldn't do it. Or rather, I would likely choose not to do things that way because I know myself. I've never had an opinion on homeschooling (except for what I listed at the beginning of this post), to be honest.

But now, I see things like this and I get defensive and upset:

I like public school. I liked being a public school teacher. I think it is a wonderful place of community and belonging. As I've said before, my best memories are of my experiences as a teacher. Not every day was good and some days it was really hard. I have cried at my desk and to my coworkers before. I have dreaded getting out of my car in the morning. It's not glamorous in the least but there is no other job I'd rather do, professionally.

For what it's worth: I don't think the kids will be particularly behind by missing the last 2-3 months of the school year. See the end of this post for my reason. 

I think teachers should have more individual say in their classrooms and I think mandated testing should go away and, if the last two weeks have proven anything, it's that teachers should be in charge because things would get done a lot more efficiently.

And then I see words like "indoctrination" being thrown around and I have to think: I've had hundreds of students, maybe more..how many have I indoctrinated? My answer to that would probably be none. I was always very careful to never let my opinion about serious topics come out because what I thought didn't actually matter.

Kids knew that I liked dogs more than cats and that backpacks and coats on the floor was a no-no and that I ate a lot of candy and that I didn't like the color red. They had no idea about my political beliefs.

Because I didn't talk about them. That wasn't my job.

In fact...and this is where I must disclaim that I didn't vote for Donald Trump in 2016...I remember a student being mad that Donald Trump won in November that year because her mom was mad. She said something..I don't even remember what but I remember exactly where she was sitting and lamenting as she said it...and I said I understand what it's like when someone you want to win doesn't win. Remember how we watched the BrainPop video about elections? And we read about how the President is elected? That's what happened. Every time a President is elected, half the country is upset and someday you'll be able to vote and help make a difference. This is how the U.S. government was set up, just like we talked about. 

Or something like that. Facts and details, not opinions, has always been my philosophy of teaching. Kids don't need to know their teacher's opinion on every little thing. (But it was always important that they knew red decorations did not hang on our classroom walls because I really don't like primary colors.)

And, to push this along even further...because we're all socially distanced from each other, so why not?
Sometimes I feel like the fact that I believe in public schools means I need to hand over my conservative Christian card.
Like I can't be politically conservative if I think public schools are okay. And I can't be a truly biblical version of a Christian (you know, not like a Rachel Hollis or Beth Moore or Glennon Doyle version) if I believe public schooling is an option.

That's just something I've been thinking about a lot lately. ^

Circling back to what I originally wanted this post to be about..

If you are homeschooling right now because your child's school is closed...
If you are homeschooling right now because your child's school is closed and you also have to work from home at the same time with no extra help because of social distancing...
And if you, God bless you, are going to work and your child must also be homeschooled and you need to figure out how to do childcare AND schooling while you're not at home...

In all of these situations, I can recommend a few things:

• Your child does not need 78 sets of manipulatives. 
• You do not need to run out and buy a color laser printer and laminator.
• Give daily quiet time with books and snacks.
• Legos, K'nex, race tracks...anything that can be built qualifies as STEM. Promise. 
• Workbooks are great! Coloring books and activity books are good too.
• TV is fine. Especially anything that helps them learn...I can recommend some of the educational series I used in my classroom for indoor recess or end-of-the-day viewing if you need ideas!
• Educational video games are a perfectly fine use of time. 
• Outdoor playtime is ideal.
• Schedules are hard*, especially when a new normal feels anything but normal. 
• Read aloud!!! 

Much of what happens in an actual school is about management and schedules and meeting minutes for state guidelines. School does not take 8 hours a day. Think of it like a tighter version of summer vacation maybe?  Plus...and this is kind of a dirty little secret...most of the actual necessary material that needs to be covered is covered between September and March. State testing is in April and then it's a free-for-all until June. Your kid won't be behind.

*I love having Wells on a schedule. It does not work out every day, no matter how hard I try. I loved having my classroom run on a schedule. Schedules are overrated though. It's necessary in a school, but you live and die by your schedule out of that necessity. I spent all of my days looking at the clock and making sure I was doing everything that needed to be done in the allotted time. It's HARD. Please don't do that to yourself if you're suddenly home with your children. Keep it flexible. It actually hurts when I see moms put 3 year olds on a school schedule. We all know you're doing the best you possibly can. I don't believe any mom or dad is trying to drop the ball on education during this weird time. 

Pantry Enchiladas

I don't know what to call this. Basically, I throw together something similar to this once a month or so. It can be made with mostly ingredients you have on hand. During a time when we're pretty reliant on whatever we have in the pantry, you can use whatever ingredients you want! Every time, it's a little different. On this day, I didn't have any enchilada sauce, so I made a sauce using this recipe from Budget Bytes and now I will never waste money on cans of pre-made enchilada sauce again. If you get nothing else from this post, use that sauce recipe the next time you make enchiladas.

• Tortillas 
• Enchilada sauce
• Shredded cheese

For the filling, I used:

• 2ish cups shredded chicken we had leftover from grilling the night before
• 1 1/2 cups prepared brown rice
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 2 T. diced green chiles (from a can)
• Other ingredients I would/could normally use: ground beef,  queso, black beans, cooked peppers and onions, and Rotel

(it's worth mentioning that I had lime and cilantro but forget to use them, so include those if you have them)

And then I had this Hatch Chile Cream Cheese Spread. I bought it at a farmers' market last year. We had had a hatch chile dip in Colorado that was good enough to eat with a spoon. I've been looking for something similar ever since and such things, in Pennsylvania, don't exist. 

So I paid $10 for that jar of chile spread and have been putting it on my burritos and quesadillas and enchiladas for months. 

...it's gone now. 

I would recommend spreading your tortillas with sour cream or something similar? It gives a great flavor once everything is baked together.

350 degrees for 20-30 minutes, covered with foil. Then broil the top for a few minutes. 

I made this with the intention of leftovers and there were none. It'd be a great meal to freeze for a later date though.

What are you cooking this week?

Extremely gruntled + Funnies

Because no one likes a complainer, these are the things I'm definitely not disgruntled about.

1. I tried to order diapers from Target's website two weeks ago. They were sold out of all Target brand diapers and then I had to buy Luvs. Luvs are diapers for people who don't expect anything from their diaper purchase. They don't work. I don't trust them for more than 2 hours. So I had to add a box of Huggies Overnight diapers to the order. I would never even attempt to use a Luv diaper overnight. I've learned that the hard way. Luvs also run small. I've tried every brand of diapers on this kid. I'm not even that picky and I certainly don't look to buy expensive diapers. The ranking is as follows, best to worst:

1. Huggies Overnight
2. Most types of Huggies
3. Up & Up (Target)
4. Parents' Choice (Walmart)
....
9. Pampers

....
83. Luvs

2. I feel like there's a difference between the phrases "quarantining" and "social distancing". Isn't the first meaning you're exposed or sick and must be kept apart? Whereas social distancing is just purposely keeping distance but you haven't been exposed? We're using them interchangeably and that's bothering me.

3. I cannot understand why the store is still sold out of toilet paper. I think Walmart is doing the literal best they can to keep everything on the shelves. I wasn't even looking to buy any; the point here is that, usually, I'm anti-People of Walmart and don't like the memes that make fun of people in grocery stores and whatnot. But if you are stockpiling toilet paper, you need to be internet-shamed. Some people can only buy week to week. I don't know why this is so hard to understand.

4. Wells' Stride Rite shoes started to fall apart about a month ago. The decorative thread started falling off. My mom noticed. I didn't. He'd had them since the beginning of February. We went to SR. They didn't have the shoes in stock so they ordered a new pair for him. They called me a few days later to say they didn't have the blue that he had, but could get him brown. I said sure. They called a few days later to say the brown were ready to pick up. I went to pick them up. They asked, after I got there, where the blue ones were because I needed to send them back to the company. I didn't have them with me. No one ever explicitly said "You need to bring these back to get the new shoes". Obviously, it makes sense, but no one actually told me that. So I left SR without new shoes and said I'd come back. That was on a Friday. Then, coronavirus hit. They called on Monday and said they were closing down on Wednesday so I could pick them up on Tuesday. I said, "Great, I'll be in tomorrow morning". I got there on Tuesday morning. They were already closed down with a sign on the door saying they were closed until further notice.
Wells is still wearing his blue shoes and I expect it to stay that way until further notice.

Is it Friday? (Does it matter?)

5 Things Making Life Easier This Week

I was planning on writing a real post today about my thoughts on homeschooling. Nope. Maybe next week. I exhausted myself by taking a nap and making dinner yesterday. Also, I've been hit with allergies and maybe someday it will stop raining. 

The bar is low for any expectations.

1. Daniel Tiger. I am so grateful for Daniel Tiger. It's not annoying and he learns from it.

2. Not reading the news. Stop reading the news, guys. Please. You're making it harder than it has to be. Staying informed is important. Watching 24 hour news with a "death ticker" on it or watching White House press conferences or refreshing your local news' website all the time isn't worth it. Just do a scan of whatever outlet you follow once or twice a day. Also, it benefits you to cross-check information against a few different outlets if something seems off. Don't take news reporting to be gospel. Please.

3. Not being on Facebook. I deactivated weeks ago for Lent. Like the 24/7 news cycle, it's really beneficial not to be reading the downward spiral on there. It's just not worth it when your mental health is, probably, teetering, so if you feel bad after being on FB, just get off of it.

4. Crime Junkie podcast. I recommended this a few weeks ago after a friend recommended it to me. It's really nice to just get lost in stories. I listen while I do all the household tasks. I 100% paid to be a Patreon subscriber and I will 100% unsubscribe after I listen to all the bonus episodes.
AirPods are also saving my life right now.

5. Better Call Saul. Every night, Scott sits at the table with his computer and does a copious amount of work and I sit in the living room and watch Better Call Saul. It's an arrangement. Then he watches The Walking Dead before he goes to sleep and I just can't with that anymore so I go to bed. So we've almost adjusted to him being home more.

Can you recommend a book? I'm in a reading rut. I've read a few good books this last month but I'm currently reading two and just don't feel like it. I want something that pulls me in...

Week 2.

This little puppy pull-along toy. The cord is so short that Wells can't even pull it while he's walking. It's too safe. So I made it much less safe by attaching this giant rope to it. This is the VTech version. Our friends have the Fisher Price one. It comes with a longer cord. I should've just gotten the Fisher Price one.

One of those such purchases. 

I often find Wells under the table rolling around with a dog toy. 

Also, I ordered a new vacuum on Saturday. You see, ours stopped working. A piece was broken and rendered it unusable. I worked on it for half an hour, did a quick 20 minutes of research, ordered a new one, and then, later, tried the vacuum again and got it to work. 

Which makes sense. 

He did this on his own. Then I handed him the book to teach him some good habits.

Throwback to a simpler time. 

Google Photos has much better archives than IG or TimeHop, if you like that kind of thing.

Finding a relic of that simpler time in the garage. I called it a quail. Apparently it's a dove decoy. 

We did grill chicken last night. Wells terrorized dogs. 

It's not often that I screenshot someone's IG stories, but this was too good. 

...how's it going?

3-Ingredient Oven-Fried Potatoes

I'm pretty sure I've been trying to write this post all weekend. I really dislike writing recipe posts. I've found it to be a necessary evil, because I started posting recipes long ago in an attempt to broaden out my cooking/baking...I was making the same 4 things for dinner every week and ordering pizza on Fridays and eating out on the weekends...but it's so tedious. I'll never actually enjoy typing out recipes. I don't know how the food bloggers do it.

I thought that I'd share easy, pantry-staple dinners on Mondays right now.

Having easy food, without a lot of ingredients, is kind of a must in the current situation. There's no last-minute trips to the store to get something you don't normally have on hand.

I make these potatoes often. Probably once every 10 days, depending on my mood. I really do make them a lot because I make a meal out of them and when I made them last week, I just baked a piece of fish for Scott. Wells ate a few potatoes and some corn and peas. He's been eating these weird late lunches so he's not always in the mood for dinner. Anyway...

I prefer to use yellow potatoes or Yukon gold, but it doesn't really matter. Red potatoes are great too. If you're using russet, you'll want to peel them first.

Also, I don't know wtf this thing is or what it's made of, but it bakes potatoes in the microwave in 4 minutes. Scott bought that and that's what I use to "bake" the potatoes before I slice them and roast them.

That's the secret to this recipe: you want them to be baked first, so they're easier to "fry" in the oven.

If you don't have one of those Potato Express contraptions, just poke some fork holes into washed potatoes, put them on a microwaveable plate, and start out at 3-4 minutes, checking on them to see if they're softer, and then doing 3-4 minutes again. I cover them loosely with wax paper, so any explosions don't end up all over the microwave.

But then...

Preheat oven to 475 degrees.

Take your baked (cooled) potatoes and slice or dice them.

Spread them onto a metal baking sheet and toss with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Sprinkle with Montreal Steak Seasoning.

Bake for 15-20 minutes. Toss. Bake for another 10-15 minutes, until they hit the desired crispiness or brownness.

(I, personally, like to eat them with any leftover Chick-fil-a sauce I have hoarded away in the fridge.)

3 Things You Should Do Today.

(Or tomorrow. You got time.)

1. This barre workout. 25 minutes. You don't need any equipment. I did it last night as soon as Wells went to bed.

2. Download this ebook "boxset". 99 cents for 3 books plus a novella! I lovedlovedloved this series. I normally kinda hate rom-coms but these were unputdownable. I listened to them on audio back in 2016. The only rom-coms I, quite honestly, would ever call must-reads.

3. Watch Little Fires Everywhere. It's on Hulu and a must-watch if you liked the book. I enjoyed the book, but didn't love it. I liked Celeste Ng's first book better. But I really love the casting choices for the series. Vox gave it a bad review, I just noticed in my Google search, but Vox hates everything, so there's that.

Happy weekend. I may try to brave a quick trip to Walmart today?

5 things making life easier this week

I think we should all be sharing what's making life easier for us. Ideas are motivation and power right now.

Real life. These are the leggings but I also have high socks on with them. It was so dark and gloomy at 10am on this day that it looks like I took the picture at night. 

1. These modal leggings.
They can be see-through, so wear them with a dress if you're wearing them outdoors. They are incredibly soft with a band at the cropped bottom and they don't have a thick waistband. Order your regular size. I almost sized up because I usually do with leggings, but now I'm glad I didn't.

2. A 10-minute yoga flow each morning. I've been doing this since...January? At least 10 minutes a day, but I used to do 20 or 30 when I was really focused on it after the New Year. Now, I put in an earbud, put on a podcast, and just go through a basic flow sequence for about 10 minutes. It's increased my flexibility, it's relaxing, and it stretches out sore muscles. This playlist is an UNBELIEVABLE resource.  This month, I've been focusing on Pilates again after doing lots of yoga in January and then lots of barre in February. What's your go-to home workout right now?

3. Sausage Orzo Soup. I made this a few years ago and it was great. I made it again this week and it makes enough for two dinners. I just added some more chicken stock the second day. We all loved it.

4. My doctors' offices using an online messaging system. I was able to cancel appointments, reschedule appointments, and send a message to my doctor and get a reply...all without picking up the phone or saying a word. It's the little things.

5. Not caring about a schedule. I already had a "schedule". I have a LOT of thoughts about how homeschooling has been going for everyone sharing this huge lifestyle change online. Maybe that will be a separate post next week?
But, for now, my own laissez-faire parenting is going well. I imagine the extroverts are starting to pull their hair out. I'm bored, sure. But Wells has the run of the house. He does more or less what he wants and we play together. I never subscribed to the idea that I had to take him to 2-3 activities every single day. Those are the baby/toddler moms who are probably having the toughest time? 

What's something that's making YOUR life easier this week? 
(This post is up much later than usual simply because sometimes I don't have the chance to sit down and blog first thing and I've learned to be okay with that. See: laissez-faire)

This feels familiar and all.

I saw this tweet yesterday:

I don't know why it didn't hit me that that's why this doesn't feel that odd. 

If you are feeling a bit lost this week...

If you want to set up a playdate for your kids. 

If you want to go to your favorite restaurant, coffee shop, movie theater, or bar. 

If you miss the social circle of your job because you're teleworking in your pjs. 

If you want to go over to a friend's house to physically hang out.

If you miss your gym classes. 

If you'd love to see your extended family for that birthday party or holiday dinner. 

That's what it's like to move to a new military duty station. That's it! That's the feeling! Welcome! 

In Alaska, I remember the first moment I felt it: 

Scott was doing a night jump in October and I had to spend a night alone in our new house. I had never, I'm pretty sure, gone to sleep in a house completely by myself up until that point. And he was off in some Alaskan field, jumping out of a plane in the middle of the night.

In Missouri, I had that feeling when it was dark out, it our first night in our new house, Scott had run out to help a friend move furniture, and I had to navigate my way to Walmart and back. Obviously, I had GPS but I'm pretty sure I got lost because I was certain I remembered where Walmart was but I guess I didn't.

In Colorado, it was the day after I drove out to meet Scott and the dogs at our new house on the prairie (I would give a LOT to be settled at that house on the prairie at this moment, btw), and Scott went to Lowe's and I was there, in the house, just staring out at the field. It was quiet in a scary way and I hated it. Eventually, I got used to that quiet.

Truthfully, this whole thing is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. 

It just is. I hate to think that way, but if we could fast forward a month, that'd be great, right? 

That's also a common thought I have during a PCS move; if we could just fast forward a month, that'd be great. 

Just to get over the rough part.

This was already my life...

The social distancing thing isn't that different from what life was like a month ago.

And especially this last week; when we're sick, I stay home anyway. Even on our healthiest days, I stick to a meal and nap schedule prettttttty rigidly. The dogs get walked at the same time each day. I don't go to work, so 90% of the social interactions I used to have as a teacher aren't there anymore.

Therefore, not much is changing for me. Just no Toddler Time or playdates or unnecessary Target runs. Also, trying to avoid the grocery store if I can. I have some appointments to cancel and reschedule and our entire future is up in the air because the federal government is locking down on military-everything including "halting movement" so...

I think it's important to keep blogging during this weird time. I saw an article (I think it was in the Boston Globe?) saying you should keep a journal while all of the social distancing is happening, so you can remember it later. Well, the idea of physically writing down something only for me to read later is something I've never actually been good at doing. I never was able to keep a true diary as a kid. I think that's why blogging has always appealed to me so much: I like putting my thoughts out and about for others.

So, keep blogging, please.

We're really into throwing sticks for the dogs and trying to take them away these days.

I handed Wells his snack and walked away the other day. 

This is exactly how I found him a minute later:

I highlighted my hair on Saturday. I let it go for 4 days without washing it because dirty hair does hold color better. It's a fact. However, after day 1, I kept it up in a bun. This led to quite the ache on the back of my head and, to you all who regularly go a week without washing your hair and then brag about it, it's gross. Sorry. 

20 months old and Wells has managed to climb up onto a chair once or twice now. 

Even though Netflix is releasing new shows left and right, our biggest first world problem (truly!) seems to be that we haven't found something that really hooks us, currently. Last week, Ben Shapiro mentioned how great Better Call Saul is; I had watched a few episodes long ago and Scott had never tried it. We're Breaking Bad die-hards and I loved El Camino. So I suggested it and we watched a few episodes and now I think we're on track to follow through with all 4 seasons. I love how smart it is, keeping the world of Breaking Bad going.

Also, I moseyed over to Hulu and clicked around. I didn't know that apparently we've been paying for the Showtime addition (can anyone keep track anymore?). So hello to season 10 of Shameless and also the final season of Homeland.

Desperate times means we need to justify paying for entertainment at home, I suppose.

Speaking of entertainment, these very expensive magnatiles from Christmas don't really entertain him at all. I don't know why he doesn't love them. He usually obsesses over magnets. Maybe eventually.

The panic-buyers are the absolute worst. Just the WORST. I have to go pick up a prescription today, so I'm going to take a scan around the store, but I don't expect there to be much left. Scott went to a more rural store yesterday and said it was still all picked over.

But this does mean I guess we'll have to get creative. I'm on a mission, basically, to recycle Wells' snacks until he finally eats them. Running out of Cheerios and grapes would be a threat-level-midnight situation in this house. Yesterday, I made banana bread and pizza dough. I froze half the dough. What's nice about that recipe is that it makes enough for two thin crust pizzas.

He's kind of over the highchair. He likes to just sit at the table, but you have to sit with him. 

How are you passing the time this week? (and, you know, for the next month)

Creamy Chicken Casserole

I got this recipe at a church recipe exchange in 2010 and originally posted it on this blog way back then. We loved it. Casseroles are generally not my thing but this is a crowd-pleaser. (don't worry, I'm going to delete that post with the awful pictures right now)

A few weeks ago, I ordered some supplies from Walmart in case we got hit with sudden sickness. When they were delivered, they had sent a can of cream of chicken soup with my cans of regular chicken noodle soup by accident.

I decided to pull this recipe out again, in an effort to use that can of soup and in an attempt to get Wells to try something different than our usual dinners. I rarely make anything casserole-like just because it's so specific and we have to be willing to truly eat the same thing for multiple days. The closest I usually get is the occasional chicken pot pie.

But this casserole is really good. The recipe credit goes to my Alaska friend Cherie Taylor but I believe it came from Taste of Home. I originally posted it back in 2010, but the pictures were...not good. These are iPhone pics but maybe a bit better?

If you need comfort food this week, you might already have the ingredients!

Creamy Chicken Casserole

2-3 chicken breasts diced into small pieces
1 t. salt
1 t. pepper
1 t. poultry seasoning
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 8oz. block of fat-free or light cream cheese, softened (this is my addition as the original recipe uses regular)
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
1 1/2 cups crushed Club, Ritz, or Townhouse crackers
3 T. melted butter

Cook the chicken pieces with salt, pepper, and seasoning.  In a mixing bowl,   stir cream cheese and soup until blended.  Add frozen vegetables.  When the chicken is cooked, stir it in, and spoon everything into a pie plate.  Melt butter and toss in the cracker crumbs until coated and use them to top the casserole.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Friday screenshots.

It's been a hard week, mentally. Along with coronavirus trepidation, it's just been...hard. I'm going to leave that vague-blog statement there, unapologetically. Oh well?

They say to stay home if you're sick, and Wells had a runny nose last week and had a low fever on and off for two days this week...so we stayed home. I also had a sore throat on Wednesday. So we stayed home. This has been the most tedious week in quite awhile. I didn't exactly think we had coronavirus, but I also didn't want to be out and about if we were sick AND I didn't want him to pick up anything else. There's a lot of germs out there, even if they aren't coronavirus-related and it seems like getting sick with anything else wouldn't be an easy trip to the doctor's office.

To be honest, at this moment, I'm more worried about boredom and running out of snack food than I am about getting sick (we're all better now, btw).

ANYWAY.

My thoughts on this week can be summarized as follows:

This episode had some good points. I liked it a lot ...and you can see I was listening while I folded laundry at 8am.

And this one. Absolutely hilarious.

Thoughts to share?