March 23-29, 2020
The first week was very difficult, but homeschooling this week has improved a little. We got most of our technology issues fixed, so that helped a lot. Christian and Andrew are doing really well and are pretty self-sufficient in their schoolwork. Hyrum is much harder. He is only 6, so it shouldn’t surprise me that he has trouble focusing, but it was agonizing to sit with him for 4 hours while he did his school work. I let him take little breaks, but if I wasn’t sitting right there encouraging him, he would get distracted and start messing around.
The vast majority of their school work is now done online, so they are constantly on their computers doing work or participating in a Zoom conference with their teachers. We moved some things around so that they each have their own area, their own computer, and their own headphones. It has worked much better. We eventually got everything done for the boys, but it was very difficult for me to do anything around the house.
This week, coronavirus has continued to spread, and the common phrase in the media is “Do your part to flatten the curve.” The U.S. and most of the world have determined that social-distancing and “stay at home” orders are the best way to proceed. Idaho announced a “stay at home order” and Utah followed with its own directive soon after. They are hoping that keeping everyone in quarantine, will cause the virus to spread slower and give our hospitals a chance to keep up with the demand. Unfortunately, flattening the curve means that it will likely take much longer to get to the end of this mess. A vaccine will not be available for at least 18 months, and so far no drugs have worked to lessen the effects of the virus. The death rates are still pretty low overall, but much higher than with a regular flu. It is proving to be particularly dangerous for people over 60, diabetics, and other people with underlying medical conditions.
To help keep us entertained while we are stuck at home, we bought three new board games on Amazon. We have been playing lots of games as a family, so it was nice to add some new ones to our collection. We got Splendor, Dixit, and Munchkin. We have enjoyed all of them so far.
Other than a few games, however, it has been a depressing week. On March 24th, we found out that Mom and Dad are going to have to come home from their mission early. All foreign missionaries that can get out of the country that they are in are being sent home. Some European countries are already closed, so the missionaries will be remaining there for now. As more countries are starting to close their borders to protect against the coronavirus, the church is worried that missionaries will be trapped and not be able to return home. Mom and Dad were devastated to learn of the news from their Mission President. All along they have wanted to stay and finish what they started. Their mission has been hard and a growing experience for them, but I truly feel like they have loved their time in Australia. Giving it all up was sad. They have plane tickets to come home on the 1st of April.
Another depressing thing is that Tom and Eryn’s wedding will not be able to take place as planned. They were planning to get married on April 11th in the Meridian temple, but this week the Church announced that all temples are closed until further notice. They are sad, but they are trying to stay optimistic. Right now, they are right in the middle of making new plans and trying to figure things out. We were planning to go to Idaho to celebrate with them, but now everything is up in the air. With “Stay at Home” order in place, it looks like we won’t be able to go up even if it does happen.
Everything has just been hard. We are getting through it, but emotions are high, and all of us are feeling the stress. By Thursday, I was feeling really down. I could tell I was depressed when I didn’t even get dressed that day. It was amazing how fast it struck. We had gone nowhere and seen no one for almost 3 straight weeks. I realized how much I need human interaction, and I missed my friends at singing group, exercise class, and church.
Jonathon has been teaching his class on Zoom because most of the students went home, but he has been busier than ever. There have been nights this week that he didn’t come home until near 7. That has made it extra hard. He recognized that I was having a hard time, so he tried really hard to help around the house, make dinner, etc. I appreciated it, but I was just feeling gloomy. Andrew was also having a really hard time. He was very melancholy and struggling too.
On Friday night, Kym called. She asked how we would feel if we got together again. Technically, group gatherings were supposed to be limited to immediate family members only, but both of our families had been isolated for 2+ weeks and were in desperate need of a diversion. We decided that we could quarantine together for a few days.
They came up on Saturday, and we played together all day. The kids played outside and got to make tie-dye t-shirts, which they were very excited about. On Sunday, we had our home church together again. Everybody participated in the program. We officially got permission from the Bishop to do the Sacrament in our homes two weeks ago, so Jonathon got to do it this time.
When they left on Sunday afternoon, I felt rejuvenated and ready to try again. I’m grateful for family and for friends. When this is all over, I will probably cry when I get to be with all the people I love again. The pandemic makes a person understand what is really important.
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