King's Day and Week 7 of Social Distancing

7 weeks down. Many highs and many lows.

The week was off to a good start with another sunny Sunday. Weekends and holidays have deteriorated into the kids watching TV from wake-up to lunch while the grownups sleep and relax. No one is complaining (until the TV gets turned off!). We motivated in the afternoon and biked to the bos, Jude included. Trying to get in the 120 minutes of outdoor/nature time per week that is recommended for mental health.

On our way into the bos, we ran into three of the kids past and current teachers. They were coming back from filming a little play for the kids at-home learning (the dedication is so appreciated!). Maeve and her teacher were both over the moon to see each other. I was made to back away from my bike so her teacher could come give her a hug (kids under 12 are exempt from social distancing). Then Maeve wouldn't stop telling them stories. Any time I tried to get a word in, she would snap, "no, I'm talking!" She has clearly been deprived of some outside of the family social interaction!

Lilac tree is in full bloom. Smells amazing.

For a few weeks now, Pete has been having social distancing hangouts with his band in the bos. That night, he returned for their first time playing music. This kind of normalcy (Pete goes out to play music with friends, I stay home and binge shows he doesn't want to watch) has been really good for us. 

Monday was King's Day, the National Holiday celebrating the King's birthday. It is supposed to look like the photo below and it was a beautiful, sunny day for it (the warmest since we've been here ironically). But it was not to be. In Dutch, it is "Koningsdag" so the national slogan of the day was changed to "Woningsdag" (Woning is Home). We tuned in to listen to the King's Speech from his home (not a shabby place to quarantine!).

We were all excited for the day, a change to the routine and an excuse to day drink. The morning and early afternoon were spent hanging out, playing games in the tent and dancing along to "Balkoningsdag" live streamed DJ event.

  

In the afternoon, we biked into the city to join Pete's coworkers from a distance near their boat. Jude's first time biking all the way into the city! I remembered our first King's Day when we had our first bike "accident." Pete and I were biking home with Jude in the baby seat on my bike. The streets were pedestrian only for the holiday, until they were not. Braking quickly to avoid traffic, I ran into the back of Pete's bike and smacked my mouth on Jude's seat. Thankfully we were all ok, but I carry that memory with me now that Jude is on his own biking.

The kids spent a solid hour hanging out on the boat with one of their babysitters (daughter of co-workers) and it was so nice! I snuck away for a bit to pick up another expat store order from a friend and it was so nice to see her, too!

I placed a massive tulip order, which arrived on Tuesday. 200 seemed excessive, but for the price of 25 cents per stem and the opportunity to help out the tulip industry, which is suffering mightily (like so many others), I couldn't resist. I found a home for 110 in our vases and bundled up the remaining 90 to give to neighbors. The kids and I walked around our block the next afternoon and loved spreading cheer and seeing the smiling faces of our neighbors. 

Some at home learning for the week.

We knew the sun couldn't last and it felt like we were back to reality. We get through the work we need to do with the kids, but I am otherwise pretty checked out. I lost my stamina for creating activities and experiences for the kids, but I'm not getting down on myself about it. Mentality is still Survival Mode. 

We waited all week for the much anticipated announcement from the school about their plans to reopen. The news came at 6pm Friday night. ISA will open next week for nursery-5th grade. So many emotions finding that out. Of course excitement, relief, and happiness (for us and the kids), but also a good dose of doubt and guilt. I'm not currently working so our kids don't need to go back. So sending them back seems selfish as the risks for kids is still being investigated. I also feel guilty that this is our reality while so many friends back home have had their kids' schools cancelled for the rest of the school year, while holding down two work-from-home jobs. If the situation was reversed, I would feel so let down and disappointed. 

We've only just learned the details of the re-opening today: Jude will start next Wednesday and Maeve will start next Thursday (one more week, one more week, one more week) and both kids will go 4 hours a day from around 9:15-1:15. This is more time in school than any other public of private school we've heard about in the NL (most are having kids go to school 2 full days a week or every day for 3 hours). We've read through the extensive plans created by the school with their crisis management team and have faith that the school will do everything in their power to keep the students and teachers safe. We realize that sending the kids back is basically an experiment; how will this impact the spread of the virus?, but we also realize that we can't stop life until a vaccine is created and we have to restart society somewhere. Only time will tell which country's approach is best, but for now, we celebrate that we have made it 7 weeks home with our kids, without a break (minus the 1 hour on King's Day). Proost!