Corona Virus Quarantine Day #22: April 8, 2020

No guest writer tonight because our littlest munchkin needed extra mommy time at bed time so by the time I walked out of his room it was lights out for everyone else too.

Another glorious day in the books.  The weather was going to be so good today I told the kids we needed to be done with school no later than 10:30 so we could be outside enjoying it.  Keep in mind my kids are early risers J  They didn’t object.  They each had 5 things they needed to get done and once they were done we were done.  That motivated them to get moving on the things that weren’t time related.  They didn’t mess around or stall in between rotations.  Lesson learned…I may need to do this everyday.

We spent the vast majority of the time outside playing in our yard with the dog and later at our cousins, fishing, boating and jumping on the trampoline.  Aunt Jenny also put us through a crazy obstacle course that made us very tired, but man oh man, did we enjoy the Vitamin D today.  This was in part because we know we aren’t going to see much of it in the coming days. Over the weekend we are supposed to drop below freezing temperatures which is crazy considering today was 84 degrees. I am so grateful for the nice weather we have had; it has certainly helped make this all a little easier.

Today we experienced a first in quarantine history…we did a drive by birthday shout out.  Ellen’s friend Malloy turned 10 today so one of the parents organized a drive by parade of cars to wish her happy birthday.  It was both beautiful and sad at the same time. She was so happy as the cars drove by and her friends talked to her.  Some of them tossed things out of their windows at her.  I know Fletcher wanted to see Malloy’s little brother Dempsey and when I mentioned a parade of cars he thought we definitely needed candy to throw out the windows. So that was fun! The whole family stood out on the lawn, smiling and celebrating their special girl.  I was so happy to see my dear friends but also so sad I couldn’t jump out of the car and give them a hug.  In fact, that was Ellen’s thought as well, she said, “Mom, that was awesome, just wish I could have given Malloy a hug on her birthday.”.  Ugh, my heart.

Fletcher was very excited to be participating in a “parade”.

Ellen sweet heart was so happy to see her besties…even if from a car.

That is the hardest part of all of this of course, the lack of human interaction. But…it does make you realize who and what is really important in life.

I had to race back home after the drive by birthday for a zoom meeting with the American Volleyball Coaches Association Leadership team.  I am on their Board of Directors and we were meeting to discuss what the AVCA can do to help the high school community of coaches and players.  There were coaches on the call from many different states, including Wisconsin, California, Ohio and Minnesota (just to name a few). The approaches taken to schooling and cancelling school events in each state varied.  It was very interesting to hear the perspectives from states all over the country.  From state to state the level of hope seemed to be different as well.  Some states were still hoping to get in state championships for spring sports this school year (In June or July) and other states were discussing the fact that volleyball in the fall many not happen.

Like the drive by birthday, this call was both exciting and depressing.  I was able to talk about something that I deeply love and with people who feel the same way and that was very exciting, but it was a bit depressing to hear things uttered like “if…we play in the fall.”

Personally, I refuse to believe that’s a possibility.  I am approaching this quarantine and this virus with a one day at a time mentality (or at least I am trying to).  My mom always told me we can only control what’s in our hands, and this virus is definitely not in our hands.  I have to believe that tomorrow will be better than today and that someday, down the road a little way, but hopefully sooner rather than later, I can be back in a gym…my sanctuary.

Other than being with my own children or teaching in my classroom there is no place I am more at home than on a volleyball court.  And…I miss it.  This spring I was supposed to be coaching the 1^st ever SJA Boys volleyball team.  I ache for that experience.  We had tryouts and our first practice…and then this happened.  In that short time, they were making progress and learning so much and they were becoming part of our extended volleyball family.  Man, do I love my sport and I can’t even play it anymore in a competitive setting, imagine how this loss of sport is making these kids feel.  It makes my heart ache.

So, in the interim I am finding ways to connect with my kids and my sport.  This call was one way to do that and now I am in a team of people that will brainstorm ways we as coaches can empower our kiddos at home missing our sport as well.  This week I issued a challenge to our girls to write letters to loved ones or people they knew were isolated.  I am so glad I did.  Seeing their tweets brightens my days and our own children are playing along too.  This next week our challenge will be epic…stay tuned to the SJA VB Twitter if you want to play along.

In the end of all of this, I hope I remember this ache for the sport I love.  I hope all of our players remember it too.  I think in recent years the love of just playing has been lost a little bit (we don’t have enough time for all my thoughts on this…perhaps a later date).  Don’t get me wrong…I like to win, but I also really love to play. I like being on the court with my teammates whether it was in practice or in a match.  Something good that may come out of this at least in the sports arena is that maybe, just maybe, this will teach players, and maybe more importantly, their parents, that playing the game, being a part of the team…is a privilege, not a right and that should never be taken for granted because we never know when the opportunity to just even play the game may be taken away.

I hope you all had a great day and enjoy this beautiful celebration of Holy Week.

God bless you all.

Stay well.

#celebr8awesome

#dorseyshenanigans