Dog Days.

 We've got two weeks of school under our belts, and some of the kinks are starting to work themselves out. I had intended for the kids to sit at the dining room table with me, but there was a lot of griping about the system, and it's harder now that they're doing more synchronized learning via Zoom. Ellie in particular was giving me a big upsell, telling me that her teacher said she MUST have a desk in a private space in order to work. Which I get, but your dad doesn't even have a private space - your teacher can't order me to build you an office - what if we lived in a little apartment? 

But, I am a nice mean teacher mommy, and I managed to find two kids' desk on Facebook market place and pick them up in an afternoon, so now everyone is set up in their own space. It's nice for me because Ellie does a lot less complaining and a lot more independent work, and Adam isn't right up in my grill. However, he wants way more supervision than her, so I often threaten to move him back to the dining room table. Example - he watched a video about the brain and how you learn, and there was an emphasis on how you have to practice to get better. At the end, he named easily ten things he's been at now that he's practiced them. But when it came to having to write two sentences, he didn't know what to write and started to throw a fit at me. He's a delight. 

I had told the kids that the cats are not their classmates, and I don't want them dragging Taco onto every single zoom call, but Taco obviously feels that he should do some math projects. He's also taken to sitting in Ellie's room with her during the day, which is fine by me, as long as he's not yeowling in the hallway. 

They're done by 1:30 in the afternoons, they let Mean Teacher Mommy check their work for the day (so that we don't have to redo things, or make more work for their teachers) and we've been continuing with the outdoor PE swim classes while it's warm. It's been just wretchedly hot the last couple of weeks, and for the first time the ocean was warm enough that Adam didn't come out shivering at any point. 

In person instruction via the hybrid program is tentatively set to begin on September 21st, but we are home until Thanksgiving. I'm really hoping for everyone's sake that the numbers continue to drop in our area and the kids can go to school and be safe in school.