The Mrs. Yoy Blog: The Quarantine Coronacles

March 31st? I'm still not convinced this is a real date, but I'm down for anything at this point. With the forecast of rain looming over us, I got out for a forty minute walk. If you recall, Little E, the keeper of the original schedule, declined to go on this exercise jaunt as he "wasn't wearing any underwear". I guess that's a legit excuse. I was glad I got out into the fresh, pollen-filled air, as the rain started soon after I walked in the door. For no other reason, other than the fact it was raining, Big E grabbed his shoes and went outside to play soccer with the back of my house.  Normally, I wouldn't encourage playing in the rain, but the prospect of being locked inside with him all day, trumped my fear of him catching pneumonia. I opened up the trash to throw out my gum. And there I saw the evidence. The Yoys' breakfast. They ate Fruit by the Foot. Seems like a nutritious way to start a productive day. Sigh. I was already behind the ...

Day 15. Six o'clock already I was just in the middle of a dream... Monday. Manic Monday. But really it could be any day. The Bangles were really on to something. My Manic Monday pendulum swings from grateful that we are healthy and can be together to feeling trapped and worried that things will never be "normal" again. But chin up, I've got some momming and teaching to do. Little E woke up pumped because he was going to have his first zoom call with his entire class. He wore his Rosh Hashanah finest to log on and tell his classmates and teachers all the crazy, weird stuff we've been doing to fill the hours. He's currently on hour four of building some centipede origami thing that technically is an assignment from his Target teacher, but he has done ZERO of his regular classwork in a gold medal procrastination performance. I can't even come at him for not doing his work because he keeps pulling up his teacher's blog and showing me this assignment....

Day 12. I guess it's now the weekend? Does anyone have any big plans? I think we are going to spend 13+ hours/day on our computers, in our daytime jammies, and possibly take a ride in our car to nowhere. It's going to be E-P-I-C. Day 12 of the quarantine was brought to you by pollen, Zoom and the new Netflix series Unorthodox (great book, btw). Maybe my kids did their homework...I just ran out of gas today to care. Right before the weekly finish line. I stumbled and fell.  I had a 1pm Zoom Challah baking call. Up until then, the boys had been pretty chill. No fighting. No talking. I'm not even sure they were breathing, with their faces glued to their screen and all. But as soon as I logged on, you can bet your sweet ass they started a live action version of the Hunger Games, Big E as Katniss and Little E as Foxface. Good thing I was muted. As the dough proofed in the oven, I made it through two episodes of Unorthodox. I'll have lots of...

Day 11. Hey y'all! It's Thursday. You may or may not know this. I took a few deep breaths this morning, and got out of bed with the intention of being a more patient human today. I am proud to admit that Big E and I got into zero fights today. {Virtual High Fives} I took their computers out of hiding and they began their schoolwork. No one complained and the boys even sat far enough apart that they weren't tempted to initiate fight club in between subjects. Little E parked at my feet while I went through our toxic mail. Enjoy these Costco coupons and a potentially deadly virus. I learned a few things today. I learned my kids created a meme of Little E eating Big E's math homework and then sent it to their shared math teacher. This is just a glimpse of their future...sending stupid photos out via e-mail.  I give you, "My Brother Ate My Homework" I learned about my penchant for drama. As I received the news that the boys were definitel...

Day 10. I just got back from my second walk of the day and I'm thankful for the beautiful sunshine. I'm pretending that all this walking will offset the bag of chocolate chips I murdered today. MOM! ARE YOU SERIOUSLY GOING TO FINISH OFF A BAG OF CHOCOLATE CHIPS? - Says the judgy kid who requested a cream cheese and turkey sandwich for lunch.  Today was not my best day. Like Little E who had a bad day last week, I, too, woke up on the wrong side of the quarantine. I was short tempered (which is unlike me) and had already fought with Big E before Mr. Yoy had even left for work. I locked myself in the office to begin the day and cool off. I listened to them fight and get their work done (I think) from the safety of the office. After I had composed myself I went out to check the carnage. Not too bad, I might add. They had done most of their work and were requesting an early lunch (after eating an enormous breakfast). These little guys better be six feet tall by the...

As I write this, Little E is in my office explaining that we aren't spending 24 hours a day together because I don't let him cuddle with me all night. But he just declared I'M GOING TO PULL AN ALL-NIGHTER! I'm not sure what this means exactly, but I think I'm fixin' to jump in my car and do some laps on 285. Alone. Day 9. Threat of another day-long rain scared me enough to get out of bed at 8AM to go for a walk while the boys rode their bikes around. I had to get some energy out of them. It was either this, or install a hamster wheel in the family room. We relocated school up to the playroom for a change of scenery. The floor of my bedroom closet and the bathtub were losing their allure. Big E dove into his mathwork. He asked me to help him with his work. Confidently, I read over the sheet and then read it again. Ummm....I sighed, stood up, and threw my math champ trophy in the garbage. I had been defeated by this volume problem. But I ask you,...

Day eight is brought to you by buckets of nonstop rain and Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, who played a live concert on Facebook tonight, and exponentially increased my mood. Today I wavered between two emotions. 1) I've got this. The email with their assignments comes in the AM. The boys log onto their class blogs and get to work. We are becoming a well-oiled machine. The other end of the spectrum swings to: 2) I will be locked up with these kids forever. We are all trying our best to be patient and kind and understanding, but we are like molecules bouncing off the walls and into each other. (Science requirement = CHECK.) My kids enjoy cooking themselves in front of the fireplace, so this is where I found them doing their work. Well done, indeed! Lunch time came quickly. Today's lunch and learn was brought to you by tortellini pasta and why landlocked countries still have Navies. After watching this captivating video, I can tell you the answer. Because s...

Everybody's working for the weekend, right? Except in our new world, there are no weekends. Every day is the same. Friday. I find myself digging deep for my zen. We had such a good day yesterday and I really thought we were moving in the right direction. But just like the virus that has us all locked away, my kids' behaviors and emotions come in waves. Little E woke up on the wrong side of the quarantine and everything for him has been a struggle today. School work. Life. Meals. The Yoysers are only 20 months apart. This presents some challenges. But the absolute best part of them being one grade apart, is that Big E did all of Little E's work last year. So if Mrs. Yoy can't figure it out (look, it happens...), Big E usually knows how to help. I captured a sweet moment for the boys before things headed South. They wrapped up their assigned work a little before lunchtime. I had a couple of optional assignments for them.  First off, we sorted our Tupp...

Thursday. I've been waiting for this day. The Indigo Girls were planning on doing a Facebook Live concert at 6pm and I was ticking down the minutes. The ladies did NOT disappoint, by the way. And you can ask any of the other 60,000 people watching and singing along. Today started with a little note from Little E's teacher. He had not been completing his assignments (not totally shocking). I told him and this was just the nudge he needed. I guess he didn't realize that she could see his progress. But that little nugget of knowledge lit a fire under his ass and he went straight to work. Our strategy was a bit different today. We all gathered in the office, I worked on some tax returns, and the boys did their homework. And they actually did it without much complaint and by noon, they had knocked out most of their work. I had only yelled at them 21 times so far at that point, and based on my Homeschooling App, I had hit the 21 yells by much earlier in each of the three prec...

Y'all. It's Wednesday. Only Wednesday. But I will say, we are falling into our new routine of utter chaos. I'm going to admit it. I'm trying to maintain some sort of schedule. But I'm terrible at it. Neither child wants to do the same thing during the same period, so I'm basically running around plugging holes on this sinking ship. This morning began with a blowout with Big E. I asked him to join us on our morning walk. WALKING IS BORING! I told him he could run. RUNNING IS BORING! I told him he could ride his bike. BIKING IS BORING! On Tuesday, I let this slide, but then I watched as he stayed indoors and was a complete sloth the whole day. Without my prompting, he would turn to stone. I dug in. IF YOU DON'T GO WITH US, I'M NOT MAKING YOU ANY MEALS TODAY! Little E and I left, and I half expected Big E to join us on our route. But he didn't.  When we returned, Little E asked for a piece of fruit and Big E asked for a bagel. Just l...