Family

We are currently in a worldwide pandemic. The world hasn’t seen this kind of panic and uncertainty in 100 years.

We were on lockdown in the spring and have been trying to find our place in this new reality all summer.

In our town, we spent from Spring Break to the end of the school year doing an involuntary “homeschool”. I put that word in quotes because what we were doing wasn’t really homeschool. It was a rushed, unprepared public school put online out of panic.

Our family has done online homeschool before. I tried it when my kids were in elementary school (4th, 3rd and 1st grade). We lasted one semester.

Not because the school was bad. Because my 3 boys were driving me crazy! Constant fighting, bad internet and me not being able to ever be away from them (they were too young to stay home and I didn’t have any backup from family or friends during the day).

What our school district did this spring wasn’t homeschool. It was busy work and just trying to survive until the end of the year. My kids hated it and I don’t think they learned much either.

This really isn’t the district’s fault and definitely not the teachers fault. No one was prepared for this scenario and they just did the best they could.

So now we’ve had a few months to think about what we should do this fall and how we should continue our kids’ education during a pandemic.

This is our family breakdown:

My oldest is a freshman in college this year (Class of 2020 had their own issues). As of now, he is supposed to be going in the dorm and doing in person learning. I don’t know how long that will last, but I hope he doesn’t get sent home to work online. He doesn’t want that and neither do we!

My middle son is a senior this year (Class of 2021 is hoping they don’t lose as much as the class before them). He is supposed to be playing football and participating in the school play. Who knows if those things will happen. He only has a couple of classes at the high school because he spends half the day at the local community college in their mechanics program. If all goes well, he will have his associates degree before his high school diploma.

My youngest son is a sophomore this year. He has been the least affected so far, although baseball season ended after 2 games this spring. He has been going to football workouts too, but doesn’t know if they will actually play.

Our school district gave us 2 choices for the fall:

Go back to school in person or do an online program approved by the district.

Here’s how I see it:

In Person Pros:

The kids get to see their friends.

They learn better with in person teaching.

There is a feeling of community and that “we’re all in this together”.

In Person Cons:

They have to wear a mask all day.

Many or all of their extracurricular activities will be cut.

They are more likely to get sick from the virus.

Any day we can get a call that their fellow student has the virus and they have to quarantine for 14 days. While quarantined, they will have a computer to do their school work online.

Online Pros:

More continuity of lessons (not going from school to home to school, etc).

School takes less time during the day.

They don’t have to leave the house or even get dressed.

They are less likely to get sick from the virus.

Online Cons:

There is debate as to whether the caliber of education is the same (with the online school the district is promoting).

Limited social interaction with their peers.

It is harder to learn some subjects online for some students (math and science in particular).

So keeping these thoughts in mind, what have we decided for our kids and why?

We have decided to send our kids back to school in person.

Why? There are several reasons.

5 Reasons We Are Sending Our Kids Back to School in a Global Pandemic

1. Our kids are healthy with no known medical problems.

I get it. We have been very blessed to have healthy kids. They rarely get sick and are overall healthy kids.

Therefore, I believe that if they get the virus their bodies can handle it. I can’t be certain of that because they haven’t gotten it yet.

But they don’t get flu vaccines and haven’t had the flu in many years. This virus has a 98% survival rate, so I will take my chances.

2. They did not do well with online education in the past.

This is a big one. Last spring was a fail for them. Yes they passed their classes, but that’s about it. It was a struggle and a fight. Every day.

My kids are great at math, but they don’t learn math well online. They need that teacher (and other students) in front of them to ask questions and help them understand the material.

They don’t like English, so that was a hard subject for them online as well. Group reading and projects help them get thru English and they learn this subject better in person too.

3. They crave the social interaction.

My boys are very social. They love seeing their friends at school and participating in activities and sports as much as possible.

While we still don’t know if after school activities and sports will be possible, they need that social interaction so much.

They are very different than their mom (the introvert). If I had had this choice in high school, I would definitely have chosen the online school. Just give me the work and let me get it done! But my boys are different than I am and we have to take that into consideration when we make this decision.

4. We don’t live with anyone that has health problems.

Not only are our kids healthy and without chronic health issues, but we are too. It’s just the 5 of us and we are all healthy. We try to eat right, exercise and live healthy lives. (I feel very blessed for this fact).

We don’t have any extended family living with us or even near us. Our closest relative lives in the next state and their grandparents live 2 states away.

So we don’t worry about bringing back the virus to more “at risk” people at home. The only older people they usually see are at school or church, not home.

5. We need to get back to “normal” life, as much as possible

What is “normal”? Who knows.

2020 is definitely going to be a year for the history books. Normal life has gone out the window.

But I know that staying home all of the time is not the answer. Especially for the long term. We need to live our lives.

Anytime you step out your door, you are taking risks. You could get in a car wreck, get the flu, get bit by a snake or get a piano dropped on your head. Who knows?

Life is full of risks.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be aware and be smart. Wear a mask. Wash your hands more. Don’t get in people’s faces (social distancing). Stay home if you feel sick.

We should do these things, and then get on with our lives.

If you are in a high risk group, then you need to make more difficult choices. Maybe online school is one of them.

But the rest of us need to get back to life. Life happens when you leave your home and go out into the world.

It’s good for your mental health. It’s good for your community. It’s good for the economy.

So we are going to try to go back to school this fall. Who knows how long it will last.

It may be a perpetual snow day each day, where we never know from one day to the next if we can go in the school building and have school.

But I want to try. I want my kids to go back to school.

It’s a tough decision and everyone has different variables in their family that may lead them to a different choice. That’s ok.

If you keep your kids home, that’s ok. That’s your right. I hope you choose what’s best for your kids and family.

Good luck to all the parents and students out there. This year is probably going to be another rough one.

And to the Class of 2021: You can handle whatever this life throws at you! This is only a small moment of your life. And it’ll make a great story to tell future generations.

What criteria are you using to decide what your kids should do this fall? Let us know in the comments below. And if you found this post helpful, please share. Thanks!

I have heard old timers tell stories of chores they had to do before and after school at an early age.

• A three year old that had to go get eggs from the chicken coop each day.
• A five year old that had to milk the cow morning and night.
• A seven year old that had the sole responsibility of feeding animals.
• A ten year old that drove the tractor for hours every summer.
• A twelve year old that watching their siblings for 3 days while their parents went out of town.

I think to myself, “that last one would get CPS called on you today!”

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“Back in the day” kids were hard workers on their farms from a very early age. If they were tall enough or strong enough to do it, it was expected of them to contribute fully in the household.

Things today are a little different. First off, less and less people are raised on farms. Many farms have failed and those people move into the city or suburbs for work.

Also, many of the kids that grew up in this harsh environment vowed they wouldn’t do this to their own children. They wanted to give their kids everything they never had, including a more relaxing childhood.

Now we are a couple of generations removed from that time and the pendulum has swung the other way. We went from kids being the main source of labor on a family farm to kids that spend most of their time indoors with entertainment to keep them busy.

Of course there are still farms out there that have kids doing tons of work every day. But they aren’t the norm.

So how do we find the happy medium between child labor and lazy kids? There has to be some middle ground, right?

In my opinion, household chores fill this need. So let’s discuss chores and how we implement them at our house.

Why are household chores important in childhood?

Children who are expected to fulfill household chores gain much from the experience, even if they don’t think so at the time. Here are just a few of the things chores do:

• teaches kids how to work and the value of work
• gives kids more appreciation for what their parents do
• teaches kids valuable life skills they will need to know when they are adults
• makes kids more aware of the messes they make (when they have to clean them up)
• helps them be able to contribute to the household in a positive way

How do we know what chores our kids can do?

When our kids are little, it is hard to know what kind of chores our kids can handle. Obviously, a five year old isn’t going to mow the yard just yet.

Here is a great infographic from Becky at Your Modern Family. I think it helps to see what kids can do at each age so we know that even when they whine, they aren’t being asked to do more than they can handle.

If you have kids with mental or physical disabilities, you can start with something small. Anything they can do to help make the household run smoothly can become a source of pride for this type of child. Often they aren’t expected to tackle responsibilities of this nature, so give them a chance.

What chores do our kids do every week?

We have three teenage boys. They have a rotating chore list that keeps everyone from getting bored or frustrated with their chores week after week.

Week One: Animals

This includes feeding one dog, two cats (and cleaning up their litter box), chickens and rabbits.

Week Two: Kitchen

This includes unloading and loading the dishwasher, washing the big dishes (and putting them away the next day) and wiping off the counters each day.

Week Three: Trash

This includes cleaning out the trash cans around the house, taking trash to the large trash can outside when needed and taking that can down to the end of the driveway and back again each week. We also include cleaning the boys bathroom with the trash duties once that week.

They also need to do individual chores like their laundry, making their bed and cleaning their room. But let’s face it, those things are hit and miss depending on the day/week.

Do we pay kids for chores?

There are obviously at least 2 sides to this argument, so do whatever you think is best. You are the parent.

Here is what we do at our house:

Normal daily chores (they alternate between the 3 boys each week): no pay.

Extra chores (discussed with the parents before hand): pay.

This allows the kids to have chores each day that they are expected to do without pay (or whining). Then if they want to earn extra money, they can negotiate with the parent for other things that need to be done.

This is the happy medium we have come to at our house, but it doesn’t mean it is the only way. Do whatever works for your family.

Conclusion:

I don’t want to raise lazy kids.

They already live in a world where they don’t have to go to the library to look up stuff (Google), they have phones in their hands constantly, and they can watch any movie or play video games without leaving home.

I hope these chores give them some idea of how to run a household and take care of their basic needs. I hope they also understand how to take care of animals and what it is like to have another living being depend on you for their survival.

Some people may not think that the chores my kids do are hard enough. That’s okay.

It’s not a competition. Find what works for your family and your kids will be better for it.

Do your kids do lots of chores or just a few? Let us know in the comments below. And if you found this post helpful, please share. Thanks!

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Last week, our family participated in a pioneer trek with our church group.

I don’t talk much about religion on the blog, because it really doesn’t have anything to do with the topics I write about.

But just for this post, I’ll let you know that I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (otherwise known as mormons).

The church has a deep love of their pioneer history and the sacrifices their ancestors made to get the church where it is today and to settle the western United States.

So, every 4 years, youth and their leaders in our Four Corners area get together and participate in a pioneer trek reenactment. This involves dressing up in pioneer clothing, pushing your limited belongings in a handcart, sleeping under a tarp on the ground at night, rigorous exercise some of the time, and no internet or phones.

During trek, the kids were separated into groups of 12-15 kids and a Ma & Pa to lead them. My husband was on the medical staff and I was in charge of the photography.

The trek was high up in the mountains of Colorado, around 9000 ft. elevation. Even though we live at 6500 ft, it is still harder to exercise the higher you go up.

I am sharing this experience with you so that I can let you in on what I learned on our 4 day trek and how it applies to our lives and homestead.

10 Life Lessons I Learned Participating in a Pioneer Trek

1. The less stuff you have, the better

When you have to carry everything you own in a handcart, you want to own less. This made sense for the handcart pioneers because most of them left almost all of their possessions behind to travel west.

I have learned that most of us can really live with much less than what we currently own. When we lost almost all of our belongings in our house fire 5 years ago, we quickly realized what our prized possessions were and what we didn’t even miss after it was gone.

For trek, the kids were asked to bring a sleeping bag, coat, tarp, 1 change of pioneer clothing (and shoes) and some other small toiletries. Enough for only 1 5 gallon bucket and a trash bag.

Of course, the trek was only for 4 days, so they could leave the rest of their stuff at home. They had everything they needed and it really wasn’t much. They made due and it made them appreciate all they had when they got home.

But in general, I think we have way more possessions than we need and pairing down would make our lives easier. I discuss cleaning and decluttering our home in this post —> Decluttering Our Home: Some KonMari, Some Homesteaders Anonymous.

2. A good sleeping bag is important

Sleeping on the ground is no joke, but these kids did a great job at it. The difference between those that slept well and those that didn’t came down to one thing: the quality of their sleeping bag.

It was in the 40’s at night in the mountains, but those with warm sleeping bags were snug and comfy (even hot) all night long. So while I like to get great deals on everything (including camping stuff), don’t skimp on sleeping bags.

3. I really like to be clean

I kinda knew this already, but it really hit home to me. We didn’t get a shower until the 4th day, when we got home.

I was feeling so grimy and gross by then, I was about to lose it.

I don’t mind dirt under my nails when I’m gardening or working outside, but I like to get cleaned up at the end of the day. I missed that so much on the trail.

The actually pioneers washed themselves in the streams or other water sources on the way, but I would guess it wasn’t every day. And as they say, cleanliness is next to godliness.

4. Helping your neighbor allows you to forget your own problems

There were several really steep hills the kids pulled their handcarts up and over. It was amazing to watch.

Not only did they help their family climb the hill, but when they were done many of the kids went back to help other families climb the hill as well.

They were able to push past their own fatigue and pain to help others reach the top. And they felt a sense of accomplishment for having gone back and helped others when they were tired themselves.

5. Real relationships are invaluable

Many teenagers “these days” have just as many (or more) online relationships than they do real, in person relationships.

But this week, they saw the value of speaking, working, laughing and crying with people in real life. I know they will cherish the friendships they made for a long time.

You wouldn’t think that you could be so close to people you have only known for 4 days, but when you go thru hard things together it bonds you in a way that nothing else can. I am glad they got to learn the power of real friendships and hope that they will stay in touch with their pioneer families.

6. We can do hard things

The whole motto of the trek and the reason the trek was created is to teach the kids (and adults) that they can do hard things.

We shouldn’t shrink from a task just because we think it might be too hard.

I saw kids and adults accomplish things on trek that they thought were impossible. And now they know that just because something is hard doesn’t mean it can’t be done.

7. Weather was life or death with the pioneers

In our modern society, we have lots of protection from the weather. Not so for the pioneers.

Our leaders were constantly watching the weather and planning for what might be in store. For the most part, we had really great weather for this trek. It did hail on us on the last day, but it was only for a few minutes.

The pioneers were stuck out in the weather, with nowhere to go. An early snow storm or rain storms could put them in a precarious spot.

I am thankful for modern weather forecasting and for the leaders that kept us safe during the trek.

8. Little miracles make life sweet

At home, we may go several days or weeks without seeing a miracle in our lives. We have our heads down, getting done what needs to be done. We may even be too distracted with technology to look around and see what’s going on.

On the trek, I saw many small little miracles. Things that I might have missed if I was looking at my phone or watching tv.

By being more intentional in our lives, we can see God’s hand in everything. And those little miracles make life so sweet.

9. I never want to live off grid

I know that many homesteaders live off grid or hope to do so one day. After this trek, I know for sure that is not something I want to do.

I have gained skills (like cooking over a fire, butchering animals, and growing my own food) that would help me in an emergency situation. In fact, emergency preparedness is one of the main reasons I started looking into homesteading in the first place.

But I prefer to be a modern homesteader. This means using modern conveniences such as running water, electricity and the internet to reach my homesteading goals.

If I had to, I could live off grid. But it won’t be by choice.

10. Aprons must have pockets

I only usually wear an apron when cooking, so I have everything I need nearby.

But this week, the apron was part of our pioneer outfit, and I actually found it useful. And having the extra pockets was a great help.

I carried chapstick, sunscreen, snacks and more in my apron pockets everyday. If I ever need an apron again, it will have pockets!

If you would like to make a simple apron, check out these fun tutorials (and add pockets if needed!) —> 13 Cute Free DIY Apron Pattern Tutorials for Beginners.

This Pioneer Trek was really life changing for our whole family.

We learned skills, met great people and pushed ourselves out of our comfort zone.

These 10 life lessons are just a few things we learned on trek, and we can’t wait to go again sometime!

Have you participated in a pioneer trek or reenactment? Let us know in the comments below. And if you found this post helpful, please share. Thanks!

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