April 10, 2019
Dear journal,
Today I’m feeling excited for the weekend, partly because weekends are awesome, and partly because Easter is in two days! It is weird to think that my neighborhood won’t be having an easter egg hunt at the barn. At least we can do one in our own backyard.
Today I worked on my shooting form and read a book for a book club I’m in, then I sorted legos with my mom for an hour or so while listening to a cool podcast called Armchair Experts. I forgot to mention that yesterday I watched a movie that was really powerful, it was called Glory Road and it was fun to watch it with my mom.
Back to today, after legos I ate some lunch then I went outside and tried to skateboard with Sadie. (I need practice.) Then I played some catch with my dad in the back, we played for a good 45 minutes. After that we did a half hour boxing session that was hard but fun. (Part of why it was hard was because the work out was meant for one person at a time) After that I played some video games with Mason and ate dinner.
In tell again,
Caden
Tuesday, April 14, 2020
Monday, April 6, 2020
Caden's School Journal Entry
Friday, April 3
Dear journal,
Today I did some math in the living room and kitchen, then I went to Jake’s house to see if he could play pickleball on his cort, but he was doing some school work. I felt annoyed because I don’t have much time during the day to play for longer periods of time. Jake’s dad told me I could come back in an hour to see if Jake could play then. I rode my bike home and did some measurements for math and ate pretzels with my dog, Layla. Then I had some lunch and headed back to Jake’s house.
When I got there I noticed a paper rainbow in their window with the words “Thank You” their was also a sign on their door that read; “Kids, please don’t come inside, you can wait in the garage” I felt sad that our lives were so weird and not fun now, staying at home and still getting more covid-19 cases every day.
I then played at Jake’s house for an hour and a half, we played pickleball, basketball, and finally we had a giant nerf war and I eliminated everyone on the other team! My phone alarm brought me back to the fact that even though I was playing with friends, (not touching each other) I still had work to do. When I got home I went to work on some school in bed but I fell asleep.
When I awoke I realized that I would have to do some of the work on the weekend and spring break, which by some miracle is still happening even though we had basically been on break for the two last weeks before this one. Then I watched a movie with my family and ate pizza and MandM’s. The movie had been released onto early because of the circumstances people are living with. Finally, one of my family members is not feelling 100% but I think they will be fine by tomorrow.
Until I write again,
Caden
Dear journal,
Today I did some math in the living room and kitchen, then I went to Jake’s house to see if he could play pickleball on his cort, but he was doing some school work. I felt annoyed because I don’t have much time during the day to play for longer periods of time. Jake’s dad told me I could come back in an hour to see if Jake could play then. I rode my bike home and did some measurements for math and ate pretzels with my dog, Layla. Then I had some lunch and headed back to Jake’s house.
When I got there I noticed a paper rainbow in their window with the words “Thank You” their was also a sign on their door that read; “Kids, please don’t come inside, you can wait in the garage” I felt sad that our lives were so weird and not fun now, staying at home and still getting more covid-19 cases every day.
I then played at Jake’s house for an hour and a half, we played pickleball, basketball, and finally we had a giant nerf war and I eliminated everyone on the other team! My phone alarm brought me back to the fact that even though I was playing with friends, (not touching each other) I still had work to do. When I got home I went to work on some school in bed but I fell asleep.
When I awoke I realized that I would have to do some of the work on the weekend and spring break, which by some miracle is still happening even though we had basically been on break for the two last weeks before this one. Then I watched a movie with my family and ate pizza and MandM’s. The movie had been released onto early because of the circumstances people are living with. Finally, one of my family members is not feelling 100% but I think they will be fine by tomorrow.
Until I write again,
Caden
Corona Virus Quarantine Day 35(ish) - Some Highlights So Far
Today Governor Inslee announced that school will be online only for the rest of the year. This wasn't a surprise since school buildings have been closed since March 3rd (they were open for one day on March 5th before closing for good but Mason was sick and missed it). We had one week of online coursework before, what administrators called, "pause week" and then "home-based project week" because of concern about equity issues (and federal funding being pulled).
It was a shame because that first version, filled with zoom calls and video instruction, was excellent. After those two weeks off, the schools returned with cloud learning 2.0. At Hollywood hill, Sadie and Mason are still getting really detailed lesson plans- Sadie's teacher, Ms. Schock has been especially amazing. Caden's teacher, though, is taking the latest iteration more literally and is assigning only a few larger projects- which, understandably, doesn't seem fair to Sadie. I'm also supplementing Mason's lesson with an entire new reading curriculum that I got from our neighbor, Lucine, who opened a private school last year.
It's hard to believe that Caden will never go back to elementary school and that his last day went by unnoticed by any of us. I've already enrolled him for classes at Timbercrest middle school and he is taking it well that he won't get the customary 5th grade milestones; a weekend away at Camp Cedar Springs with another school's 5th graders (Casey was set to volunteer) or a moving up ceremony. I'm not sure he's realized yet that he'll never be in school again with one of his best friends, Aayush, since he will go on to a different middle school and high school.
It was really sunny here today, which makes a huge difference. Every day it's sunny, the kids get out and play with the Perlmutter kids, Shanti, Om, Jake, and Presley.
Sadie and Mason literally spent all of today outside playing with the Perlmutter twins.
The boys dragged out Andrew's skateboard last week and have been practicing in our driveways as much as they can- oddly choosing to wear their ski helmets instead of bike helmets.
Casey has started working from our barn space a lot more and Sadie and I used it yesterday to practice learning a TikTok dance. (I cheated by learning it last week on Molly's deck with Shirin and Megan).
Before that, we used it a few times for homeschooling while the house was being disinfected. (Before the Shelter in Place order.)
Grandma and Papa J have set up an entire virtual golf studio in their house, complete with driving range and putting green, and I drove out of the neighborhood today for only the 2nd time in a month to send them two of the four n95 masks we found in our garage.
The CDC started recommending wearing non-medical face masks or coverings last weekend. Which was a reversal of their previous statements that the public shouldn't be wearing masks because they're needed for medical workers and they create a false sense of security. (Casey things that previous position was more based in politics than science).
It was a truly odd feeling to walk into the UPS store wearing a DIY face covering. I didn't want to soil our only pristine n95 mask (we have one other that Casey used while building our "barn" space) so I used a headband as a makeshift mask. The policy is so new that I had to give myself a pep talk in the car to go through with wearing it despite feeling ridiculous... Talking to the man that worked there while he didn't have a mask on (although he was behind a new clear guard at the desk), made me feel like a weird hypochondriac. But the man that came in after me also had a mask, so that helped.
There was a similarly odd feeling when Sadie and I went to our local nursery on my birthday. Casey and the kids cleaned out our greenhouse, per my birthday request, so we could plant some things and I read up to try to figure out how not to kill the seeds... At the nursery, the man behind two counters was very nice but also kept pointing out all the things he'd Cloroxed.
Molly, Melissa, Megan and I also got together on Courtney's covered back deck to celebrate my birthday. Jordan wanted to be there too but has been quarantined with suspected Covid-19. She's got weird chest pains and is tired a lot but is otherwise doing ok. Their poor family is having a hard time all having to stay inside... Megan made homemade hostess cupcakes to celebrate me :).
I'm hoping to keep writing here to record our memories and feelings from these intensely weird time. Until then... just as things were starting to go down here, I wrote this article for Glamour.com and this article for Women's Health. I was also interviewed for this piece at The Hill. I'm worried about all the work that I'm not getting done now that I'm in charge of the kids, and their online schooling, 24/7 but I'm trying to make opportunities where I can!
It was a shame because that first version, filled with zoom calls and video instruction, was excellent. After those two weeks off, the schools returned with cloud learning 2.0. At Hollywood hill, Sadie and Mason are still getting really detailed lesson plans- Sadie's teacher, Ms. Schock has been especially amazing. Caden's teacher, though, is taking the latest iteration more literally and is assigning only a few larger projects- which, understandably, doesn't seem fair to Sadie. I'm also supplementing Mason's lesson with an entire new reading curriculum that I got from our neighbor, Lucine, who opened a private school last year.
It's hard to believe that Caden will never go back to elementary school and that his last day went by unnoticed by any of us. I've already enrolled him for classes at Timbercrest middle school and he is taking it well that he won't get the customary 5th grade milestones; a weekend away at Camp Cedar Springs with another school's 5th graders (Casey was set to volunteer) or a moving up ceremony. I'm not sure he's realized yet that he'll never be in school again with one of his best friends, Aayush, since he will go on to a different middle school and high school.
It was really sunny here today, which makes a huge difference. Every day it's sunny, the kids get out and play with the Perlmutter kids, Shanti, Om, Jake, and Presley.
Sadie and Mason literally spent all of today outside playing with the Perlmutter twins.
The boys dragged out Andrew's skateboard last week and have been practicing in our driveways as much as they can- oddly choosing to wear their ski helmets instead of bike helmets.
Casey has started working from our barn space a lot more and Sadie and I used it yesterday to practice learning a TikTok dance. (I cheated by learning it last week on Molly's deck with Shirin and Megan).
Grandma and Papa J have set up an entire virtual golf studio in their house, complete with driving range and putting green, and I drove out of the neighborhood today for only the 2nd time in a month to send them two of the four n95 masks we found in our garage.
The CDC started recommending wearing non-medical face masks or coverings last weekend. Which was a reversal of their previous statements that the public shouldn't be wearing masks because they're needed for medical workers and they create a false sense of security. (Casey things that previous position was more based in politics than science).
It was a truly odd feeling to walk into the UPS store wearing a DIY face covering. I didn't want to soil our only pristine n95 mask (we have one other that Casey used while building our "barn" space) so I used a headband as a makeshift mask. The policy is so new that I had to give myself a pep talk in the car to go through with wearing it despite feeling ridiculous... Talking to the man that worked there while he didn't have a mask on (although he was behind a new clear guard at the desk), made me feel like a weird hypochondriac. But the man that came in after me also had a mask, so that helped.
There was a similarly odd feeling when Sadie and I went to our local nursery on my birthday. Casey and the kids cleaned out our greenhouse, per my birthday request, so we could plant some things and I read up to try to figure out how not to kill the seeds... At the nursery, the man behind two counters was very nice but also kept pointing out all the things he'd Cloroxed.
I'm hoping to keep writing here to record our memories and feelings from these intensely weird time. Until then... just as things were starting to go down here, I wrote this article for Glamour.com and this article for Women's Health. I was also interviewed for this piece at The Hill. I'm worried about all the work that I'm not getting done now that I'm in charge of the kids, and their online schooling, 24/7 but I'm trying to make opportunities where I can!
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