Week 6 of Distance Learning Due to COVID-19 (May 4th – 8th, 2020)

This week of Distance learning was a really exciting one for our family because we had a birthday celebration. Our Daughter’s birthday is on May 4th which was the first day of the school week. We kicked off her birthday celebrations on Saturday and rolled it over the entire weekend and into Monday. Though she claims the celebration started on Friday evening with our weekly family game night activities. We did not argue that point.

The family game night includes a round of the card game UNO, a few flurries of Connect Four games, then we end the activities with two elimination rounds of Jenga followed by the championship round. UNO is a fun game that my children love to play, but somehow it turns real competitive between my wife and my daughter. Jenga is always intense but exciting and no matter who wins we all celebrate with singing and dancing.

On Saturday she was treated to her favorite McDonald’s breakfast, a big breakfast with hotcakes, swap the sausage for bacon, and an orange juice. We decorated the dining room on Sunday where we treated our young teen to breakfast and then dinner fit for a Princess, which she enjoyed. Birthday dinner celebrations are a family tradition that was passed down by my parents so this was a big deal.

The morning of our daughter’s birthday, we filled her room with pink and purple balloons, some glowed in the dark. She woke up and caught the elves at work in her room so we broke out in the happy birthday song. We presented her with the birthday gifts, cards, sweets, and two letters, one written by your truly and one written by her Mom. We had a wonderful time, there was a trip down memory lane that produced a lot of laughter, some crying tears of joy, hugging, and kissing, a moment full of love.

I have yet to mention that we still had classes on our daughter’s birthday since it was Monday, a regular school day. I was being pressed to cancel classes that day because it was her birthday, but I did not want to give my kids the false pretense that every birthday is a holiday, even if it falls on a weekday. But, not wanting to be the birthday Grinch, I did allow my children to start classes a bit early so that they would be able to finish early. It worked, They were completed with the schoolwork assigned for that day early and dismissed at noon so she could enjoy her gifts.

The remainder of the school week was routine. We were able to go bike riding on the other days the kids finished early and got in our other exercises. My son’s class was rewarded by their teacher for successfully completing all of their work for the previous week. They each got to select an activity from a list that they wanted to watch their teacher perform, it was hilarious. Fun while learning, in school or at home helps children to stay engaged and we all know an engaged student learns better because they are focused. Let’s keep up the good work guys.

Truly, Julian R. Johnson (Daddy Sidekick).