danvers
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Post by danvers on Oct 24, 2020 12:40:06 GMT -6
It is fall break.... finally! All elementary students are now in person with no optional for virtual learning which is nice from a teaching standpoint and terrible for parents who should be given a choice that is the best and safest for their family. Cases continue to rise rapidly but unless the health dept. shuts us down we won’t close (per the superintendent) so Fall Break came at the perfect time!
I took the girls up to my parents for a long weekend. We went to a pumpkin patch today that has fantastic social distancing polices in place. Masks mandated, lots of cleaning everywhere, temp check at entry, limited timed entry... I’m sure the place took a big $$ hit with all of this but I so appreciate their willingness to do the right thing when other outdoor patches are still just a free for all.
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Post by CoachTsWife on Oct 24, 2020 13:04:11 GMT -6
duskymonkey DS2 is doing ok at daycare. He still cries the saddest little cry at dropoff, but she tells me he settles down within a couple minutes. And in the pictures and videos she posts in the private daycare Facebook group, he looks to be interacting more and happy. It's still worrisome at times because he gets SO excited when the weekend arrives and it's a "stay home day", as he calls it. And he gets worried at bedtime when the next day is not a stay home day. It seems to be the initial separation that causes the issues and after that is over he's ok.
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Taitai
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Post by Taitai on Oct 28, 2020 8:18:35 GMT -6
danvers That’s great you were able to hit up a pumpkin patch that had a solid social distancing plan! I miss fall activities so much living over here - especially the thought of taking my boys to a pumpkin patch for hay rides, apple cider, and pumpkin picking! Maybe sometime in the future. Hope you had a great fall break with the girls. CoachTsWife I’m sorry to hear that your little one is still missing his brother at daycare. Hopefully it will continue to gradually improve - will they be going to the same school next year or two? I’m sure that will help too. As for us - we watched It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown tonight with the boys. They thought Snoopy was so funny, although I kind of forget how verbally abusive some of those characters are to poor Charlie Brown. Eeeeek. We’re having our annual Halloween party over here - only like 4 cases of local transmission the past 4 or 5 months, so trick or treating and parties/events are still happening - everyone wears masks and nobody goes out if they are sick, which is nice. We decorated our home with lots of spooky stuff, and I’m looking forward to having the kids and their friends all dressed up over here on Saturday!
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Post by CoachTsWife on Oct 29, 2020 9:41:09 GMT -6
Taitai that transmission rate is unbelievable. Sounds like a dream, tbh. Our boys won't be in the same school until DS2 goes to Kindergarten. I honestly don't know if DS2 misses DS1 not being there or if he wants to be home with me. He tells me he wants to stay home with me, but it is probably both.
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Post by CoachTsWife on Oct 29, 2020 10:29:40 GMT -6
My mom has been having back trouble for years and she had back surgery on Tuesday. So I've taken off more work this week to be with her at the hospital. My sister and brother live in the same town as my Mom, so when she goes home they will carry the brunt of caring for her. Since she had surgery in the metro area where I live I'm trying to be the main one who helps take care of her while she's in the hospital. She had a blood clot form in her back where all the work was done and the clot was/is pressing on nerves and causing nerve pain down her legs. We're sitting tight for now hoping the clot dissolves on its own, but it is sort of scary.
Luckily the hospital FIL was in and the one my mom is in are both covid-free, but I still worry about all of the exposure I've had. I was at the hospital with MIL a LOT and I'm the primary one with mom, but I just don't know what else to do. I obviously have no regrets about spending that time with FIL and I cannot leave Mom, she couldn't even feed herself yesterday. I'll just keep praying everyone stays safe and healthy!
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Post by August Blooms on Oct 30, 2020 6:56:31 GMT -6
CoachTsWife So sorry for your family’s loss. Sounds like a lot to deal with over the past few weeks. I hope your moms gets well quickly and can go home soon. It must be a little bit of a relief to know that the hospital is low risk for Covid.
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Post by August Blooms on Oct 30, 2020 7:09:50 GMT -6
Taitai I’m catching up on all of your travels, it must be nice to be able to get away and not have as much of a fear of Covid hanging over everything. I hope you are enjoying every second of it! We are heading into winter so I am jealous of the nice temperatures you are experiencing, even if it’s cold for your kids. duskymonkey I’m just catching up on this thread. How scary! I’m assuming everything has settled down and they have been able to get some of the fires contained?
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Post by August Blooms on Oct 30, 2020 7:12:17 GMT -6
What is everyone doing for Halloween? I have a street with a lot of young family’s so one of my neighbors via our street Facebook group organized a parade for all the kids. The parents had to drop off candy and she organized it into bags for the kids. Trick or treating is ok here although in our neighboring areas it’s not allowed due to the large amount of Covid cases. My kids are excited!
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Post by duskymonkey on Oct 31, 2020 23:13:44 GMT -6
Happy Halloween everyone! Only in 2020 Halloween has to be on a weekend and the weather was actually perfect. Sky is finally clear enough to see stars and we aren't smelling smoke. The 2 fire beasts are still burning; just wild. We did get several inches of snow on last Sunday, it was dry and about a foot where the fires were and stopped it from spreading rapidly. That helped the FF crews to regroup. They still have a ways to go to contain both. As if it wasn't challenging enough, they now have to deal with freezing hoses, and temps, slick and icy conditions. These guys, cant catch a break. I was kinda down the last week with eveyrhign going on and wasn't in the mood to think about Halloween but the kids were excited and wanted costumes eventhough no ToT for us so I went to town this week and made them costumes - Covid style! We did a Halloween walk around the hood instead and did go to a few houses I know who have been safe. I called and asked ahead if it was ok and they were thrilled. They also ate so much candy ( most in 1 sitting so that may not sound like much ) and had juice watched Charlie Brown too! Taitai after our walk. Yes, Lucy is mean to CB.  |
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Post by duskymonkey on Oct 31, 2020 23:52:18 GMT -6
CoachTsWife, Gosh, you just can't catch a break. i hope your mom's recovery will be uneventful. Will be thinking of her and your family. Honestly I think hospitals have safety protocols in place and strict about them. When we went to the clinic a few weeks ago with the boys, I actually felt pretty safe there.
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Post by duskymonkey on Nov 1, 2020 0:07:33 GMT -6
Taitai, that's just wild that you're able to have a normal life and I am so happy. This shows that it's possible to contain the pandemic if the general population adheres to public health regulations. I read an article about how Thailand is beating the odds. It's pretty obvious to the rest of the world how mismanaged it has been here yet oblivious to a great many. Cases in our state now has sky rocketed and we're back to where we started, I am glad we decided to just virtual school DS.
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Taitai
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Post by Taitai on Nov 1, 2020 0:19:45 GMT -6
duskymonkey Omg - the boys’ costumes look GREAT!!! I love them so much! And you are so thoughtful & creative to incorporate masks into them. A+ for Dusky!!! I am glad to hear they had a good time, and that’s awesome you were able to visit a few houses/get out a bit. Still hoping for those fires to get contained soon! August Blooms A costume parade and organized/consolidated treat bags is also such a fun idea. People are really getting creative this time around. I hope your girls enjoyed showing off their costumes and that they were able to eat some candy 😊 CoachTsWife I’m so sorry to hear about your mom being in the hospital, on top of everything that you’ve been through. I hope things improve and that you stay healthy - your family has been through so much. You are a good daughter and are doing the right thing to be there for her. Hugs 🤗
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Taitai
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Post by Taitai on Nov 1, 2020 0:27:56 GMT -6
Another successful Halloween out here. Our party somehow expanded to 19 kids and 22 adults, so we had like 40+ people at our place for a while. It was a ton of fun, we had lots of decorations, tasty food, and ghoulish punch (spiked for the adults). The trick or treat was great as well - all of the kids got SO MUCH candy. We still had Halloween candy left over from last year, and I don’t know what I’m going to do with everything this time around. I think I’ll donate most of it to these neighborhood pantry things we have set up in the city. I normal do rice, fresh fruit and veggies, but I am sure someone will take the candy too!
It’s weird seeing how things over here are so “normal,” compared when I talk to you all, my sister and other families back in the USA about their Halloween experiences this year. We’re very thankful that everyone here wears masks and takes COVID seriously, which has led us to a situation where we hardly have any local transmission at all. It’s a bittersweet feeling though, because I love Halloween and it makes me sad to think of all the kids stateside who can’t celebrate how they’d like to this year. Sigh.
Hope all the O17ers were able to enjoy Halloween as best as you can, in your own special way. Happy Halloween!! 🎃👻🎃
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Taitai
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Post by Taitai on Nov 1, 2020 0:33:49 GMT -6
Taitai, that's just wild that you're able to have a normal life and I am so happy. This shows that it's possible to contain the pandemic if the general population adheres to public health regulations. I read an article about how Thailand is beating the odds. It's pretty obvious to the rest of the world how mismanaged it has been here yet oblivious to a great many. Cases in our state now has sky rocketed and we're back to where we started, I am glad we decided to just virtual school DS. It really is sad to think of how many countries have just totally blown it. Taiwan, South Korea, and Singapore have also done really good jobs. Thailand’s success I think is largely due to the entire population’s willingness to accept inconvenience and follow an effective lockdown, with gradual easing of controls. It actually worked here. This culture also is very respectful to elder generations, which might also be a reason for why people took it so seriously. When there are so many multi-generational homes and people have a high degree of empathy for elders, I think the younger people do a better job of putting their wants/needs second - for the greater good. It was a pain to lockdown from late March until July/Aug when everything was back open, but I think it was worth it. That, and the strict border/quarantine measures the country has in place. Not sure what the long-term effects on the economy will be, but so far, the country is managing and adapting. |
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danvers
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Post by danvers on Nov 1, 2020 19:33:44 GMT -6
CoachTsWife continued thoughts and prayers for your family duskymonkey those costumes are adorable! You continue to impress me with your creativity time and again! My girls went as Elsa, again, for the 4th year in a row. So we save a bit on costumes but 🤦♀️ Taitai what a wonderful Halloween party it sounds like you all had! So much fun!
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Post by CoachTsWife on Nov 2, 2020 8:32:09 GMT -6
We had a pretty good Halloween. I spent most of the day with Mom at the hospital, then MIL and BIL/SIL/their kids all came over. DH grilled out and we went trick or treating in our neighborhood. Not as many houses were celebrating but lots of people were sitting in their driveways around fire pits with bowls of candy at the end of their driveways which was perfect. The weather was great, so it was a really fun time. We had a pirate and a dinosaur.  |
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