Rough Day for All

We’ve been having some rough days. I had thought things might get better as we got used to this lifestyle, but I was wrong. Here’s my suggestion for you if you find yourself in the same boat.

Wormy has been hitting a certain time of the day and just crying her eyes out. It doesn’t help that my husband and I both have work to do from home now, so she can’t be our center of attention during that time. Combine that with how Squid has her own work, so she can’t play with Wormy when Wormy is done as well.

Wormy and I sat down and made a list of things that she can do when she’s mad at any of us (she tends to get more frustrated with us all lately), or when she’s waiting for us all to get done with our work. I drew her pictures to go with the words so she could figure them out on her own. She seems pretty excited about this idea, but only the next few days will tell.

Try not to laugh at my drawings…Wormy and I worked together on ideas for her to do.

My husband has been having similar problems, so he’s going to make his own list. Currently, we both have been hanging out on facebook marketplace a little *too* much (luckily, we balance each other out and don’t end up buying EVERYTHING we see!).

Wormy’s Favorite Frustration toy – he stretches in all directions. She got him from her grandma & grandpa during a porch drop, and pretty sure this guy has been used for stress relief by my husband and I a few times as well!

That’s my recommendation. Make a list of the things you do that can bring you happiness, or things you’ve wanted to get done and haven’t yet. Maybe there’s a new project your nervous to start, or a hobby you’ve always wanted to try. My new motto has become “If you aren’t going to do it during quarantine, when exactly WILL you do it?”

How about all of you? What have you been doing to fight off the monotony of our current situation?

Lisa WernerLeave a comment

Killing the Monotony of Day-to-Day Staying Home

I know I haven’t blogged in a little while. We’ve just been struggling with the realization that every day is the same. It’s not that we’re bored – we have plenty to do between cleaning, crafting, walking, appreciating live streaming of free releases of content every day. It’s just the difficulty that every day feels like the one that came before it….and the one before that….and the one before that. At least when you have to leave the house to go to work or school, there are differences between your Monday and your Thursday. I miss those differences.

Luckily, when the weather’s nice, we’ve been outside and that helps. However, on school days we have done such a good job keeping a routine that I have grown to dislike it. Yes, there’s still a routine in our ‘normal’ lives, too, but it’s still got it’s differences. For example, I teach on Mondays and Wednesdays. I can tell the difference between these two days easily, however, because I teach different things on those days. I see different students and have a different schedule, despite being at the same location. The girls have differences in schedules day-to-day at school, too. One day they have art class, the next music, Fridays are spelling tests, etc. I know these seem like small differences, but it’s these things we are lacking in our online life. I no longer just teach on Mondays and Wednesdays. If a student or a parent has a question on a Thursday, I’m not going to make them wait all of the way to Monday to get an answer. That’s silly!

So, today, I’ve vowed to make differences in our days. Even when we are on summer vacation, there are certain differences in our days (Wednesdays and Fridays are for community band!). I don’t know if we’ll do something crazy to set each day apart, but we are making modifications.

Today was field trip day. We went to the Fox River Park in Waukesha. A friend and colleague of mine posted on Facebook that she found a wishtree this last weekend. Squid has been working on setting one up in our town, and I thought this was the perfect opportunity to do a little research. We walked around the park (3 miles!) and giggled while picking up caterpillars. We read the signs people made on the wishtree. We enjoyed ourselves before the rain hit. It was nice to go for a walk somewhere other than our neighborhood. Afterwards, Squid got to work emailing the Town Supervisors to ask permission to go ahead with her Wishtree project. I am excited to see what happens (and hopefully someone responds to her).

We also are working to make weekends screen-free. With all of the chromebook/computer time the girls need for school, and the same for my husband & I, we need a break. It’s hard, as I feel like I am addicted to checking my email every ten minutes during the week. The break felt weird this weekend, but my days actually felt longer (in a good way), and my stress was significantly better.

I’m still working my way through how our days will be different. Maybe we’ll go back to Family Game Nights on Fridays (as opposed to sporadically throughout the whole week), or Crafting Wednesdays. Who knows. It will take us awhile to figure it out, but hopefully this tip fills in the void that you may have been experiencing as well.

I just finished this tonight and thought this post needed some color!

Lisa WernerLeave a comment

My Sister’s Great Idea

My sister is a genius. When this whole “Safer at Home” thing started, she wrote my daughters a letter and mailed it. She thought it would be fun for them to get some mail every now and then. My girls LOVED it.

We have since started writing letters – obviously continuing to write to my sis, but also starting to write to the other members of our family. My husband’s side has a lot of older people in it. I keep telling the girls that writing letters used to be the way to communicate – even when I was a kid, calling long distance was a big deal. I remember writing letters to the friends I made at summer camp, and anxiously waiting for their response.

I am so excited to relive the anticipation of the mail arrival with my girls. Added bonus is that we get some fun stories and ideas for more fun through the letters.

We aren’t exactly going crazy on this project – just one letter a week or so. I can’t wait to see who will write back next!

Lisa WernerLeave a comment

Bumming About Missed Trips

Today I was supposed to go to New Orleans with some pretty awesome high school jazz students. I have a confession – my longest band trip in a bus was heading to St. Louis. I’ve never done an overnight bus trip with students. I was actually looking forward to being properly initiated into that club. I was looking forward to complaining about a lack of sleep, and a stiff body from the trip.

However, more than anything, I was looking forward to the adventure – we were going to a jazz festival in NEW ORLEANS! The warm air, the FOOD, the music…..I was SO excited to go back to a city I haven’t been to for a long time.

Well, what exactly do you do to get over the sad feeling that comes every time you think about it? Try to bring a little bit of NOLA to me, of course. I made my mom’s jambalaya recipe with what I had in the pantry/freezer. I streamed some New Orleans brass bands on my favorite devices. I participated in a birthday parade for a kindergartner (not quite like a New Orleans parade, but my husband talked a lieutenant in the local police department into joining us). I had a Zoom meeting/sectional with the trombone section of MYSO. I got some music, fun, and food into my day. I just wish I could have also had the nice weather from last week today! There’s always next time! Haha

The one thing that really helped over all others? Knowing that NO ONE is traveling. So many people are in the same club I am – the canceled trip club. It’s not a very fun club to be in, but it definitely makes me feel better knowing the trip was canceled to keep people safe and healthy, and that no one else is posting gorgeous vacation photos for me to be envious of! Anyone else miss out on travels?

Lisa WernerLeave a comment

That One Family Recipe…

Do you know that one family recipe? The one that your older family members complain about making and talk about it as though making it should come with a badge, or at least your own parade and fireworks show after completion?

For my family, I can think of several recipes that were legendary growing up. One of them is my family’s Thanksgiving dressing recipe. That recipe takes DAYS to make. Then there’s the Norwegian Wedding Cake. That bad boy has become a traditional dessert in my family to celebrate weddings and anniversaries. Having had to make this a few times myself, I can assure you that if anyone ever makes it for you, they love you…A LOT! I can also assure you that many not very nice words are used in the assembling of that beast.

You can’t tell by looking at it, but this dressing recipe takes DAYS to make. No joke.
Norwegian Wedding Cake, actually called Kransekake, is delicious but absolutely terrifying to make!

We have never attempted the two major recipes my husband’s family talks about….until today. I have been lucky enough to eat both recipes – they usually appear at the family reunions he has every 4 years. The two recipes are shortbread and German Biscuits, also called Empire Biscuits, depending on who you’re talking to. We took them both on today.

The shortbread wasn’t so bad to make – you just have to knead the dough FOREVER. And, I’m not talking about tens of minutes. No, no, no. This recipe requires HOURS of kneading. In fact, the exact directions are to knead until your arms fall off and then pass to the next person. However, the joy of this recipe is that once you have accomplished this task, that’s about it. Everything else is pretty easy.

The Empire Biscuits on the other hand, are very similar to the shortbread in prep, but then you have a filling to put on the cookies, frosting, and candied cherries. Guess my luck? Candied cherries aren’t a thing in the stores around Easter time. Either that or people are hoarding these like they’re hoarding toilet paper. Because of this, my hubby and I made our own. Yes, apparently the whole tough recipe was not enough for us…we had to make our own candied cherries and truly overachieve this event. Ha! I would recommend not doing that EVER again. It’s messy. Very messy.

Empire Biscuits….as tasty as they are pretty! Yum, yum

Anyway, long story short – my husband and I have always wanted to make these recipes, as the people that we can ask for help are still around and able to answer our questions. It was fun to hear their stories about it and their tips before we dove in. This is the perfect time to jump in and do it – if you don’t have time to make those crazy recipes now, when will you?!? And, it makes for a fun conversation before or after with your family members who have done it as well. It’s not as fun as doing it together in person, but you’ll be ridiculously proud of yourself, and so will your family members. 🙂

Lisa WernerLeave a comment

Easy and Fun Idea for the Kiddos

Here’s a great idea for your kids that takes minimal to no prep at all – host a sleepover in one of your kiddos’ rooms. Or, if they normally share a room, let them sleep in the living room.

As we speak, my girls are in Squid’s room giggling away. We set up Wormy’s sleeping bag on the floor next to Squid’s bed, and laid down the following ground rules (aka summer band camp rules apply):

1. We shouldn’t be able to hear your voices from outside your room.

2. You must get some sleep. If you are crabby tomorrow morning, there won’t be any other sleepovers. If you are in a good mood tomorrow, maybe we can do more of these.

That’s it. Simple enough. We didn’t want to kill ALL of their fun. At Christmas time, we have a tradition in our house that we sleep in the living room with the Christmas tree lights lit all night. If your kiddos sleep in the same room, maybe you could do something fun like have them bring their sleeping bags to the living room and pop on a fun movie. My kids never fall asleep if there’s a movie on, but maybe you’ll have better luck.

Either way, I’m sure my girls are going to be talking about this for awhile!

Lisa WernerLeave a comment

It Takes a Village…

Two days ago, my little cheerleader Wormy had a rough day. And when she’s having a rough day, you know times are stressful. There are many mornings I think to myself “why do I need to get out of bed this morning?” Then, Wormy comes bounding in, tells me it’s cuddle time, and then tells me she’s hungry and we need to get our day started. Who can resist those big smiles and hugs?

So, when Wormy was upset Sunday morning, I knew it was going to be a long day. She was crying about every moment going wrong for her. Finally, we just sat in the recliner and cuddled. I told her it was ok to be sad and upset. And then we just sat there. No reason to go rushing off, plenty of time to just sit and be sad, which is not normal in our lifestyle. It was weird to think that it was nice to take time to honor those sad feelings, and let them have their time.

After posting Wormy’s sad face on facebook, so many of my friends and family jumped in with encouraging words, funny videos, virtual hugs, and acknowledgements of their own bad day. I shared each and every message and text with her, and it cheered her up so much. “All of these people sent messages for ME?” She said there was no way she could be sad again until the next night’s bedtime, thanks to everyone’s well wishes. She got to talk to her grandparents online, she got a parade from some close friends who she adores, and she got to play outside on a nice sunny day. By the end of the day, she was feeling much better. We had the added bonus of a video chat set up with a friend from her class for the following day as something to look forward to.

The moral to this story is be sure to take time to feel sad, upset, lost, and/or stressed. Once you acknowledge these feelings, know that there are many people out there who are willing to help you through them. We are all here with you – even if it’s not in person! Say the word and help will arrive.

Lisa WernerLeave a comment

Saturday Night at the Ballet

We’ve been living it up on the free performances! Last night, we watched Andrew Lloyd Weber’s “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” stream (a new one each Friday night!), and tonight was the Opera National de Paris production of “Swan Lake” (they have many more productions to watch on their site). It is like PBS’s Great Performances on steroids over here. I’m not sure which is better, though – watching the productions and thinking about how there’s no way we could have had this great of a view in the seats our family can afford, or watching my 5-year old daughter completely captivated by both performances. My 10-year old loved them both, too, but I kind of expected her to be into it all.

We had a turkey in the freezer from back when they were cheap (Thanksgiving time). We decided to make that and have “Thanksgiving in April.” As we sat down to eat our feast of turkey and stuffing, we went around and thought about all the things we are thankful for in this crazy time. It was nice to focus on gratitude, instead of stress and uncertainty. I highly recommend it to anyone else who may have bought a spare turkey last November!

Mmm, mmm!

Here’s the links to the Paris National Opera and Andrew Lloyd Weber streams:

Paris National Opera (they have the Barber of Seville and Carmen coming up!): https://infos.operadeparis.fr/optiext/optiextension.dll?ID=LhgLgkNYkqX4QHBDMRrImMymEk0xmadHzdGlgJQFYkBNAlCvTKVkJTsuLXcA2JT8ItkVIC0KnBjQ3q5T3nmHMM7SHL59L

Andrew Lloyd Weber (next week is Jesus Christ Superstar): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdmPjhKMaXNNeCr1FjuMvag

Lisa WernerLeave a comment

A Resource to Help

Here is a resource our state has put together with tips on coping with staying at home: https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/resilient/index.htm. There are all sorts of ideas for staying in contact with others safely, taking care of yourself, and even help for those who are working in the medical field.

We didn’t do anything exceptionally wild and crazy today to share with you all. We did enjoy the Andrew Lloyd Weber stream of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”, and we watched “Onward” on the day it came out (thanks, Disney+). We spent every possible moment outside today in order to soak up the warmth before the cold comes back. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Lisa WernerLeave a comment

Isolation Kindness Challenge

Today was really good for our souls. It was a bright, sunny, warm day. And we had big plans to brighten our day and the day of others!

The girls did their schoolwork outside today. Squid took over the play set – I brought out a bean bag chair and a blanket for her (since it was still a little chilly in the morning), and she got right to work. Wormy and I worked on the deck. Working outside made schoolwork fly by!

Working hard…

After lunch, we went out to the driveway to create our own backdrops for some fun. Wormy wanted to be a butterfly, so she made butterfly wings for us to take turns getting pictures inside. Squid wanted to draw a cat and the Eiffel Tower so that she had ‘souvenir pictures’ from our couch travels last week. I wanted to draw the infamous “Up”-inspired balloon backdrop. It was really fun and they all turned out really well!

I’m sure you’ve seen this great idea floating around the internet

My favorite part of the day was a birthday parade we created throughout North Prairie. Three of Squid’s friends have birthdays today. A few weeks back I got to thinking about how rough it would be if my girls had birthdays during this time. I know how much Squid was looking forward to celebrating her friends’ birthdays with them (she even had a countdown on her chalkboard in her room). If that’s how excited SHE was about their birthdays….what about the girls who were having the birthday? I knew those girls would remember this year’s birthday very well, as it is so odd. However, I really wanted to create a way for them to remember this birthday for as a HAPPY memory instead of as a year their birthday wasn’t celebrated in the way they wanted.

Squid’s classroom has a Facebook page, set up by her super awesome teacher. I used this page to ask if any families would be interested in parading past the girls’ homes on their birthdays. The response was overwhelming! So many families were willing to do it! And, when this afternoon’s meet-up time came, there they all were. Some with balloons to drop off, others with amazing signs, and so many with some great yells of birthday greetings! The birthday girls definitely felt special, and it was SO great to see families from the girls’ school again! So many smiling faces! Squid’s teacher and principal were even part of our parade! How cool is that? It made me so happy that my girls go to a school with such caring families and staff. I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I got a little (or more) teary-eyed during this event.

Playing “Happy Birthday” out a car window. Something to cross off the bucket list (after I add it on there first?!?)

Today was exactly what we needed. We ended with a beautiful walk through the subdivision. It’s days like today that help us get through the craziness of our current situation.

This brings me to my challenge to you all – in the next week, in what way can YOU make a difference in someone else’s life? How can you bring happiness to others? Even the smallest gesture can bring that same happiness right back to you!

Lisa WernerLeave a comment