Category Archives: Screen time

blessings, Family matters, Screen time

A rough morning; a better evening

Today got off to a really nice start, when Pete told me he’d bought Poppy and me the new “Animal Crossing” with his own money. I played it for awhile, and it was great, but then I got really overwhelmed trying to plan our dinners for next week, and then I had a little cry when a grocery order I’d placed was canceled for mysterious reasons.

Part of my mood today can probably be attributed to hormones, but I think some of it is that I haven’t really given myself a daily schedule. Rockford and the kids have pretty much settled into a routine with work and school, but I feel like I’m spending a lot of my time spinning my wheels.

Two things I have been doing more-or-less consistently: Jotting down a few thoughts every day, and doing daily Spanish lessons on Duolingo. I’m on a 95-day streak there.

Virtual school days

I helped Pete figure out how to get the website his band director was using to work, but otherwise the kids just did their assignments with no input from me.

Entertainment

I’m so glad some of the movie companies had the same idea I did last week and started releasing new movies on streaming services. Last night we rented Pixar’s “Onward,” and to make it feel more like a trip to the movies we recorded our own extremely ridiculous pre-movie commercials and infotainment. Poppy popped some popcorn, and she even made Pete a slush. The movie was sweet and funny, too.

After “Onward,” Rockford and I tuned in to Instagram for a live broadcast Jeff Tweedy’s wife Sue did from their living room. It was a little chaotic, with Jeff appearing in his pajamas and laying down in protest when he wanted to be done. It was delightful and weird, and I hope they do another one. It was a cheerful cap to a rough day.

Quarantine eats

Frozen pizza to the rescue! I had a vegan Amy’s in the pizza, and we had a cauliflower-crust one for my father-in-law.

Good things

  • Generous Pete and a fun video game.
  • Making our own pre-show entertainment and then watching “Onward.”
  • Tweedys on instagram
    • blessings, Current events, Homeschool, Reading, Screen time

    Out and about but only virtually

    Virtual school days

    We took a virtual tour of several museums in a Google Expeditions lesson about the Impressionists. We only have one VR viewer, which came with our MEL Science kit, so we had to share. It was a lot of fun, and there are a ton of other Expedition “tours.” Poppy said it was nice to feel a little bit like she was somewhere in the outside world for a minute, which was a little bit funny and a little bit sad. What strange days we’re living in!

    We had a return to our long-lost 30 Minutes of Free Reading, and it was a delight. Pete started reading “Something Wicked This Way Comes,” and Poppy picked up “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” for a re-read. I’m working through a young adult biography of Vincent Van Gogh and his brother — aptly titled “Vincent and Theo” — as part of the Read Harder 2020 Challenge.

    The kids’ schools start their “Virtual Days” tomorrow,” so they’ll be occupied with that from here on out. I’m hoping to keep our reading time in the schedule, though.

    That’s entertainment

    Poppy spent a good bit of time playing Minecraft with a friend, and Pete started making a movie. I don’t know what it was about, but he hauled a lot of NERF stuff out with him. We also watched an episode (or two) of “The Good Place.” I loved it the first time I watched the show, and it’s more poignant watching it this time around. It’s also the first time Poppy and Rockford have seen it, and hearing their reactions has been fun.

    Quarantine eats

    Dinner tonight was Thai Peanut Chicken from the crockpot. It was pretty good.

    Good things

  • Stumbling around Pete’s room on our museum field trip
  • The weeping cherry tree near our house
  • Reading time
    • National Blog Posting Month, Screen time

    Take your young people to see “JoJo Rabbit.”

    I wasn’t sure about Taika Waititi’s new movie, “JoJo Rabbit,” when I first read the premise. It’s about a 10-year-old German boy during World War II who aspires to be a Nazi. And Hitler is his imaginary friend. But I love Taika’s work and my fave Sam Rockwell is in it, so I knew I’d go see it.

    It’s PG-13, but I debated whether or not to take the kids because of the subject matter. We decided to go after talking to someone I trusted who’d already seen it, and I’m so glad we did. It was a great entry point to talk to the kids some more about dangerous ideologies and what to watch out for in their online communities.

    It was also hilarious and heart-wrenching, which is not something I ever thought I’d think about a movie about Nazis.