Back to school - virtual school

 2021! Today it's back to school! Mama is on her second coffee!

DH also works from home so one of us always runs out first thing in the morning to grab a coffee. 

We are continuing this new year with all 4 of us home. It's been all 4 of us home since March 2020. We are so grateful to have the options that we do.  The kids really enjoy virtual learning and we have a great schedule that works for our family. 

I wrote this other post in 2020 click here. 

Some tips on what works for us. . 

1. Keep breakfast simple. Cereal and milk, Oatmeal, Fruit and yogurt, Toast with butter or straight up simple waffle. Keeping it simple allows for breakfast to be quick and less clean up for mom and dad. 

2. Sit in a bright space. Lots of lighting is important! We work in our kitchen because it’s the best lighting with all the windows. 

3. Print out each childs schedule and have it visible. Even though everyday is the same, it’s just easy for mama to glance and get reminded, or hold it up to the kids when they ask haha!

4. Use a phone timer or if you have google home we just yell out the timers as we need. Hey google put a timer for back to class at 11:30!

5. Keep the house quiet. No background noise. No TV or Radios on. School day is the school day. (No iPads or video games allowed on break times either)

6. Provide earphones if you they have them or if they can work independently. My kids have them off and on throughout the day. 

7. I make easy lunches too. I usually make lunch on their first nutrition break which is around 11am. That way their second break is playtime where they head outside or to the basement to release some energy. That's usually my time to tidy up a bit. 

8. I work when they work. I work for myself so this I know is much harder for working parents and their scheduled meetings. When DH is on his meetings I usually play referee making sure there's no noise around him haa.

9. Try not to stress it. They are kids and had to adapt soo much in 2020! Give them a break too. I have a sticker reward system and they get stars for all the great things they did. Even as simple as getting to class on time, listening to instruction, sitting through the lesson. All of this deserves praise. 

10. Close the computers at the end of each day! Our teachers give us independent work blocks to finish homework. So by 3pm they are done. We close their laptop and school is over. The evening is their time to do what they want!  (My kids are SK and grade 4, so this may look different depending their age)

Every family has their own challenges, these are some tips that works best for us as we navigated virtual learning in September 2020. The main thing is to be gentle with the process. It does not need to be perfect. It's new for everyone, our kids, parents and teachers, so let’s be kind to everyone including ourselves. 

- Tania 

Thanks for reading! Be sure to follow Mama T on Instagram @aka_mama_t 

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Grocery Shopping Reality

We are close to 60 days in quarantining or self isolation or social distancing- however you wanna call it! Many shops and restaurants have been closed for months. This weekend some are easing up and finally opening their doors to the public with many health measures. I'm watching the news and people are in line ups with masks and gloves and waiting to enter and quickly grab what they need. It's stressful and can take hours as they allow only a certain amount of people in at a time. 

When the shutdowns first began, grocery pickup/delivery from walmart or grocery gateway or instacarts were bombarded with orders. Getting a slot was like a miracle! So the early weeks of the shut down, before the lineups I had to go in and get our groceries, I did larger orders at a time so I didn't need to go in as often. Thankfully our local walmart opened up more spaces and for over  a month now I have my weekly grocery pickup, just as I use to have before this whole thing began. Remember! Those calm mornings with my Tim's coffee, driving up and getting out of my car to greet the employee, make some small talk... Not now. Now it's driving around back, opening the trunk as they quickly place the bags in keeping to a maximum time they are told to get it done which I think is 5 minutes.

We live North of the city, and yesterday we picked up our produce from a local farm. No line ups, tap to pay, in and out quickly.

Grocery bills have also increased these past 2 months. I would say they have doubled, maybe even tripled in what we use to do.  We are also trying to shop local as much as we can. Starting with this local farm for produce. Getting takeout from family owned restaurants in the area.  Being so grateful that we can help these struggling businesses. 

It's a year that will go down in history in so many ways.

 Stay safe out there friends. This too shall pass.