Wednesday, January 05, 2022

Currently: January 2022

It's time for the first "Currently" link up of 2022 with Anne at in residence. I love the prompts that Anne picked for us to write about this time because they're very "new year" focused. That was likely intentional :)

[anticipating]

I have to admit, I'm not anticipating much of anything right now :( Our province, Ontario, headed into a "modified Step 2" for Covid restrictions at midnight so, once again, we can't do anything. We can't eat in restaurants, we can't attend church or school or any of the kids' activities in person, our "social gatherings" are limited to 5 people indoors and 10 outdoors. Yeah -- it's super-fun right now. I guess I'm anticipating when this current set of restrictions will end. We've been told it's "time limited" but I'm not holding out much hope...

[organizing]

I made a goal to get our house in order. There's too much stuff. So I've signed up for an internet decluttering challenge, which also has an organizational component. So basically I'm organizing (or will be organizing) EVERYTHING. Nothing is safe. I told the kids what I was doing, because I'll need their help, and they are completely on board with it.

[reading]

I've decided, after some friendly pressure from my Blog Friend's Book Club people (Love you!!!), to try and track my reading on Goodreads this year. Thus far I've read two books and rated two books. I don't want to commit to writing mini reviews here on the blog and on Goodreads so I might just copy and paste the reviews from here to there but I haven't figured that part out yet...

My current read is this one:

Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man

[resolving]

My phone will no longer back up to iCloud so I'm resolving to go through all my photos and get rid of the extraneous ones. Do I really need 17 pictures of Rachel swinging or 32 pictures of a bouquet of flowers or 15 pictures of Sam reading or 12 pictures of my afternoon snack? I don't think so... My goal for January is to delete, delete, delete. I think I'll have to write another post like this one!

[scheduling]

Well, given that we can't really do anything, I'm not scheduling much of anything. And probably won't be for awhile. However, I was so grateful that I was able to schedule boosters for Dave and I, and a second dose for Rachel, for this past weekend. Vaccines are what is going to help get us out of this pandemic and we're thrilled to be able to do our part.


I'm sorry to be such a downer today but honestly, I'm frustrated. Families in our province waited all Winter Break to hear what was happening with schooling for our kids. Last Thursday (December 30th), our Chief Medical Officer of Health told us they were extending the break by two days (from starting back this past Monday to starting back today) but that kids were returning in person. He commented, "Our children have sacrificed enough throughout this pandemic in terms of their mental health and they need to be at school in person." (AMEN!)

Then, this past Monday (January 3rd) our premier announced that kids would be starting back online "until January 17th." Well, as many people have said, "I've seen this movie, I know the ending, and I don't like it." Last year we were told that our kids would be doing online learning for a week after Winter Break and it ended up being five weeks. Then after our delayed Spring Break, we were told our kids were doing online learning for "a few weeks" and our kids didn't return to in person learning for the rest of the year (two and a half months).

All this is to say, I feel a sense of dread as to how long this current "limited time, currently two week period" of remote learning is going to be. As a parent, and as a school secretary, this is really hard. I really hope that by February's "currently" link up, our kids will have been back in school for awhile and some of our current restrictions will be lifted but, once again, we shall see...

20 comments:

  1. I'm so sorry your providence is in lockdown. We SHOULD BE in lockdown, along with everyone else in America, but Americans don't hold to the same logical scientific standards than Canadians do (sigh). I'm sorry its frustrating and I'm sorry it feels like a reoccurring nightmare. On the good side... tell me more about the online decluttering challenge; I'm always up for a good challenge! Welcome to Goodreads; I also just copy and paste my blog reviews onto Goodreads, usually deleting anything personal I have to add (so like a half-review).

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  2. That's an interesting comment from Emily above, she thinks we are doing the right thing, while I look to the States and see them living their best lives and wonder why we can't be doing those things too. Just jealous I guess, but I suppose we are doing something right?! Frustration is my top feeling right now, not understanding. Gearing up for online school this morning and whatever balancing act I can pull off to keep up with my own work. Thoughts and prayers :)

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    1. I get jealous of The States too. It really is such a contrast especially as compared to the first weeks of the pandemic. I really hope as your kids get older that the online learning gets easier, if that's possible. (I guess I'm assuming it was extra-hard last year because Q was pretty young. Maybe that's an incorrect assumption.)

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    2. That is a correct assumption - JK was pretty difficult for Q last year (except for the last part when we had a fabulous supply teacher that changed everything). It's slightly better now but still a struggle for these five year olds.

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    3. Oh, I forgot he was still just SK. I really feel for all the Kindergarten kids (and families) who are trying to do remote learning. I'm glad to hear it's slightly better but it must still be tough.

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  3. I feel like Canada is doing so much more than America...I would not expect any schools here to go virtual at all. And I wonder how that will effect the overall spread here vs there. I hope it ends up opening for you though. I did an online organizing challenge a few years ago and it went great, though I haven't had it in me to do it again. I definitely copy my reviews on Good Reads from my blog and sometimes my blog reviews are from Instagram or vice versa.

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  4. I'm so sorry for all the hard news! The back and forth, the waiting, the changes...all of it can be so taxing, I'm sure! (I don't have kids, obviously, and our parameters are different too, so I know I can't fully understand, but I can imagine the frustration!) I did so dearly love your line about the organization...NOTHING IS SAFE! Yes! I've so been there!!!

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  5. That book looks interesting. I'm going to check out my local library and see if they have it. I'm sorry about all the lockdowns again. It's crazy!!

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  6. I'm so sorry your province is back to lockdowns :-( It is so very frustrating to see how arbitrary and often ridiculous the "rules" are. I know most of the US seems to be open and free compared to most of Canada (all my family lives in Canada) but it still varies so much from state to state. In my state some counties are back to restrictions but others aren't.

    Good luck with the organization challenge - I've done an online challenge in the past and it was very helpful . . . although it sure looks like I need to do it again!

    Visiting from Currently #22

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  7. SO sorry you are frustrated. I am kinda impressed your country is willing to take serious measurs. Not that I want to be locked down again, but yeah...

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  8. It's funny that I disagree 100% with Emily's comment ha. I don't think lockdowns have worked, so I don't see the point in doing them, and I hate them so much for you/your family. I have everything crossed that this will be short-lived. And YAY for Goodreads!!!!

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  9. Forever trapped in this revolving door of hell. I do think the biggest different between us and the US is how our healthcare systems run. Don't even get me started on ours right now...

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  10. Yay for joining Goodreads. I love having it to keep track of everything I read. I have Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man to hopefully read soon.

    Lauren @ www.shootingstarsmag.net

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  11. Sorry to hear you're in lockdown, I hope it won't last too long. I'm with you on having way too many photos on my phone, especially of my kids! Happy New Year!

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  12. I can imagine how frustrated you must be! So many ideas and opinions - even in the comments:) Here's to a healthier year ahead!

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  13. My final thought for Currently was a commentary on how I am sick to death of Covid. It is just exhausting. Looks like my husband may return to telework, and I am anticipating that our school district may return to virtual instruction any moment.
    Glad you guys have your boosters on board. We do, too. And my grands are all vaccinated except the 2 year old and the 2 week old.
    Stay well, my friend.

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  14. Ugh, I'm sorry to hear about the remote learning. I hope next month that is in the past! I also need to sort through pictures on my phone. I hope you have a good weekend!

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  15. I hope everything turns out okay in regards to the school. Online school is rough (for students, teachers and parents). I got my booster in December, which is a great relief. My daughter got COVID in November and it was rough. She didn't get super sick, but she was miserable and had some of the weirder things happen. I didn't get it and neither did my son and we were in very close proximity to her.
    Stay safe and warm.

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  16. A new blog reader (from Nova Scotia) and I had to chime in about Goodreads! I have used it for about 4 years now and love it, but don't actually write reviews (or, for that matter, read reviews on Goodreads). I do rate each book out of 5 stars and then also have a private spreadsheet where I write a sentence or so in terms of a summary of my thoughts on the book. I'm actually blogging about this very topic tomorrow!

    Here in Nova Scotia we're in the middle of online learning, but as of today, the kids are supposed to return to class on Monday. I'm sure hoping, although I have to admit this time with online learning has been a lot better than last year (when my youngest was in Primary - what a gong show FULL of tears).

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  17. I 100% just copy my reviews over to Goodreads!

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Thank you for being interested in my life as I blog it and for leaving a comment. Comments make me happier than reading a good book and drinking a cold Coke. Almost :)