I messaged Erin one day on a beautiful afternoon to see if she would be up for some social distancing driveway sitting - it was so fun! I grabbed my chair, my wine and headed over for about an hour. Just spending time with another human outside of my bubble fed my soul and was so refreshing. Emmy came out and asked why I didn't bring the girls with me - to which I explained that keeping our distance with so many kids is really hard. Then Emmy explained to me very plainly about how easy it could be - "Miss Becky, it would be ok. They could be in this square (drew a square with chalk) and I could be over here (drew another square) and we just have to stay in our squares. I still want to see my friends. Can we try that?" Uh, who I am I to say no to that logic???
So we tried it - with a little modification - blankets to show boundaries instead of chalk and just one kid at a time. Halle and Emmy had a great time hanging out and Erin and I got to catch up. It was a blast!
I agreed that all the girls could have a friend over so next we had Lucy over to play with Erin.
And Lia got to play with her buddy Rhyse.
I felt the most amazing difference after those play dates. The kids seemed to take a deep breath. Seemed like they had a better understanding that their friends were still their friends and that everyone is doing the same thing we are - staying distant, staying home. The pressure seemed off. It was awesome.
A few days later was Halle's best buddy, Brooklynn's birthday. Brooklynn had been really struggling with having her birthday during COVID lockdown and so we wanted to make sure she felt the love. We planned a blanket play date for that afternoon and made a very fun banner for her to hang outside.
Unfortunately, the weather was HOT. Direct sun in our front yard and it was uncomfortably hot. We thought about going out back, but keeping the kids distant from each other and off the play equipment did not seem reasonable. So, we opted for the garage. Got everything cleared out of the way and set up a great spot to be cool but also keep our distance (seems silly that this is even necessary to do with close friends - surreal even...). Regardless, better safe than sorry. We pulled out all the party supplies and had fun decorating the garage as a surprise for Brooklynn. The kids LOVED it. They were so excited.
Brooklynn arrived and we lifted the garage with a big "Surprise! Happy Birthday!" - Brooklynn is such a feeler by nature that I think she was shocked and happy - a quiet smile that turned into a grin is the reaction we got and it was perfect.
Overall, the kids did really well. There were a few times we had to redirect to keep on their blankets, but it went better than I expected and they stayed and played for almost 3 hours. 3 hours on the same blanket it a tall order but all 5 kids were awesome. The kids played with their toys and also enjoyed charades, pictionary, and hangman which kept them pretty happy while the adults reconnected.
More recently, the kids and I have been making the rounds giving their teachers little appreciation gifts from us. The girls have LOVED seeing their teachers in real life. I took Lia to visit her teacher first and horribly forgot to take a picture. (LAME) I made sure to grab one of Erin and her teacher the other day. So stinking cute. Halle gets to see her teacher next week and she's excited.
Much love to you all!
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