riles-mcsmiles

[riles-mcsmiles]

Drive by

Apparently, my neighbor that lives down the street recently joined the world of retirement after working for a retirement planner.

A bunch of her friends drove down our street congratulating her.

When my sister and I first heard the honking, we thought someone was celebrating their birthday and I also thought it was the next block over’s celebration. Either way, we ran outside because cars were lined up RIGHT IN FRONT OF OUR HOUSE, it was actually really cool.

My mom comes out after us and says “this is the most exciting thing that has happened on our block since, ever.” 😂

A few days later...

This morning I woke to the noises of little kids yelling and jumping around on a mini bounce house. In the yard a sign reads “Hip Hip Hooray, ____’s 4 Today!!”

Awww.

However, the fun did NOT stop there.

A few hours later, my entire house wakes up to the loud sounds of cars honking and passing by to wish my neighbor a happy birthday. People started getting out of their cars to say hi and hug my neighbors, which made me cringe.

No hate to the birthday boy, but that whole episode worries me about the effects of their choices.

My mom said the cops showed up to the scene, but instead of shutting it down they let the kid honk the horn and passed by.

I am beginning to think that more people have stopped caring, people that I would not expect to take this situation lightly.

#life2020

[riles-mcsmiles]

Sidewalk Masterpieces 🖼

Everyone needs a break every now and then, so after working on homework for 3 hours or so, I gave myself a break and went outside.

I cannot remember the last time I drew with chalk, and I also do not consider myself an artist.

There seemed to be no thought that passed through my mind during the creative thought process that normal people take before creating masterpieces. Not that I think my drawings are considered “masterpieces”, but it was not intended to please anyone except for myself.

I think I was outside for about 2 hours? Something like that. I still have no concept of time, but none of that seemed to bother me.

It was just me, a container of chalk, and a whole sidewalk to create something wonderful.

I was visited every once in a while by my sisters, who surprisingly did not bother me while I was drawing. They sat and watched. My little sister started drawing too after awhile, she drew some flowers, Stitch, a sun, and a sign reading “stay safe”.

These were 2 of the drawings I came up with. I insisted on showing my mom, who I pulled out of bed as she was reading (so she was not too pleased), but the reviews of my work were worth it. :)

Again, I do NOT consider myself an artist. But with the things I come up with, I am sure to put a smile on anyone’s face.

And they did. 🙃

#life2020

[riles-mcsmiles]

🎞 Movie Night 🎞

Now, I told you already about game night during quarantine so I thought it would be fitting to let you in on movie night.

My family could not choose a movie to watch.

No. Surprise. There.

My dad starts flipping through the movies listed on demand. And the votes start coming in.

My older sister insists on watching Star Wars. She did not seem to care when I told her that not all of us have seen the other seven Star Wars movies.

I suggested a list of movies we could watch: Charlie’s Angels, Little Women, Cats, or Juamanji- Welcome to the Jungle.

My little sister suggests something with a cartoon Donald Trump and corgis, and kept trying to get us to watch it by playing the trailer over and over.

It took us 20 minutes to finally decide on watching Jumanji.

Then, I said I would make popcorn for myself, since everyone else had already some kind of dessert. My mom got offended though and had me ask everyone if they wanted popcorn. 🙄

We argued over what color popcorn is.

It is YELLOW!

My parents turned on the news while I made the popcorn. It was very funny because my little sister kept talking and my parents had to tell her to shut up several times. (of course they did not say it like that, but you know how much people like to watch the news; in my house at least.)

My dad turns on the movie and everything is fine. He then puts the closed captions on for me, but they cover up some of the movie, which makes everyone upset and the closed captions are turned off.

Because of this, my older sister takes it upon herself to start narrating the movie. That probably only lasted like 2 minutes.

The movie- “it’s not a prison”

My sister- “ha I felt that”

Danny Devito was a main character in the movie, so my sister starts singing “Danny Devito” all throughout the ENTIRE movie.

Oh, she also thought that yelling at me, to tell me to shut up, was a good idea. Wrong.

The movie finishes and as we read the cast list, my mom notices that Lucy Devito was also in the movie. My sister almost immediately starts singing “Lucy Devito”.

But, she also confused the heck out of my family as she began to name random celebrities that were NOT in the movie, but called them out like she read their name on the cast list.

Fun right?

#life2020

[riles-mcsmiles]

Updates

Remember that tent constructed what feels like forever ago in the upstairs hallway outside my bedroom? Well, it finally got taken down yesterday. My dad comes upstairs saying “I’ve had enough of this and this is coming down today.” To that, I walked downstairs because I do remember not being a part of the construction process to begin with. 😉

Another thing that started a long time ago (this time I am being serious), an Alice In Wonderland- Queen of Hearts puzzle that my mom started working on in the beginnings of all of this and forgot about. Well, that got finished today. She told me she was struggling to find different pieces, but I somehow found them right away. She was not all too happy about that.

Finished product. Kind of cool, right?

I think I am also losing my mind. All week I have been growing grass, and it seems like the coolest thing in the world right now. I think the seeds or dirt had some kind of miracle grow inside it (I am not entirely sure since “gardening” was NEVER really my thing) I forgot to mention that every time I watered the plant, I would add too much water and “drown” the whole thing. And because I am no gardener, I took a paper towel and soaked up the pool of muddy water. I have no idea how, but I GREW GRASS!!!

This was day 2 of growing grass... As you can see, I just finished soaking up the water leaving a very muddy patch of dirt. And the planter is adorable.

LOOK AT THAT PROGRESS!!! That had to be magic or something because I was almost positive I killed this thing by the third day.

[riles-mcsmiles]

And the cat came back...

So my sister thought it would be a GREAT idea to hang a cat toy on the door of my parents bedroom, and leave it there. ALL NIGHT.

Well, the cat starts playing with it at like 2 am.

There’s more, I promise.

I got annoyed with the cat toy because I could not go back to sleep (not that I was sleeping to begin with). So, I brought the cat toy into my bedroom and hid it, thinking it was a good idea.

I hid it in an empty drawer in my dresser because I thought the cat wouldn’t get to it. Boy was I sadly mistaken.

The cat decides to jump onto my dresser, proceed to knocking a few things off before trying to climb into the drawer that holds his precious cat toy.

I then got out of bed and go over to my dresser where the cat begins to act all innocent like he did not just make a lot of noise looking for his toy. So, I moved it. Into a pile of clothes near my sister’s bed.

He followed me and SAW me put it in the pile. But PLEASEEEEE explain to me why he goes back over to my dresser, jumps onto it, and continues to knock stuff off. So, I got out of bed, AGAIN, and went to find a new hiding place for the feather.

Hiding place number 3: my nightstand.

This cat is pretty smart, but VERY dumb. He struggles to get into the drawer and manages to push over a bag blocking his entrance.

After that tactic ended badly, the cat proceeded to jump onto my bed and walk over onto my nightstand. Miraculously, nothing was fallen out of place.

Clearly, this is not going to work out and it is now 2:50.

I gave him back the toy and of course he started playing with it. Oh, but then he stops playing with the toy and begins to attack this rug my sister has next to her nightstand.

My sister has definitely had enough. She gets out of bed all mad after being woken up too, picks up the feather, and walks out of the room downstairs.

She returns a few minutes later, and so does the cat.

The toy is missing though...

But he has distracted himself with the little rug.

All of this commotion somehow signals my dad to come in. And when he does, he begins to say “well none of this would have happened if Riley didn’t move the toy”.

Wow.

Late nights with my family are really something. How have I never noticed this?

OH! Because I would normally be asleep during all of this.

#life2020

[riles-mcsmiles]

“Do you ever look at someone and wonder, ‘What is going on inside their head?’”

I have watched too much Disney these last couple days in order for me to be quoting it. 😬

Well this week, the state of Illinois learned that we will not be returning to school this school year. Each member of my family took it differently.

Starting with me. I stated, to my mom, that I would be looking on the positive side of this situation because lightning mcqueen once said “I decide when I’m done.” And I thought that was very inspirational, seeing it that I will decide when I want to end my freshman year. Now, I am not thinking about extending it forever, but I see it as I’m still in classes and I zoom with a few of them where I get to see my friends there. It’s not exactly the same, but things are different right now. So really, this doesn’t feel like a total loss (seeing them in person would be nice though).

Anyway, the next family member is my little sister. If I was being honest, I don’t really know how she deals with this kind of information. The only thing I heard her ask was if she could deliver a birthday present to one of her friends on their quarantine birthday. I do know that elearning is not really her thing.

But everyone sees it differently in my opinion.

My dad seems to show no change. He still goes to work, and comes home every night mostly with a smile on his face. Can you blame him?

I do recall saying to think positive during this whole pandemic 😉.

My mom sounds like she’s dealing with many emotions. I asked her how she copes with this knowledge. The first answer I received was taken as a “laugh”, but I was told it was a “scoff”. Because she didn’t seem very thrilled with my reaction to her first response, she told me “Way worse than you know. There are people falling apart worse than I am that I have to be strong for.”

That’s a statement I agree with.

Then, there’s my older sister. The way I see it, some people are better left alone when given news that might shock their world. She’s a senior. And I know that this was not at all in the list of things she planned to have taking place during her last months in high school. I’ll walk past her room, hoping that this news will not get the best of her.

For now, I’ll just wonder “what is going on inside her head”.

#life2020

[riles-mcsmiles]

My mom for 2020 🇺🇸

My mom, like most people right now, has been watching the news.

A lot.

Like, she watches every day. It seems like whenever she turns on the tv, there is a coronavirus press conference on or a recap of the previous one.

I suppose there is nothing WRONG with this. But I believe that people need to allow themselves to take a break every now and then.

My mom claims she has done this.

Do I believe her?

No.

Not in the slightest.

She tells me that the news is her source of comedy these days.

My sister has failed her job

My mom says things that people are definitely thinking about the government. However, I am not worried. Concerned, yes. Worried, no. It concerns me that my mom seems to have nothing else to do when she watches the news.

The information doesn’t seem all that different from the day before, I could be wrong since I do not watch the news everyday.

Today, I made the mistake of coming downstairs while my mom was watching the news.

I came downstairs with the task of growing grass, that was made for kids with the logo saying “grows in just 7 days”. I wanted to try it out.

So, the tv was on and the news was turned to Governor Priztker’s press conference. I finished gardening and I was actually interested in what the people were saying.

I then asked my mom why press conferences haven’t gone virtual if the whole idea is staying home to protect ourselves? She mentioned how the number of people showing up at the press conferences have gone down in the last couple days and the governor and this other lady get tested frequently for the virus, so they have everything under control.

This brought up another question on my hand. I asked her, “well, wouldn’t that limit the number of tests for other people because we don’t have enough tests for Americans that are showing symptoms.” To this my mom tells me that there are more tests available to the public, and visibly the numbers seem to be going down with everyone home. “But I guess that doesn’t really answer your question, can I turn this back on”.

“Ya, I’m all good.”

#life2020

[riles-mcsmiles]

Sick in my house and i'm in my house sick

I think being IN MY HOUSE made me sick. I am “homesick”. With a new and improved definition of “sick of being at home, unable to leave, especially since I cannot drive because I cannot test for my permit, therefore I cannot drive so I am stuck at home”. Being sick, in my opinion, is certainly the most boring thing.

Although, quarantine comes at a really close second.

Now, I do not have corona. That I am certain of.

I did gain some comedy writing this as my autocorrect insisted on changing “corona” to “a corona” thinking I am over the age of 21 and can have a beer. Whoever is in charge of autocorrect might want to take a look into that and introduce the “world of corrections” to the coronavirus.

I did not accomplish a lot of the schoolwork that was on my agenda. HOWEVER, I managed to watch several Disney movies on Disney + without giving myself a headache.

That should count for something, but it does not qualify for anything that I currently know of. -On my couch I was reintroduced to some forgotten favorite Disney movies of mine: Inside Out, Toy Story (1, 2, 4 -3 wasn’t good in my opinion), Cars (1, 2, 3), Brother Bear, and a few others that have left my memory.

My movie marathon extended over a span of 2 days. It was very brief, unlike my Disney + subscription that gets paid off every month. :)

#life2020

[riles-mcsmiles]

Game Night

Things have definitely seemed to take a turn for the worst if you ask me.

For her homework, my little sister had to teach our family a game she learned in drama class. It was called “host”, or something like that.

The game was fun and we all took turns being the host and laughing over who people pretended to be. But the night didn’t end there.

My dad goes over to the table and pulls out another game. It was a game my entire family had played before; Quix.

It’s a dice game. Very fun, very noisy, and there’s a little bit of math involved.

We get into the game, so far so good. But then something happened, or we were all just done. I don’t know. It’s all the same thing lately. 🤷‍♀️

My mom apparently didn’t know how to play the game, and was supposedly cheating the entire time.

My whole family argued over the music that was being played on my sister’s phone.

We all believe that my dog is very stressed out right now as well. We STRONGLY believe this because lately she has been suffocating us with the horrendous smell of her farts.

And she let one out as she was laying under the table as we were playing our little game.

My dad opened the windows to let the cold air in, and I was seated right next to it. I responded by disappearing into my sweatshirt.

The night went on in all its glory.

My family started yelling at each other, my cat knocked stuff off the counter, we were still arguing over the music, and a bunch of other events happened that added to all the fun.

Personally, I just really want to go to bed. But, apparently that is too much to ask.

My little sister looked up calming music claiming “we all need to calm down”.

Might I remind you it is 12:32 on Holy Saturday.

#life2020

[riles-mcsmiles]

Listen closely 🎶

It can be hard finding moments for yourself during this time. For me, I am surrounded by people who apparently have lived with me since I was born.

Fun stuff.

The other day, I was out on my trampoline, ALONE, doing math homework and listening to music. I think the only reason my family left me alone was that I was doing math. The subject most people do not willingly choose to do on a nice, sunny afternoon. In quarantine.

But there I was, and I do not regret one minute.

Since the broadway world has been suspended as well, they released a playlist with a bunch of songs with different messages to help uplift people during this time.

And as I was listening, a song came on my iPad. Now, it was a song that I had heard many times before because I really like the musical. The song is called “To Break in a Glove” from “Dear Evan Hansen”.

The song plays and I start singing along to the chorus. When I hear the words: “It just takes a little patience, it takes a little time, a little perseverance, and a little uphill climb”. And I pause the song and start thinking.

This is what I came up with…

There is not a single person right now that is not going through a hard time. By hearing those words, it reminds us that our complicated, unideal, different living situation is NOT permanent. If only we had a little patience since the virus is giving us all the time in the world. I think everyone could use a little perseverance too. Something that gives people SOMETHING to look forward to.

I do not have the answer, YET! However, I do recommend the broadway playlist, which includes this song and many other inspiring words we all need right now. 💚💙

Quarantunes- https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7FaUaFgE2ItnI7flsFHFCG?si=kOB0djSKR9ySqp8-t35WRQ

unrelated note, where does the reference “all you cool cats and kittens” come from and why do people feel the need to be using it so much right now? I mean seriously.

#life2020

[riles-mcsmiles]

A night in the tent ⛺️

The time- 1:35

the cat scratched my mom and supposedly drew blood. My sister has a lightsaber and a squirtgun to ward off the cat.

There’s three people in the tent: my mom, and my two sisters.

This is the same tent that was constructed sometime weeks ago I want to say.

Someone said, “the tent is so small it was built for midgets” to which I quoted John Mulaney by saying, “If you put that on tv, there’s gonna be a protest of midgets on this [tent]”.

They’re voting, I have no idea what for.

One of them got quiet...too quiet.

I stopped reading in order to write about this experience.

My dad is in his room, on his phone.

OHH okay, they’re deciding what camp noises they should listen to.

I have too many questions, I really don't want to know the answer.

There are screams coming from the tent. I even heard “I knew we were going to die!!” and “it’s okay. I have a lightsaber, we’ll be able to defend ourselves.”

They’re still looking for something to listen to. Someone even suggested the “sound of sad whale noises”.

My dad is heard once in a while clearing his throat or something, letting us know he’s still there.

The sounds have gotten quieter.

I stand corrected.

I’m hearing talks of cats, vsco girls, and weird noises in general. (I was then told that morning that there was no talk of vsco girls the night before…)

I decided to turn off my radio…

Some of the iconic moments/pieces of their conversations:

“When I’m camping I don't usually hit my knee on a bookshelf”

“I suggest shifting for that”

“THEN WHO IS?!?”

“That one wasnt me”

“a black licorice jelly belly jelly bean”

“SHH”

“no, no sad whale noises”

“OH that’s wasn't what I was expecting”

“Here comes peter cottontail, hopping down the bunny trail”

“Are we listening to Bible songs”

It got quiet again…

I’m scared.

It is 1:57 am.

They have decided to listen to “camp sounds”. That seems like an obvious choice.

Oh boy!

The sound of crickets has been replaced by coughing or throat clearing. (“sung to “Another one bites the dust”) -another one clears their throat.

It’s 2:03 am.

Someone please explain to me why the conversations mostly revolve around the topic of farting.

The music keeps getting changed.

They are now playing “Were You There“.

It’s sad to know that it has barely been 10 minutes of whatever you want to call of this.

Here are some more moments from these iconic conversations:

“get off or I’m getting out!“

“don’t pull on my blanket“

“stop elbowing me in the sternum“

“that came out of nowhere“

“that’s not hee-hee“

“she’s breathing too loud“

“I feel like I’m playing twister“

Is there such a thing as too quiet? Depends, but at the same time, it’s 2:21 AM. Good night. 💤💫

#life2020

[riles-mcsmiles]

The thought that counts 💕

The other day I was told to clean off my desk (that I never use), so my mom could use it to make face masks for the hospital.

First off, I cleaned up my desk and put everything into a box which is now sitting at the bottom of the stairs. My sister goes inside and pulls out a coloring book that I have never used. Never. She asks me if she could have it. I said no.

I know, I know I am so mean.

It gets better.

I am cleaning the kitchen and every time my little sister comes in she comes over to me, hugs me, and either says she loves me or that I am her favorite sister. Then, she adds in the part where she asks me if she can have my coloring book.

I knew there was a catch.

Well, remember when I said I was mean. Ok, good.

I took that box of stuff from my desk into my room, coloring book and all. I found a gift bag, from my birthday that was months ago but that is not the point. I put the coloring book inside and I made my little sister’s bed. On her bed, I secured the gift bag in the arms of her stitch and I go went back downstairs pretending that nothing happened.

Secondly, my mom sets up her sewing station IN THE DINING ROOM. I was not too happy, but she asked me to help.

Her and my sister had already started the process of making masks for a few of my neighbors and workers at the hospital. My mom trusted me with a super sharp cutting tool to cut pieces of fabric they would use for the mask.

This was a very difficult job for me, considering I am a PERFECTIONIST. When I finished, my mom gave me a very nice compliment though. She said, “Those look gorgeous, nice job!!” ☺️

I am not mad anymore.

My mom gave several new jobs after the “gorgeous” work that I did. As a result of my new jobs, I poked myself with a needle several times and burned myself on the hot, black thing: the iron.

Apparently, my sister calls the thread: “string”. Because of this my mom hopes that if anything comes out of this quarantine, is that we learn the terminology of basic home items.

here is my mom, attempting to fix the sewing machine since it was making “funny noises”

#life2020

[riles-mcsmiles]

4/2- Sometimes you just have to improvise...

I strongly misjudged the ability of my little sister when it comes to convincing. Unless my parents have decided to give up all ready... Now that I think about it, I think that is exactly what has happened.

My mom is quickly losing it. And by it, I mean her patience, mind, etc. Because of this, she has taken over the back room. The same room that I was previously using as my elearing space, but it appears I have been kicked out. And on the door my mom hung a sign reading “Please stop interrupting me! I don’t look good in orange or jumpsuits! xoxoxo”.

While my dad was at work, my little sister decided to give him a call. Here’s how it went:

“Heyyyy dad.”

“Hi child, what can I do for you.”

“I had an idea for dinner. It starts with ‘b’.”

That is where I stepped in and said, “and ends with ‘urgers’.”

“Ok, I guess we can do burgers.”

WHAT?!? This has never happened before! Then my little sister hung up, and that was the end of that conversation.

We go outside and are jumping on our trampoline, when all of a sudden my sister says “we should ask mom and dad if we could have a fire and make s’mores tonight”.

She goes inside and texts my dad. She comes back out, with a smile on her face, and says “dad is going to the store to pick up stuff for s’mores.”

Again, WHAT?!?

We did not make a fire. Instead, we decided to improvise.

My mom had come out of the back room to watch the news with my dad, and my sister and I grabbed skewers out of a drawer. We turned on the stove and we started roasting marshmallows. 

I do not like s’mores, but I made them anyway.

Then on Friday, my neighbors all got together (six feet apart) around a campfire in my neighbor’s yard. And you can guess what they were doing.

#life2020

[riles-mcsmiles]

Day 19

How are things going at your house, because I am starting to believe that there is never a dull moment with my family.

Yesterday, while I was asleep, I recieved an invitation regarding tonight’s dinner. It was semi-formal attire and I was to arive at 7:00 pm. I thought that this was going to be some practical joke my sister had planned, considering that it would be April Fools.

Here’s what happened:

I want to say it was about 6:50 when I started getting ready, of course my little sister walks in wearing the chef’s heels and says “I am wearing these tonight because she is making us dinner”. That also made no sense to me at all.

Then, because the attire was semi-formal, my little sister and I decide to put on makeup. (This was at 7:00 and the chef said that dinner was to be delayed a half hour. Great. Now I am really getting suspicious). Anyway, so we were putting on makeup because, in case you have not noticed by now- we are on lockdown, and the lesson I learned from putting on makeup is that my 11 year old sister should not be allowed to put on foundation. She even commented “I look orange”.

My family gets called for dinner at 7:45 ish. We go downstairs, in our semi-formal wear (my sister did get tired of the heels and took them off), and find our chef waiting by the door to collect our tickets. We are ushered to our seats, overlooking the stove. My sister has brought “Wu’s House” to our house.

Good news, our chef did not burn down the house in the process of making dinner. It was very good, 10/10 reccomend (even though she said that she probably would not do it again 😢).

While enjoying our meal, we tuned in to our “favorite” show: “The Masked Singer”. My dad also got hooked onto the show and he guessed who was voted to “take their mask off”.

My mom’s teaching partner sent her a link to virtual Disney World rides, and of course we just HAD to watch. By then my dad disappeared, but we all need a break every now and then.

We watched Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain, Expedition Everest, and the Ratatouille Ride, which my sister claims is also being built in Florida.

My mom ruined the fun by saying it was late and that she was going to bed. However, I will be watching virtual roller coaster rides for the next couple days, knowing I do not have anything besides school on my to-do list.

#life2020

[riles-mcsmiles]

The Wonders of Elearning

Tomorrow my entire family will be participating in elearning. No, this is not something to be celebrated. However, if we manage to survive the whole week, that is something we might want to consider celebrating.

My mom is a teacher, so this whole situation is particularly hard on her as she tries reaching out to her students in a way that they are able to comprehend if it had been taught face-to-face. Just like everybody else, she is learning every step of the way. Like most teachers too, she has to adjust her normal routine in the classroom to meet the expectations her school provides her each week.

My younger sister is also not ready to face the changes of elearning after being on spring break all last week. Both of them had previously been introduced to the concept of elearning for 3 days prior to going on break.

My older sister and I go into our second week of elearning. After the first week of elearning, my sister learned that if she were to “accidentally” fall asleep after finishing her work for that period, she will need to then gather enough energy to wake herself up in order to check in to the next period. I learned that during zoom calls it is required to show my face in the videos and to have our videos unmuted.

The first requirement I do not have a big problem with, but please do not set your expectations too high considering I most likely just rolled out of bed. I think it is safe to say that the majority of people on that zoom call ALSO just rolled out of bed or are still in their beds. Now the second requirement, well let me just say that I have two dogs, a crazy cat, and four other family members working in the same house as I am. I would hope that speaks for itself.

I do find it absolutely hilarious anytime one of my family members walked into the room and I would be working on a zoom call, they all responded the same way. First, they felt the need to come over to where I was working and lean over so that they can be seen by my entire class on the call. Then, they did not realize that I was wearing earbuds, so they would start talking to me thinking the conversation was on mute. It was not. When they realized this, they immediately asked me “wait, so like they (my class) can all hear me?!?”; to this I responded, “yes, yes they can”.

#life2020

[riles-mcsmiles]

Saturday. We think...

It seems that the height of our situation has taken affect on my family. Like most people, they have lost track of what day it is. In my case, I have found that not only do I realize what day it is, but each days seems to last for an eternity. However, I have lost track with counting how long this whole thing has lasted for.

On the contrary, it seems like this whole situation has lightened up, even though no changes have been made; we are just incredibly bored of ourselves finding silly things to entertain us, lasting for about five minutes maximum- sometimes more if we are lucky. For example, a tent was constructed in the upstairs hallway because a change of scenery was in order. I give it 15 minutes before my parents come up and tell my sister to take it down.

I was wrong. My parents seem too distracted, doing who knows what, that those 15 minutes have passed and therefore it still stands.

Because the thrill of the tent seems to be dwindling, one of my sisters has begun rearranging the interior of the fort, while the other has jumped onto (her newfound addiction) roblox, as she FaceTimes one of her friends playing along.

I think the most scary part of this whole experience is becoming more aware of your families “habits”. If there wasn’t a worldwide pandemic to blame for all this, I would not be surprised if the government issued this is a cool science experiment: “how long can you survive quarantine with your family”.

#life2020

[riles-mcsmiles]

Correct me if I am wrong, but the hardest thing right now for most people is accepting the changes and effects in which this pandemic has personally caused for them. Everyone I know or have been in contact with has dealt with this situation differently than I am. And that is ok. People need to understand and be able to accept how they are feeling in spite of this whole situation. It is times like these where I am grateful for the resources and communication digitally with people making sure they are taking care of themselves, as well as their families. Even though I am not able to see my friends all the time, this experience makes things feel different now that social interactions are strongly not encouraged, hence the lockdown that has been put in place. My family seems to now live by that, considering the only social interaction I made these last few days was with them. All jokes aside, the most important thing right now is staying positive. I would like to say I try focusing on that right now, but it is definitely not the easiest things to do in situations like this. I also understand the news can be helpful, providing us new information on getting through this, but it seems to have put a negative impact on most people following along every night to the current stories. There job is to inform us and the way they do it is overemphasizing things knowing that a reaction is sure to come from it. So, with all that said: take a deep breath, try to ease your mind, use this time to refresh, take care of yourself and the people around you (abiding by the 6 feet rule), and remembering that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel! ☀️🤟💛

#life2020