Tomka Tales

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 ...

It was cold today, but we are slaves to the "boredom busters" bucket and have a made a commitment to follow through on whatever activity we have picked. And so, today we found ourselves having a rather chilly picnic in the backyard. I can't say this was as fun as last week's car picnic, but hats off to the kids for going along with whatever activity we throw at them. As long as it's something "out of the ordinary" I think it helps. While chilly, thankfully we were blessed with lots of sun today. We spent a few hours playing on the driveway and moving things around in the garage to make the toys more accessible. I also did a fair bit of shopping online this evening to stock up on outdoor activities - a new ladder ball set, washer toss game, and chalk. Would you believe that vendors on Amazon are actually price gouging for sidewalk chalk? Unbelievable! Thankfully I found some for a good price at Canadian Tire, so I ordered a few buckets to get us t...

In may not be our usual "Sunday Funday" but we made it work. Today's activity included decorating for Easter.  Thanks to a bit of planning and forethought, I purchased some plastic eggs and paint. While things got a bit messy, the end product was great - a beautifully decorated chandelier for our Easter dinner. Speaking of Easter, I'm thanking my lucky stars that we loaded up on chocolates and goodies early. Things are getting harder to order and nobody wants to be in stores right now unless absolutely necessary. It's all about keeping things as "normal" as can be. Nothing much else to report for today - just a lazy Sunday before the new work week begins. Hoping for a bit more stability as we settle into things.

Today marked the first annual Tomka family Olympics. Athletes from all four corners of house gathered together to participate in feats of strength, courage and silliness. It's amazing what you can come up with when you you are cooped up inside. Today's "boredom buster" was an absolute success. There is nothing that children love more than seeing their parents act like complete clowns. Our take on the Olympics was a bit different from what you see on TV, but certainly no less competitive. Our "events" consisted of: basketball, spoon & cupcake races, discus throwing (aka paper plates) and biathlon. We teamed up boys against girls. Given that I had the youngest on my team, I think I was at a disadvantage, but we still did ourselves proud. In the end, hubby and I declared it a tie as I suspect there was a fair bit of cheating on both sides. Check out the following link for a sample of the fun. Biathlon - Tomka style Today I also surprised the kids...

Normally, I'd be super pumped about it being Friday, but when you stay at home all day everyday, time starts to blur a little. I'm gearing up to be very busy next week, as my department will be heavily involved in the R&D response to COVID-19 and helping Canadian industry retool to meet our growing needs for medical supplies and equipment. It's an interesting time to work in communications. Lots of folks are working long hours right now to figure this out - so think twice before criticizing a public servant. Aside from it being a very busy news day, it was also a busy day in our household. Hubby had the day off and was kind enough to clean the entire house from top to bottom while I worked. Having the kids at home 24/7 means the place gets messier a whole lot quicker. We all have to do a better job of keeping our spaces clean - for sanity's sake. Today's boredom buster was "family yoga". After supper, we all went for a nice long walk then down ...

Sometimes something seems like a good idea, until you actually try it. Today's "boredom buster" was - learn a new language. Each family member picked a language and wrote it down on a piece of paper. I then threw the papers from our upper hallway down to the first floor - the first paper to land would dictate the language. German was the clear winner. Today, on my lunch break, I sat down with the kids for some Duo Lingo time. It only lasted about 15 minutes before they decided German was too challenging. My littlest ran off to do something else and my son soon discovered that it was much more fun to type ridiculous phrases into Google translate and play the audio. What was meant to be an educational experience, soon descended into total nonsense. We did walk away with a few choice phrases such as, "I farted," and "The toilet is full". But my personal favourite would have to be, "Pandemic dance party." Not sure any of these phrases will ...

The kids were bored today and kept pestering me for something new to do, so I told them, "Go fly a kite!" No. I did not tell my kids to bugger off. We literally went to a field and flew our kites, or tried our darnedest at any rate.  Truth be told, it was a bit of a fail. A nice stiff breeze accompanied us all the way to the park, then it cut mysteriously just as we tried to get the kites up in the sky. Instead, we ran around the field screaming like banshees, dragging the kites behind us. Cue the circus music. I'm sure we looked like a bunch of fools, but at least we were happy fools. The rest of the day was a bit blah. I can sense the frustration in the little one and we're only on day three of staying at home. I feel so bad for the kids - all they want is to see their friends. Hubby and I try our best, but we're no match for their buddies. Andrew actually picked up the phone to call his best friend yesterday and it was the funniest (and most awkward) th...

Not even a global pandemic could stop us from enjoying St. Patrick's Day. Tonight we head to bed with out tummy's full of Irish soda bread, and a tasty casserole of potatoes, ham, leaks and onion (something akin to a Dublin coddle). When we were building our stockpile, I'm glad I thought ahead to a few special meals.  It just wouldn't be St. Paddy's Day without this dish. The day started out with high spirits, as the kids raced downstairs to see if they managed to catch the leprechaun. Seamus eluded our trap again this year, leaving a mess in his wake. At least, he was kind enough to leave a card, some chocolate coins and a few fun things to wear for the day. I'll admit that today was a little bit trickier. I think we were all dreaming of the summer when we were in Ireland, enjoying a laissez-fair existence and living life to the max. We would have never guessed what the next year would bring. My little one was a little more demanding today and came to m...

How do you keep the most social of children happy in a situation that warrants isolation? I think it's a challenge that many of us parents will struggle with over the coming weeks or months. For me, it's a matter of trying to reinvent the activities that they are accustomed to, maintaining a sense of familiarity, but working within new restraints. It's making the very best of a strange situation. Today's "boredom buster" was an idea I threw in the bucket - a country drive and a car picnic.  It only took an hour, but it was the perfect activity to break up our day and was easy enough to incorporate into hubby's work schedule. We drove down to some nature trails along the Ottawa River, parked the car in front of a turtle pond, opened the tailgate, and  piled into the trunk for lunch. I have to admit, it was a bit chillier than planned, but the kids were thrilled when hubby closed the trunk on the kids and I to warm us up as we ate. Who knew being sea...

Rub a dub dub, fish in the tub. Today marked the first annual Tomka bathtub fishing derby. Sometimes, if the the activity is just kooky enough, it holds their interest. Looking for a cheap way to entertain the kiddies? Get a few fishing poles from the Dollarama and a bunch of plastic fish to hook.  This bought me almost an hour of sanity today - SCORE! To up the ante, play some of their favourite songs or set a timer. By the end of each round, see who caught the most fish. This was just a simple Mom hack - tomorrow we start breaking out some of the boredom busters. The kids made their first draw from the bucket to determine tomorrow' activity. Looks like we'll be taking a drive in the country and having a picnic - love it! We have also started decorating our house for St. Patrick's Day. Even COVID-19 can't scare the leprechaun away, so we'll be setting our trap and having the usual fun. Provided I can get all the right supplies, I'll try to cook some...

Day one of "captivity"...sort of. For someone with wanderlust, who makes it her personal mission to spend as little time sitting at home as possible, COVID-19 has certainly thrown a wrench into how my family and I go about our lives. Let's be honest, it's messed things up for pretty much everyone. It's easy to fall into the trap of feeling sorry for oneself, but what would be the point? We're all in this together. We're all missing out. For many of us, this is the first time we have even had a whiff of real "trouble" to deal with. This too shall pass, and it will pass sooner if we all do our part. Perhaps the largest challenge for hubby and I, will be keeping our two school-age children sane. It's hard for children to understand why they can't go to school, our hang out with their group of friends. It's difficult to explain why we can no longer go to the museum, swimming class, Cubs or Sparks.  They understand it's necessary...