In comparison from March through August 2020, September and October were much more steady as far as wildfires and pandemics go. We mostly just hung out in the bubble, started getting into a groove with the distance learning and enjoyed each other's company. Penny got fixed and there was this election thing that happened, both which added some angst and complications, but drops in the 2020 bucket.
Linked below is a quick slideshow capturing some of the that was our September and October.
We did have a great 'bubble Halloween party' hosted by Nana & Papa. We went all out from the entrance hall covered in cobwebs and fog, rat-loaf appetizers, the COVID piñata, a nearly full delegation from Oz, and some cool zombie shoot out games designed by the kids. We didn't end up going trick-or-treating, though I think we all had too much fun and food to miss it much...though we so wished we were able to share the festivities with more people. Next year, we hope, next year.
Since there's not much else to report this post, I think it's interesting to document a bit of what our normal looks like with the distance learning in the bubble. As I've said before, we're so SO lucky to have the both sets of grandparents to be with the kids most of the day. On a "typical week," Oma/Opa handle Monday through Wednesday at their place with Nana/Papa taking Thursday & Friday at theirs. Lisa and I try to take 'point' depending on which grandparents is chief-in-charge. What do I mean by point? Well, getting the day organized, being around for the inevitable technology issues, contacting the teachers, etc. (It's largely a symbolic job, the grandparents really got most of it down). Opa or Nana focus on E, while J is with Oma or Papa. We tend to all eat meals together and try to split the cooking responsibility to whoever's got more 'free' time after work or school. Most of the time, the kids and one of us parents been also sleeping over at the grandparents' house, since it makes the 'getting to school' far smoother.
Logistically complicated? Oh, yeah. Does all this mean we're hardly ever in our house as just us? Yep. Is this at all how any of us envisioned this school year? Nah, obvi.
The best way to describe this state of life is that we've become a small nomadic tribe of learning, working, playing and eating. As with all tribes, we grow closer every day that we're maneuvering through the tribulations of the times...if that's trying to figure out how to finish the science worksheet or the tension of watching Pennsylvania count ballots one-by-one.
I'm sitting here trying to figure someway to write my overwhelming gratitude for the bubble and finding myself an astronomical unit short. It's not just that the grandparents' help allows Lisa & I to keep our well-paying jobs. It's that they're going so far above and so far beyond to guide our kids to being better humans. There is no doubt that the kids are being shaped every day by these people who love them more than anything -- people who are willing to commit most of their waking hours to helping the Charolette's Web book reports and learning how to tell time. Parents are tasked with the near-impossible role of being a daily north star to their offspring. Ours get a constellation of six bright ones, each with the different set of amazing traits.
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