Wow. I can’t believe how many times I’ve used the word “unprecedented” in the last 6 days. It is … well, an unprecedented number of times.

As it stands today (this hour), my kids are home from school until April 3 and I haven’t left the house in 5 days (don’t worry - I’m going on a walk in a minute!). I’m working from home for now though Sergio (who works in a hospital) has to work and is taking many additional precautions. We cancelled a Spring Break trip with grandparents because of social distancing, which was disappointing but the right thing to do. (BTW, is anyone else relieved that “cancelled” and “canceled” are acceptable spellings? One less thing to worry about, amiright?)

In addition to everything being unprecedented, I feel like each day is also soooooo long. Last week feels like eons ago and I’m baffled that today is only Thursday.

There’s no denying the devastating effects of this pandemic. The fundamentally unnerving nature of the entire thing. And it makes for very interesting conversations with my kids. Especially as we hunker down at home and try not to drive each other insane. We’re working on, as Olaf says in Frozen II, “controlling what you can when things feel out of control.”

Here are a few tactics we’ve enjoyed so far in the 3 longest days ever:

• SNAIL MAIL! I have a ready supply of stamps (being the good snail mail enthusiast that I am) and am about to order more online to be shipped to my house. We have a mail box a few blocks away from us and a walk from here to there (waving at neighbors from more than 6 ft away!) is a great break in the monotony of being homebound. This is a fabulous way, too, to reach out to grandparents or others who may be lonely or lonesome. The girls spent an hour making cards to mail - we spent another hour picking stamps! I’ll post about that in my insta stories.

• BOOKS! We did a library run just before the “quarantine” - thank goodness. Also, um, we have a lot of books already, obvi. Which is not stopping me from buying more from our local bookstores who are offering delivery or curbside pick up!

• ONLINE BOOKS AND ART! Thank goodness for #KIDLITQUARANTINE - there are so many authors and illustrators who are supplying online resources for kids - read alouds, art classes, activity sheets and ideas. We need the creativity that these visionaries provide, we need the ideas and, I’m realizing very quickly, we need the structure of timed, scheduled events! And we need stimulation and creativity! AND look at this! Kat Cho has organized many of these events into a CALENDAR (!) - thank you! And Matthew Winner offers suggestions for engagement resources from diverse voices in a podcast episode HERE. Thank you, KID LIT community!!!

• MORE ONLINE THINGS! Like museums! And zoos! And this thing the NY Times does called The Learning Network!

• PHONING A FRIEND! TBH talking on the phone is my least favorite way to communicate - but my kids, especially my oldest, think it’s a blast. We’ll be doing that in lieu of play dates and - at least for now - the novelty of it will be good. And meanwhile, I’m texting folks I haven’t talked to in ages, chatting on the phone with faraway family, you know, reconnecting!

• SUPPORTING LOCAL! The coffee shop around the block is offering curbside pick up (lots of other places doing curbside in KC - check out THIS LIST! ) A hot chocolate for Clara, a vanilla steamer for Julia, a cappuccino for me, free smells for the dogs, and fresh air for us all!

I hope you and your families are staying safe, entertained and close but not too close. Physically distant. But emotionally close. We certainly need it, don’t we?