10 minutes parent teacher conference by phone when the 5yo only spent 5 weeks in the grading period actually in school was weird. Sammy loved hearing from his teacher again and it was good to hear that he was doing well and that we shouldn’t be sweating this homeschooling stuff too hard as long as we keep doing what we’re doing. Which, admittedly, is a lot less than we’d like, but we are where we are.
Author: Jason
The Technium: 68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice
Via Chris O’Donnell, Kevin Kelly shares 68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice for his 68th birthday. Some gems:
• Being enthusiastic is worth 25 IQ points.
• Don’t be afraid to ask a question that may sound stupid because 99% of the time everyone else is thinking of the same question and is too embarrassed to ask it.
• Gratitude will unlock all other virtues and is something you can get better at.
• Reading to your children regularly will bond you together and kickstart their imaginations.
• Pros are just amateurs who know how to gracefully recover from their mistakes.
• Don’t be the smartest person in the room. Hangout with, and learn from, people smarter than yourself. Even better, find smart people who will disagree with you.
• Trust me: There is no “them”.
• Optimize your generosity. No one on their deathbed has ever regretted giving too much away.
• The Golden Rule will never fail you. It is the foundation of all other virtues.
• If you are not falling down occasionally, you are just coasting.
• Perhaps the most counter-intuitive truth of the universe is that the more you give to others, the more you’ll get. Understanding this is the beginning of wisdom.
• Friends are better than money. Almost anything money can do, friends can do better. In so many ways a friend with a boat is better than owning a boat.
• You are what you do. Not what you say, not what you believe, not how you vote, but what you spend your time on.
• When you die you take absolutely nothing with you except your reputation.
• When crisis and disaster strike, don’t waste them. No problems, no progress.
• How to apologize: Quickly, specifically, sincerely.
• Don’t ever respond to a solicitation or a proposal on the phone. The urgency is a disguise.
• The universe is conspiring behind your back to make you a success. This will be much easier to do if you embrace this pronoia.
The full list is worth a read and consideration. Keeping a list of advice and pointers sounds like a fun exercise…
Coronavirus: Day 51
Beautiful weather meant getting out this weekend for some fresh air. Everyone else had the same idea in some areas. Let’s try and keep social distancing in place, folks.
Day 2: Album 2 of 10
Day 2: Album 2 of 10 that have greatly influenced my taste in music and life. No explanations or reviews, just album covers.
Coronavirus: Day 50
We’ve made it, y’all, 50 days!
What do you get someone to celebrate 50 days of self-isolation?
50 days ago the Kenney Family broke off from the world after schools closed and work-from-home policies went into effect. It’s been an adventure and we’re all varying degrees of stir-crazy and miss places, but it’s also been a lot easier than any of us could have anticipated 50 days ago. We’re blessed with two good boys, flexible jobs we can do remotely, and enough room in the house where we can each get the time we need to focus when we need it.
We’re luckier than a lot of folks out there. And it’s not over yet. But here’s hoping there are more days of this behind us than ahead.
Coronavirus: Day 49
I kinda want things to get back to some sort of “normal” to help force me back into a regular schedule. My sleeping pattern is a wreck.
Day 1: Album 1 of 10
Day 1: Album 1 of 10 that have greatly influenced my taste in music and life. No explanations or reviews, just album covers.
NYT: How Remote Learning Is Breaking Parents
Ross shared this piece in the NYTimes about how parents are struggling to balance working from home with their children’s educational needs:
Parental engagement has long been seen as critical to student achievement, as much as class size, curriculum and teacher quality. That has never been more true than now, and all across the country, moms and dads pressed into emergency service are finding it one of the most exasperating parts of the pandemic.
With teachers relegated to computer screens, parents have to play teacher’s aide, hall monitor, counselor and cafeteria worker — all while trying to do their own jobs under extraordinary circumstances. Essential workers are in perhaps the toughest spot, especially if they are away from home during school hours, leaving just one parent, or no one at all, at home when students need them most.
Once things start to reopen I get the feeling that tutoring is going to be a HUGE boom industry over the Summer.
Now, it certainly could be worse. Those of us who have the means to keep our children engaged and online and doing SOMETHING educational have a huge leg up on families who don’t have the means or infrastructure to access the internet or computer needs to continue education at home. And that’s a disparity that’ll have to be addressed, both when students return to the classroom in the fall and systems figure out how to get everyone back on track but also long term so we can be prepared should something like this happen again.
Coronavirus: Day 48
And at 8:30am the power went out.
Via the Internet.
Power came back around 1:30. Been playing catch-up ever since.
FYI, the Zoom iOS app may say you’re on mute but the mute is a lie and everyone heard me explain to my 5 year old how daddy was on an important call and if he died he’d just have to figure it out next time.
I had to clarify that he’s playing a video game.
Also yelled, “Get out of the rain and somewhere dry, dude,” to a soaked squirrel standing in the driveway so self-isolation is going great.
Coronavirus: Day 47
“Rainbow Connection” is up there with “Pure Imagination” for movie songs from my childhood that get me every time.
The last couple of weeks have been day after day of Sammy, the 5 year old, wanting to throw pretend parties. They involve a lot of “presents” which are his toys wrapped in a blanket delivered to us throughout the house. And a big party set up in his room with stations including an art area, a reading spot, costumes, and a lesson on toy cars crashing into other toy cars. He’s gotten Jasper, the 2 year old, to join in, who is now equally obsessed at the idea of throwing a party.
So guess who’s having a party this weekend?
Like most of America, I need a haircut. It’s starting to curl on the ends in the back. Soon it’ll curl around the ears. The rest will continue to puff. It’s not going to be pretty.
File this one under “why didn’t we think of this sooner?”
Today Sammy had a playdate with one of his friends from school via Zoom. It was simple, they showed each other some of their toys then built LEGO from their own homes and showed off their creations. Even Jasper got in on it, showing off to Sammy’s friend.
Sammy was pretty excited to see his friend. Makes me wonder what’s going through their little heads throughout this whole thing. Everything is so different, and they know it, but what does that mean to a 5yo and 2yo?