Junk Food

If you have nothing else to do ( what a joke, I could clean until next year and never finish) in such times, your mind might run to things you can do to make yourself healthier. My rational mind is buying the bigger package of blueberries, downing extra C, throwing chia seeds on whatever holds still, swigging water.  Alas, I have an irrational self that's keeping pace and is ever eyeballing that bag of chips and wanting a lunchmeat sandwich on white bread with mayo. Comfort food is not called that for no reason. When we were kids, believe it or not, lunchmeat sandwiches were a treat.  With seven kids, Mom could stretch one chicken a lot further than a package of lunchmeat. Wait, lunchmeat didn't come in a package, you had however much you wanted cut.
 My saving grace, I really do love celery.  I bought two packages to keep myself entertained with something crunchy.
I am the Queen Bee of chasing every thought down a rabbit hole.  I wonder and ponder at how awful this is and all the conundrums spinning around me.  Like the admonishment not to hoard, but just do your regular shopping, so I go out to do that today and there are a million people there. So how does that even work, don't hoard, but keep your distance.
Then there are things I'm loving, like seeing music entertainers entertaining us is in their sweats and messy hair in the kitchen with nothing but their beautiful voices.
All those wonderful grocery people putting up their biggest smile and stretching their patience as far as it will go.
As mind wandering goes, I imagine what good could come from such times.  Even while thinking that I am reminded that none of that would much matter to me if this costs me another person I love.
Still, since this menace is upon us, I love seeing people show their best selves. Encouraging one another, saying things that should have been said a long time ago, maybe even crazy things like having voice to voice conversations. What?
I feel like I am going to have to completely reinvent myself here without a classroom.  That has so long been my passion, I don't know where to look for another one.  I can send packet after packet of work and I will, but nothing I can send will ever substitute for the one on one teaching I do day after day when a child doesn't get a concept and I show them for literally the 40th time. You might say I'm being dramatic. I promise you  I am not.  While I continue to push through the curriculum, I continuously review and keep at with a little one who, for whatever reason, struggles with moving information to their long term memory.  Then, there is the one, or two or five, who have an amazing muscle memory, who I refuse to leave sit and have to teach them deeper material one on one and keep them going.  I also want there to be joy, so keeping a revolving list of go-to activities that they love like coloring, sewing, creating, signing.  It is my multi-ring circus every day.  I'm going to be so bold as to say there is no packet or online anything that can replace me.
It never turns off because as soon as I come home I'm hatching a plan for the gramerlings and a camp I'll do in summer.
Okay, let's have some more smiles.