I'm starting to lose track of days. The weekdays are slightly more structured, but the weekend is just a mad mess of chaos. I'm pretty sure today is Friday- the seventh or eighth one this month by my calculations.
And I caved. I caved hard. I signed my children up for membership on Prodigy. They have been walking around since saying "Why? Because we're MEM-bers!" and then breaking into fits of giggles.
I hate screens. I'm not into video games (though I do remember loving Zelda and Goonies II as a child). I don't want my children to spend a lot of time on the computer, and consciously did not get them iPads or tablets or any of the like. The only reason they are on ChromeBooks now is because school mandates it. Sitting in front of a screen makes me jittery and uncomfortable after a while, and I'm thrilled that normally during the day, I get to step away from the screen most of the time to focus on tangible library tasks, like sorting books and helping teachers.
So for me to cave and buy my children a subscription to an online video game is huge, and it should tell you the amount of begging I've been privy to over the last several months of quarantine.
Prodigy is a math game that their school uses, for free, but there are sections of it that are only accessible to members, and bonuses (being able to "buy' certain pets with coins they earn, buying houses, etc.). A few of their friends have the paid memberships, but I was wary, because I try to avoid excessive screen time. That said- they are doing their math for school on the computer, so as long as I'm limiting the time on the game to under half an hour, I feel like at least they are learning something. It's a slippery slope, but I agreed to this for one month, so we'll see where we are when it's time to renew.But video games will not take over, and I made sure the girls had plenty of time in the (pollen filled) outside air. I've taken to wearing these masks not just because of social distancing, but because they help me keep at least a little barrier between me and mother nature, who hates me right now. While I was doing my best to stay inside at Sammy's house, painting bathroom trim with primer, I could see the girls in the yard, where they had taken cones E. brought to practice soccer with, filling them with water, then spiraling them in the air above their heads so that the water flew everywhere, like a makeshift sprinkler. They thought this was the greatest thing in the world, and since it was 83 degrees out, I thought it was a solid playtime option
Using the group on Facebook that has people give away items they no longer want, I was able to snag a bistro height table and two awesome bar stools to go with it. These will eventually end up in our basement bar area (Jeff built a bar over the winter), but right now, they are going into Sammy's kitchen (as an eat in area) or in the house's basement family room, as a game table. We're not sure which yet, but at least we have some nice furniture!
We ended the day with E's soccer practice. It was a struggle to get my phone to stand up (we were still at Sammy's house with no wifi, so the phone was the only option for Zoom), but she was happy to get in a bunch of touches against the wall. I'm really proud (as a parent and coach) at how her skills have progressed. I know I wasn't nearly this technically sound at her age- heck, I didn't even start playing organized soccer until third grade, and she's only in second. Her trainer mentioned that there's a chance we may get to have the kids be outside (and distanced appropriately) by sometime next month. We're waiting for word from the governor, but there's hope!
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