Tomka Tales

Looks like that daily blog commitment went right out the window. Maybe I was a little too ambitious in my initial goal.  Being a mother, wife, daughter, teacher and full-time worker, while keeping us all sane during a pandemic, is no short order. I'm a little lacking in the "me time" category, so I took a few nights to exercise and Netflix binge - I think I've earned it! So what have we been up to all week? Hubby and I have been busy in our jobs and the kids have really adapted well to their school work. There has been very little guidance or assistance from the school board, and no formal e-learning yet, so my lesson plans have been a godsend. We are still doing our best to  pick a new 'boredom buster' from the jar each day, but some of the activities are proving a little too "involved" for a weekday. I'll also start running out of ideas in a month or so, and it looks like we'll be shut in for a very long time. I have to stop think...

By the end of this pandemic, I'm convinced we will be decent artists! Today the kids and I participated in our second drawing class through www.yaymaker.com We joined kids and other families from all over the US and Canada to draw elephants, frog princes and monkeys. Again, I was super impressed by the artist and her ability to engage everyone in the class from afar. Between drawing, they stream upbeat music and the kids have fun dancing on camera and seeing other kids do the same. Thank goodness for the marvels of modern technology! I'm happy to report that we have a new batch of masterpieces ready to be taped to my parents' windows. This may become a weekly occurrence. We will hopefully drop them off tomorrow, when we do our next supply run. Speaking of supply run, I'm starting to feel myself getting a bit crazy over toilet paper conservation. We still have lots in the basement, but I can't help but worry about our alternatives when we run out. Rags and washing...

Last Halloween was a bust due to rain, so we opted to do it all over again. Turns out the weather in late March was much more cooperative than October. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the kids were thrilled to don the costumes that they couldn't use last Fall. So how does one trick-or treat or treat at home? We had to get a little creative, something we are getting quiet adept at. The kids have been making decorations as part of their "art" block for most of the week and we have been busy hanging their creations. Today we decorated all the bedroom doors. After work, I sounded the school bell (aka annoying bicycle horn) to signal the start of trick or treating. The kids climbed into their costumes, grabbed their pails the went knocking on the bedroom doors. Hubby and I handed out candy, then the kids had to hunt around the house for the rest of their chocolate, all while creepy Halloween music was blaring. Admittedly, it was super cheesy. My oldest w...

There's nothing more frustrating than losing at a game you created! Today's 'boredom buster' was a simple but challenging task. Each family member was provided with five clothespins to wear on their shirt after breakfast. For the remainder of the day, nobody could say the word "what." If someone caught you saying the word, they got to take your clothespin. I thought my son would lose the game. Hubby and I are always after him for yelling "What?" from his room anytime we call him. It turns out the little bugger can keep his habits in check if a game is involved. I, on the other hand, was out of clothespin within two hours. Looks like I'll have to take a good hard look at my vocabulary too! Game aside, the kids are doing very well with the new homeschool routine. In general, their moods are much better when they are learning and know what activity is coming next - it also affords me a bit more peace and time to get my work done. I also see th...

Routine - glorious routine! Today marked our first day of having an actual school schedule and it went super well. I took some of the learning resources shared by teachers and coupled them with other materials I found online. It took some effort to draft up a solid lesson plan, but I'm content that the kids have a good mix of topics and work to keep them going. Add on three recesses, snacks and lunch, and it makes the days pass quickly.  The kids were quite happy today and less bickering overall. Going forward, the goal is to create a new weekly lesson plan every weekend. This should tide us over until the school board starts to implement more formal e-learning plans.  With any luck, I'll avoid situations like this one ; )

Today I celebrated (if you can call it that) 39 years of life. It certainly was one for the record books. While I'm normally not one to make a fuss over my birthday, it does seem a little more poignant this year. With so many people suffering or dying from this virus, it certainly makes me more thankful for the time I have.  There's nothing like a pandemic for making you contemplate your own mortality. Even under the strange circumstances, we tried to make the best of it. Hubby put up some decorations, and I cobbled together a cake. The kids made me some nice cards and gave me a good cuddle in the morning - the best medicine there is! I was also thankful to receive some birthday money from my in-laws and new painting supplies from Mom and Dad shipped via Amazon. I would have loved some time to myself today to just relax, but the bulk of it was spent trying to keep the kids content and not fighting each other. I finally managed to put together a solid home school schedule ...