Riemer Family Adventures: Quarantine Monday, March 16th 2020

Monday was a pretty good day too. It REALLY helped that it was super nice outside, sunny and nearly 65 degrees! That starting of Spring always lifts my moods but so much more so in the time of unknown and worry.
We started the day with a full family walk to the park. Mogli, as I have said before is in HEAVEN. So many walks to the park, so much family time, we are all around the house all day long. He doesn't know what this Covid-19 thing is but he is really liking it.
After the walk, the kids did some reading and math and some

drawing and some writing. Nothing was very formal or enforced. I really struggle with being too strict and being flexible. Josie can pretty much manage her own time. The teachers are meant to send out homework and lessons via email soon and I know if she has something due on a certain day she will get it done. She has always been very good about that. School has always been her thing. Benjamin on the other hand really does see this as an extra long spring break. He reads and reads like a maniac but he needs to do more than read.

One of Benjamin's new jobs
is restocking the fridge. Since we
stocked up on things, we put a lot of
the liquids in the basement

We had lunch all together.. didn't forget this time. And then Marty and I went on a very nice bike ride to our friend's house to deliver some melatonin that he had bought for her while he was in Seattle. It was about 5.5 miles there and 5.5 miles back through mostly a large wooded bike path. The sun was shining and it was easy to forget the problems of the world. When we arrived we placed the bag on her fence post and we talked with each other (her on her side of the fence and us on the street side) for about 20 minutes. Even just that small interaction with someone other than my immediate family was really nice. Josie says I'm not going to make it through this pandemic. Not because of the illness but this social distancing is not my thing.

He has to check what we
have in the fridge and if we
are running low on milk, juice
or sparkling water he has to refill
it. Always with a book in his hands
ALWAYS..

Josie says "Mom loves to travel - gone, Mom loves to talk to people - gone, Mom loves to go grocery shopping- gone, mom love to go out with her friends - gone. Hoping she isn't right but yes, this is tough for me. And I fully understand my "tough" is NOTHING compared to business that are struggling or even more people who have friends or family sick with the virus. One thing that is different here than in the US is that every worker has 5 weeks PAID vacation leave and 6 weeks PAID sick leave. So even though these workers likely will not want to take their vacation for something like this there is a safety net built in. The vast majority of Germans work for a companies. And yes, I have NO idea what the government here will do by way of helping or supporting the actual companies. It will be interesting. The ramifications of this pandemic are SO far reaching.

After the bike ride we all read, Marty worked, I took Mogli for a walk and was happy to see that some of the Easter decorations have made their way out. Some normalcy is nice during these odd days. After I got home I started making dinner. It was super yummy by the way and really easy. Buffalo Cauliflower and chickpeas.
It was taking longer than I had anticipated so we went outside while it was cooking and the three of them played catch. It was a PERFECT cap to the day. Day # whatever... was pretty good. Oh and we even squeezed in a family show.