On an average day, my daughter’s question-to-declarative sentence ratio clocks in at a healthy 5:1. In this section of the blog, I explore what happens when instead of just saying “I don’t know,” I try saying “Let’s find out!”
There are a ton of handmade mask patterns out there. Luckily my habit of starting and abandoning various crafting projects has left me with a generous supply of quilting fabric, bias tape, elastic, thread, bandanas, old t-shirts, and flannel lying around the house. So I decided to put those raw materials to work by making and reviewing 6 so-called “easy” cloth face mask patterns.
It’s been 33 days since we began sheltering in place. I suppose I should be using this time to write the next great American novel or taking my daughter’s education to the next level. Instead, I’m leaning into the idea that now is a great time to teach The 13-Year-Old some life skills, like how to manager her own schoolwork, clean her own bathroom, wash her own clothes, and regularly vacuum the chair(s) she likes to snack in.
We’ve been home for a while, and I’m starting to think about how Caterpickles can be helpful in this time.
We are on Day 14 of The Howells All Being Home At Once. I hope you and your family are still doing as well as can be expected. Here, we’ve been reading stories about tech companies donating thousands and in some cases millions of N95 masks, and found ourselves wondering … Why do Silicon Valley companies have such large stockpiles of N95 masks anyway?
We are on Day 8 of The Howells All Being Home At Once, and Day 4 of Santa Clara County Residents All Huddled Up Together in Their Separate Spaces. Today’s installment includes a warning about a new financial scam, a follow-up to a previous pandemic project, and other notes from our attempt to shelter in place. Stay safe out there, y’all.
We are on Day Seven of The Howells All Being Home At Once, and Day Three of Santa Clara County Residents All Huddled Up Together in Their Separate Spaces. Today’s installment includes what I’ve learned about accessing veterinary care for our cat, our current pandemic project, and other notes from our attempt to shelter in place.
We are on Day Six of The Howells All Being Home At Once, and Day Two of Santa Clara County Residents All Huddled Up Together in Their Separate Spaces. Today’s installment includes our revised education plan, Tuesday’s pandemic project, and other tidbits from our attempt to shelter in place.
We are on Day Five of The Howells All Being Home At Once, and things are going about as well as can be expected, to borrow one of my husband’s more useful phrases. Today’s installment includes lessons in homeschooling by the under-equipped and other tidbits from our attempt to shelter in place.
The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that as of midnight tonight, a shelter-in-place order will be in effect for six Bay Area counties, including San Francisco, Santa Clara (where we are), San Mateo, Marin, Contra Costa and Alameda. Why the new restrictions, and what’s it like to live with them so far?
I’ve spent a lot of time over the past few days on the phone with various parents trying to figure out what a reasonable plan for my daughter’s education during our area’s COVID-19 outbreak might look like. I’ve also spent several hours scanning the web to see what our online options are. Here’s what I think we might do.
