Apr
2020

Keeping active and connected!

I got a trampoline! After years of asking. FINALLY.

He said

For years and years Emelia has been bugging …er… asking for a trampoline and for years we have been explaining to her that our small yard and the fact that Danielle runs her daycare out of our house makes for no space to have something that would take up the entire space of the yard that the daycare kids use for outside and play time. And for the most part, begrudgingly, that answer has sufficed. However, with the COVID-19 quarantine this dialogue changed drastically when Danielle had to make the decision to close the daycare. With Emelia off school for three straight weeks and all of her usual fourteen hours of extracurricular physical activity in gymnastics and dance and we were at a loss to find her something to keep active.

Reenter the trampoline discussion…

No longer with the ability to use the daycare argument about the side yard and really wanting Emelia to have something to keep her activity level up we finally broke down this week with the trampoline and the side yard took on a very different look as Easter came a little early for Emelia. As anticipated it did take up the entirety of the side yard. But what also followed was 3 or 4 days of having it before we had some snow where Emelia spent two to three hours minimum on it daily, happily jumping away with her bestie Olivia on FaceTime who had gotten a trampoline too. It’s been a joy seeing her so active and happy each day factoring time in and around the trampoline each day. In fact she asks if we can FaceTime with the family so that she can show them what she can do on the trampoline.

What has been an absolute delight through this quarantine has been Emelia’s friendship with Olivia. With Emelia being an only child and having no natural playmates in house during this quarantine it has been tough on her but her friendship with Olivia has been an absolute saving grace. The girls have spent good chunks of their days together on FaceTime doing all manner of things. But when the cat was out of the bag about Emelia’s trampoline and it arrived and was set up the girls have spent hours on FaceTime (thank lord for unlimited wifi) on the trampoline virtually from the their respective homes doing all manner of activities. Their friendship was forged on gym mats years ago and has been solidified since camping together and doing other things good friends do. We’re so thankful for this friendship—especially during this quarantine.

Aside from all that this week the focus has been on keeping the family connection going during the time of quarantine. We settled into semi-regular FaceTime with the Teeter family on some evenings so that we can maintain the connection and keep some level of normalcy in our lives. This week with Easter falling into the mix, we agreed to try and work – as best as we could – dinner together via FaceTime. We all settled on a time to have dinner ready and to be together and while it was a little bit strange and different it was good to just be together as we so often are used to and take for granted being able to do. Once the element of our dinners not being ready at the exact same time was out of the way and we were just settled into being together it was about as nice as you could hope for. Emelia regaled the family with trampoline tricks and we all just hung out and made fun of each other. It was perfect.

And that is what life has settled into in this day and age. I hope that some years from now when you settle into this Emelia, to find out what life was like through your journey you appreciate this from a place of so much change and difference. These were challenging times yes, but they were made better by what always makes things better: the people around you who make it easier to deal with whatever is going on. Sometimes that is family. Sometimes that is friends. But, through it all is love!

She said

We are settling in more and more into this new normal. The weather was up and down this week so we were able to get outside a fair bit and Emelia took full advantage of her new trampoline to get much needed exercise.

As the pandemic settles in we fully expect that we would be in full lockdown limiting movement even more than it has been so we decided that we needed to find a positive way to get Emelia’s energy out. Emelia has been begging for a trampoline for years. This week we were able to get a trampoline after a few failed attempts. We did curbside pickup of a 12 foot trampoline and with a few swears we were able to assemble it this week. It took a few hours after a few minor mistakes John and I got it assembled and buttered in the yard. Once it was set up and anchored down Emelia climbed in and spent the next few hours happily jumping away. The entire week every chance she can get she is on it and loving every minute of it! We have literally no yard left but a very happy girl.

Another new normal this week is homeschooling. Which is going as well as you would expect. Emelia misses her teacher, her school and the normalcy surrounding this. We are all in uncharted territory here, she is struggling and we are struggling. I am really hoping that with time it will get easier but it is a battle and a half to get her to do the work. We are working though the classes and tying to make a manageable schedule. It isnt easy on anyone, teachers want to be back with their students, kids want to be back with their friends and teachers and parents would like to not homeschool. But we will try and make it work and do our best which is all any of us can do.

The last process for me this week was still working with lenders, government agencies and applying for new government assistance programs created to support people in this pandemic. Being self employed it has always been a significant stress of what would happen if I got sick or anyone in my family got sick. What would happen if I lost my income there is no safety net for self employed people. Thankfully the government has set up programs to help everyone through this mess. Its still going to be a struggle but I was able to apply for temporary support and this will help us a lot to navigate the uncertain financial future. I am beyond grateful for this support. The money should hopefully arrive this week and it will be so helpful!

Every week we pace ourselves for what it to come, watching the news and hope that all the restrictions will help flatten the curve. All measures are saying we are not going to have our normal lives for quite a while but we hope with strict restrictions we can hopefully have some new normal come summer! Holding strong over here and doing our best.

 

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