The Mrs. Yoy Blog: The Quarantine Coronacles

This week is Red Ribbon Week at school.  What is Red Ribbon Week I hear all of you wondering? It's a national campaign to raise awareness of the death and destruction caused by drugs in our country.  They are keeping things light and care-free for my four and five year-old. I suppose it is never too early to learn about the dangers of drugs, but I'm not sure if my kids even understand what all this means, except they get to dress up in a different theme for each day of the week. Neither Yoy has asked me any drug related questions, but I have my speech all prepared, especially the ending. ...WINE IS TECHNICALLY A DRUG, BUT IT IS LEGAL AND YOU GUYS ARE RELENTLESS.  THE END. Fast forward to bath time this evening, I asked Big E to strip down and hop in the bath so he could get clean. CLEAN FROM DRUGS? I'm sure my eyes bulged out of my head.  I guess he WAS listening to his teacher. UM NO, CLEAN FROM BOOGERS, CANDY, AND DIRT.  THANKS. On a side note, better

Today I chaperoned Big E's class, who along with the four other K classes, went to the High Museum of Art. The kids were super amped to head off campus. We were assigned a docent upon arrival.  She was super southern.  Her name was Anna.  Like the girl from Frozen.  So immediately everyone had to tell her she had the same name as the Disney movie character.  She was neither amused nor excited about this nugget. Then she laid down the rules: 1) No Running 2) Inside Voices 3) Keep an adult arm's length away from every painting, sculpture, and other unidentifiable object in the museum. 4) No Food or Drinks It was like a torture chamber for kindergarteners. Note to self, don't volunteer to chaperone the next trip to the art museum.  Pick somewhere indestructible, like the aquarium. Or Stonehenge.   I glanced over at Big E's teacher.  This was going to be interesting.  Luckily, we only had nine children between the two of us, even if seven of t

We are deep into the 2014-15 school year.  The boys have adjusted well to the routine, including riding the school bus.  This morning we had our first rainy bus stop wait of the school year. I dressed the boys in their matching green rain coats.  Little E gave me some push back.  He wanted to wear a Thomas rain coat a friend had given us.  The problem is, Little E needs to grow about a foot before it actually fits him. Big E has a little umbrella that came with his rain boots.  Otherwise, he would not have one.  I grew up in Florida.  It rained pretty much all the time.  Even when it wasn't raining, it was so humid that there was always a layer of moisture coating my skin. Little E does not have an umbrella.  This is an integral fact in this story.  I brought my giant red umbrella to the bus stop for us to share. This was not acceptable to Little E.  He began to whine and cry. I WANT MY OWN UMBRELLA! He wanted me to leave them alone at the bus stop and run to Target and

Today is Day 5 (and the final day) of Fall Break. What is Fall Break you may wonder? It's some bullsh*t break invented by the Atlanta Public School system.  My out-of-town friends and family couldn't believe that the boys went back to school in early August.  But they also don't have Fall Break.  Mostly because they reside in South Florida and don't have things like seasons. My mom flew up on Thursday to help out with the Yoys.  Today we took them to the mall to kill some time before we had to drop Grandma off at the airport. (tears) We spent three hours bumming around.  After lunch we decided to leave. Big E had been nursing a Starbucks water for a few hours.  He dropped the straw on the food court floor and went to use it.  With all the nasty things going around, I asked him not to put it back in his cup and we got him a new straw. Big E began whining about which escalator we were going to take to get down to the bottom floor.  Proof that our mall time had

Wednesday evening found us on the banks of the Chattahoochee. We were meeting some of our friends to participate in Tashlikh in conjunction with the Jewish New Year. In summary, you throw bread crumbs into the water to cast off your sins from the last year and start this year anew. As we drove to the river I laid the ground rules for the Yoys.  Really there was just one rule: WE ARE THROWING BREAD CRUMBS INTO THE CHATTAHOOCHEE, NOT OUR BODIES. There are many things in the river that you don't want to come into contact with: 1) Trash 2) Pollutants 3) Chemicals 4) Dead Bodies 5) Mutant Fish Initially, the boys and their buddies obeyed. They threw rocks and sticks into the river.  It was very A River Runs Through It. The sun was setting and the light glistening off the river waters was lovely.  I was amazed at the beauty we found in the middle of the bustling city. Fingers and toes began to creep closer to the water.  A shoe. Then another shoe. Then shoes were