3.27.2020

pandemic diaries: the first two weeks

Oakland's school district announced on March 13th that schools would close for 3 weeks* (2 weeks + Spring Break). Since then, it's been a whirlwind couple of weeks of 13-14 hour nonstop days, redefining work-life balance/integration, figuring out how to work from home, which I always do, but with the kids home, too. Ah, to homeschool or not homeschool, that was the question! Following up on this post, here's a round-up of how the first couple of weeks went. (*By the way, since beginning this post earlier this week, all Bay Area school districts have announced that schools will be closed until at least early May. Given the school year ends for us at the end of May, I'm not holding my breath that things will return to any kind of normal before fall.)


As my Grandma pointed out when I called her last weekend, I'm a "planner" so, while a lot of other parents were treating this like an extended cross-country flight (translation: unlimited snacks and screentime), I created a schedule, inspired largely by the National Day Calendar. I should add that, while this is an unprecedented situation and we're well into uncharted territory by now, parents in Oakland have had a small preview of this due to wildfires and resulting smoke, scheduled power outages to prevent said wildfires, and a 10-day teacher strike last spring. In other words, this ain't our first rodeo. With that, here's what I've done to supplement my kids' instructional plans being sent home daily/weekly:
  • Made a couple of art ASMR videos, here and here. (Is art ASMR a thing?)
  • The only way I'm even remotely interacting with people outside my immediate family is grocery shopping. I've been to Trader Joe's twice, and Safeway and Pet Food Express once each. TJs is doing an incredible job. I hope their employees stay healthy and get raises.
  • Cleaned the house as a family on Sunday morning. Hello, chores! And, likely, allowances.
  • Did my nails.
  • Finished Pandemic on Netflix.
  • Put together a suggested pandemic "shelfie" for creatives.
  • Started re-reading 'The Plague' by Albert Camus and 'Diary of a Young Girl' by Anne Frank.
  • We've been going on A LOT of neighborhood walks, literally walking in circles, but still seeing cool stuff, and meeting all the friendly neighborhood cats.
  • We attempted a hike last weekend but I fear hiking is short-lived due to the impossibility of proper social distancing given how incredibly busy it was. 
  • That said, running around the lake while 6-footing it can still be done so long as you run at 6 a.m.


Today is officially the first day of Spring Break, through next week. We should have been on our way to Seattle by now (of all places), but obviously that trip was canceled a few weeks ago. We have no structure for what would be no-school days, no daily instructional plans (I live-tweeted the first day here), but I did put some of that National Day inspiration into a Spring Break bingo card in case the kids get bored. You can access that document here.


By the way, if you're stuck at home and think you might like to receive some free art in the mail to brighten your day, you can fill out this form, part of an ongoing mail art project I started a couple of months ago. For the time being I'm mostly sending out 5x7 CMYK screenprints from this grad school project. So long as USPS is operating.

Stay home and stay healthy, friends!

3.16.2020

everything is canceled

Hello, hi, how's everyone holding up?? It's officially day one (sorry, weekends don't count) of staying the bleep home, working from home (as I'm so lucky to always do), with the kids home for the next three weeks (including Spring Break), at least. I wanted to write a quick update to let y'all know what we're doing, in case any of this is helpful. I've seen a lot of pushback to the idea of homeschooling kids during this unprecedented time. Which, hey, if unstructured time and unlimited access to screens works for you, more power to you! Seriously, do what works for you. But, as a working parent who’s experienced various (some as long as 10 weeks) stretches of NOT working with kids at home, now that I have a job, the first thing I did when I learned our schools would close is create a schedule.


In Oakland, between wildfires, power outages, and a teacher strike last spring, this ain’t our first rodeo. The difference this time is knowing from the outset that we’ve got at least 3 weeks of this. During last year’s teacher strike I had the same attitude about schedules & academics - pshaw, I said! Let's take advantage of this opportunity to have NO schedule! Key difference now (in addition to having a job) is social distancing. Nothing’s open! Three weeks, spent mostly inside a smallish home with two bickering siblings who aren’t the most self-directed individuals? They need structure. I need structure. It’s also an opportunity to think about education differently. Watch documentaries, learn about the tech behind the video games they play, cook something new, make clay with flour. It’ll be fun!

Additionally, a recurrent theme lately is how to manage your and your kids’ anxiety around all this. Guess how I manage my anxiety? I plan stuff, I put things on my calendar, I use my calendar to visualize how I'm going to get through the next three (plus?) weeks. I realize I can’t control everything (anything?) but this gives me back some sense of agency. Most kids benefit from a sense of normalcy and routine, especially during times of increased chaos. My kids, although they’d love endless screen time for a day or two, would be hot messes by day 3. With that, if you're curious to see what I have planned for the rest of the week (and I'll update this document with next week's plan once I get around to it), I've shared a view-only version of our "schedule" here.


Finally, for some comic relief, I wrote a coronavirus/COVID19 parody to the tune of 'Everything Is Awesome." Everything is canceled, and if it's not, it should be. Sing along!

Everything is canceled,
everything is closed due to COVID-19,

Everything is canceled,
‘cause we’re social distancing.

Trying to remember we’re in this together
Do our part, you and I, a social endeavor
Reduce spread however.

Work from home, if you can,
if you can’t, better start saving your money.

Everything is canceled,
everything is closed due to COVID-19,

Everything is canceled,
‘cause we’re social distancing.

Woo! Three, two, one, go!
Did you scrap that cruise? Bad time to travel.
Probably should, ‘cause everything is canceled.
Little kids seem to have some immunity
But schools close if there’s a case in the community.

An updated sample of canceled examples:
The NBA suspended its season,
St. Patti’s parades, for good reason.
TV talk shows with studios abandoned.
GDC, and college classes.
Coachella’s canceled, even Sunday masses.

Trying to remember we’re in this together
Do our part, you and I, a social endeavor
Reduce spread however.

Work from home, if you can,
if you can’t, better start saving your money.

Everything is canceled,
everything is closed due to COVID-19,

Everything is canceled,
‘cause we’re social distancing.

Social distancing, what exactly does that mean?
Isolation or quarantine
You know what’s canceled? Everything!
School field trips, gatherings
Use a tissue when you sneeze
Do your part, however you can
Flatten the curve, that’s the plan.

Sports, church, shows, they’re canceled!
Trips, fests, races, they’re canceled!
Festival of art, it’s canceled!
Everything you watch or buy or play is canceled.

Everything is canceled,
everything is closed due to COVID-19,

Everything is canceled,
‘cause we’re social distancing.