Summer "Schedule"

Now that we are into summer with no structure of school, and yet work for both Dave and me is still steady, I wanted to make sure the kids weren't just watching screens all day.  So I put together a sort of task list for E to complete (and he usually has Q follow him around doing many of the same things) before he is allowed to play video games.  It doesn't matter what order they are done, as long as they are completed.  We have a chart on the wall to check them off.  It's not fancy but it helps.

 This is our first week trying it and for the first three days it has been pretty successful.  Once he completes these things, they can watch TV or play games on the iPad. But they can't play for the rest of the day, just for a bit before Dave or I can take a break to take them to do something outside.  

So here is what E (and sort of Q) have to do before video games/Netflix:

All of these:

Make bed

Get dressed

Tidy room

Brush teeth

Eat breakfast

Put breakfast dishes away

One from each category:

Physical Activity - examples:

Bike (E can ride his bike around the block by himself)

Walk/Hike

Run

Soccer

Golf/Driving Range

Catch

Education - examples

Math (IXL app)

Reading (Raz Kids app, French and English, or a real book)

Write in journal

Science (like trying an experiment)

Geography (my vision is that he will choose a place and do a bit of research on it, well see)

Chores - examples

Clean bathroom (he did the upstairs bathroom on Monday and the downstairs one on Tuesday and had lots of help from Q)

Empty dishwasher

Wipe chairs

Sweep

Laundry

Plan a meal

Tidy yard

(On Wednesday he brought the garbage bins back to the house, not an intensive chore but I said it counted)

Art - examples

Paint

Draw

Collage

Sculpture

Music games

On the first day they both drew murals on being pieces of paper.

E drew a "spider sun" and a big elephant.

On Wednesday, my mom painted a picture with E via FaceTime.  He really enjoyed this, and so did Mom!

The thing about E is that he is often reluctant to do something and drags his feet but then when he's doing whatever it is, he's having a great time and really enjoys himself.  I have to remind him of this often.

I do find the kids are much better behaved if the screen time has been limited.  I think it really does drain them and causes more crankiness. When we went camping there was no iPad or Netflix the whole weekend, then as soon as got home, we let them watch TV while we unpacked the car, and then it was a fight to turn it off when it was time for bed.  As much as the screens are saviours for keeping them entertained for awhile, they do seem to be the common denominator for arguments. 

E came over while I as writing this and asked me to mention that there are no chores on Saturday and Sunday!  So yes, that's correct :)

We have never been good at keeping up a routine for long, but we only need to get through this week and half of next week and then we are on vacation. I think we can manage for a total of 8 days.

Weekend Recap

It was a hot and humid weekend (with some rain) but it was lots of fun.  We actually learned how to properly direct our air conditioner down the stairs, and then blow it out into the main floor with a fan (thanks to some collective neighbourhood wisdom) so it was actually bearable in our house.

E attended a birthday party at a neighbour's house on Friday night.  They played at the school and then came back for pizza and cake. 

Q even got in on the action for cake.

E was supposed to stay and watch a movie outside but there was a threat of thunder showers so the parents sent everyone home. So E came home and watched Greyhound (the new Tom Hanks WWII movie) with us.

The weather was rainy on Saturday, and we spent the morning tracking the store so we could find a window to go for a bike ride.  We found one around noon.  Since it had been raining all morning we started out our ride with (the closed to traffic) Lakeshore to ourselves. 

Cliff and Carol, Dave's parents

We rode down to Ontario Place and back.

We got home before the rain started again, and watched a couple of movies.  Then Dave got to making the pizza dough, one for each person, for a Saturday pizza night.

All of us telling Cliff how to assemble his pizza.

Good as always.

We had a fairly early night since everyone was tired out from the bike ride. 

I got up bright and early on Sunday to do a workout outside.

Dave's parents left mid-morning and then we all went up to Centennial Park for an afternoon of golf activities.  Dave and E played nine holes (E's first actual round of golf) and Q and I played mini-putt and hit some balls at the range. 

Just as we finished our bucket, Dave and E were on the 8th hole so we watched them finish 9 and we all went home.  I went to the grocery store for a couple of things and then we had macaroni and cheese for supper.  

Not Just a Mom Link Up

Today's topic for the Not Just a Mom link up is "girl time".

I get most of my girl time from my workout classes.  There are a few people that I know from other places, ones that I have gotten to know through attending the classes, and some I don't know at all but can still chat with before and after a class.  Now of course there have been no in studio classes for several months, but I have still enjoyed connecting through Zoom, and now on Thursday mornings we do an outdoor HIIT and run and we get to see each other in person finally.  This Covid-19 time has really highlighted those simple pleasures that we once took for granted, like seeing our friends in person instead of through a screen.

My neighbourhood also has a lovely group of ladies and we were setting up monthly drink nights so we could spend some concentrated time together rather than just saying hello from our yards, or chasing kids around.  But of course that has been stopped as well.  Hopefully soon we can set this up again, even if it's a BYOB to someone's yard sans kids and spouses.  I should set this up...

I have a few good friends that I can meet up with for lunch on occasion which is always nice, and I try to get away for a girl's trip once a year or so.  I've gone to Vegas, New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. 

Other than that my "girl time" is few and far between - I live in a house full of boys, and work in an office full of men - so I'll take what I can get when I can get it :)

Linking up with Sarita and Lauren.

Friday Favourites

A few favourites from my week.  

Mandatory mask wearing in Toronto started this week.  We were already doing that but now I'm glad everyone has to.

Dave and I had most of the week to ourselves while the kids were away.  On Tuesday night we biked downtown after work.  Our plan was to hang out at the Stackt Market on Bathurst, but mostly everything was closed (which is what happened to me the last time I went there with the kids, two strikes Stackt Market!).  But we did get a beer on the Belgian Moon Brewery's spacious patio.  Then we ordered some food from Porchetta on King West and ate it in the park.  This was fun and I think we will take the kids with us next week and do the same.

On Wednesday afternoon (after the big storm!) we were able to get out golfing at Royal Woodbine.   It was just a little wet in spots but a beautiful day.

Our kids got home on Thursday afternoon with Dave's parents, who will spend the weekend with us.  Despite the heat, I started a fire and we made some popcorn. 

Happy Friday!

Linking up with Andrea and Erika.

Book Review

Hey! I actually read some books last month!

The Farm by Joanne Ramos

This was my 2020 Reading List. This book was basically about a business that has been set up to host and pay surrogate mothers for wealthy clients.  The clients either cannot have children themselves or are too busy to actually be pregnant.  The surrogates are impregnated and then they stay at "The Farm" during the pregnancy and for a brief recovery period after giving birth.  They are paid well.

This book had elements of The Handmaid's Tale where the 'hosts' were supposed to behave a certain way and not discuss controversial topics (like what happens if a baby tests for Down's Syndrome and the parents decide to abort).  It also reminded me of the series we just watched on Apple TV called Homecoming where soldiers returning from a tour of duty were housed in a facility with the apparent intention of getting them ready to reintroduce them to civilian life but you knew something sinister was going on.  And maybe it wasn't even sinister but you felt like there was more to the story than what was being told to you.  I think here it was really just a business to make money at all costs, even if it meant people weren't treated the most fairly.

The book also raised issues of class, and immigrant communities that come to North America (in the book it was the US, but we have lots of immigrants in Canada too of course) and the lives they live and the desperate measures they take to make money to support themselves and send home, and the sacrifices they make to ensure they aren't deported.  As I've talked about lots of times when I write about books, these are worlds that I sort of know exist, but yet I have no idea what people's lives are really like, and at least this books give me a glimpse into it.

I thought the book ended rather abruptly and I wanted to know more about what happened between the end and the epilogue, as well as getting more details about the other characters.  I felt like the actual climax of the book was glossed over and we went straight into what was going on years later.  But all in all a good read and one I would recommend.

Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave 

I was kind of over World War II novel for awhile, I felt like I had read enough of those for awhile but this is what came in for my library holds so I dove in.  It is set in London. This book follows Mary, 18 when the war starts, who is from a well-off family and volunteers at the War Office on the day war is declared.  She starts dating Tom who remains in London during the war as a civilian as his job is deemed too important to remove him from.  We also meet and follow Tom's friend Alastair who signs up right away and serves in France until the Dunkirk evacuation and then in Malta.

It took me awhile to get into the book since things seemed to moving so slowing and it jumped ahead months at a time, and then the Blitz starts.  I realized halfway through that the book was doing a good job of being tedious as I imagine those first years of the war were if you were in London.  The war was just across the Channel and nothing was really happening at home but something was happening "over there".  Then when the Blitz started it was first a series of drills and then actual bombings that would have been such a heavy and difficult time, while the Brits had to keep calm and carry on.  Then we learn about Alastair's time in Malta where the time dragged on there as well, it seemed so difficult and yet people had no choice in the matter.

It was not the best WWII novel I've read, but it was still pretty good, and I enjoyed the author's notes about how his real life relative inspired some of the plot.

Weekend Recap

What does one do when their children are out of town?  We can't go out to eat (I'm still not keen on dining in at restaurants) or hit up a Blue Jays game, but we found lots of things to do.  

On Thursday night I did yoga outside.  It was about 30 degrees and humid so it was sort of like doing hot yoga.  I laid down for savasanah and this beautiful light was above me so I kept my eyes open.

I got lots of work done on Friday and took a quick walk up the street to get a few groceries. Dave and I had sausages and coleslaw for supper and then rode our bikes to visit our friends and enjoy a few drinks in their yard.

On Saturday morning we went golfing at Humber Valley.  It was so nice to be out and the weather was exquisite.  I played pretty well myself, with just two bad holes, so I scored a 94. 

We picked up some Jamaican food for our lunch on the way home and then I napped for the rest of the day!! And Dave watched movies.  Luxury. 

We checked in with the boys via FaceTime.  They had spent the day at the beach and yacht club and were going to sleep on the sailboat.

On Sunday morning I went for a run.

Then we went on a long bike ride. 

Check out the Halifax/Dartmouth ferry in Toronto for some reason!

We biked to the end of the Leslie Street Spit, in Tommy Thompson Park.  It is another world over there, it goes on forever and there are so many birds and little trails to explore (although we just biked).  There is a lighthouse at the end too. Round trip from our house to the end of the Spit was 44 km, by far the longest bike ride I've ever gone on.

This is the end.

Then we stopped in at Cherry Street BBQ (which was really my whole goal anyway!) to grab some take out for our lunch. 

Clockwise from top - home fries, ribs, mac and cheese, brisket sandwich.  

Another quick nap for me when we got home, then steak for supper, and lots of reading.  We miss the kids of course, but it is a nice break, particularly after having such concentrated time with everyone since March 13.