Virtual Homeschooling And Distance Learning

 Costa Rica was forced into the future of education last year when the entire country was forced into lockdown and schools went virtual for the first time in history.

Before the Coronavirus outbreak and pandemic, homeschooling and distance learning was not a viable option for most Costa Rican students. I was told by the Ministry of Education that homeschooling was not even accredited or recognized.

Now, as we look forward to the future, virtual learning and distance education has become the norm for many households. And this way of learning has shown the government just how far behind the country was and how much they need to catch up with the rest of the world.

In our home, virtual learning is going pretty great so far this year. At the beginning of everything last year, we all had a rough start. However, we have since put into place a few new rules to help facilitate the process to make it easier and more efficient.

I do love having the option to homeschool my kids through virtual education and the experience has taught me alot. But I do look forward to the day when my kids can return to school in a normal setting. After all, these are the years we need to cherish the most and the in school learning experience is an important part of our children's developmental years.

Kids hard at work virtual schooling and distance learning

The 21st Birthday

 My son is officially 21 years old. That's so crazy for me to say and so surreal. I am the mother of a 21 year old. 

To make sure that my son had the most memorable 21st birthday possible, I wanted to do something huge and spectacular to mark the occasion. 

However, my son  is very laid back and doesn't like much attention so we compromised. I got to make his birthday special albeit on a smaller scale and he got the birthday celebration he wanted, a casual and fun afternoon with friends. It was a day filled with great company, good conversation , delicious food, and a few competitive laps of go kart racing.

My hope is that when he looks back on his 21st birthday a year from now or even 5 to 10 years from now, he will remember the day as one of the best days of his life.

It's Officially Birthday Season

 This time of year I look forward to a lot. March to June marks not only a season of change but the time of year where I gear up for a few celebrations, starting with my oldest son's birthday.

This year, my first born will be 21 years old and officially a man in his own right. Although still a boy in so many ways, I realize his youthful, carefree days are are numbered and soon will come to end. He will eventually venture into the world of true adulthood. I look forward to that day but for now I just want to relish in the fact that my oldest boy still lives at home, taking college classes and playing video games with nary too a worry in this world. Keep them young for as long as you can because life is hard but love conquers all.

I want to celebrate him and his life and be thankful that no matter how old he gets or where life takes him, he will forever be my little boy. My first born miracle. My oldest son.

Back To School 2021

 All the kids are finally in school and now that we're back to a semi regular routine, I have to admit that it feels really good. Bedtime is 9pm which gives me some me time before I doze off around 11. And we're all usually up and ready for the day by 8am.

The days vary depending on which schedule the kids have to follow due to covid 19 guidelines. For instance, my daughter goes in person two days a week and is distance learning the other three days. I wake her up around 6:30 so she can be alert and ready for her first class at 8.

My son, who has started his very first year of 7th grade high school is in person on a rotating schedule. One week he goes in for two days and the following week he only goes once. He gets up at 6am on school days.

And lastly, my 7 year old second grader is completely distance learning at home with me as his primary teacher. We start class at  9am. My oldest son who recently started college is also virtual learning at the moment. His classes are in the evenings from 6 to 9 or 10pm.

All I want is for my kids to succeed academically. And all I can do is hope for the best. With the challenges that they'll face this year with the new rules and constant changes all I want is for them to have an amazing school year filled with amazing memories.

Making Tough Decisions

 As life slowly gets back to normal, I have to be thankful for everything that we have. Hubby lost his job at the end of last year but with his severance package, we were able to pay off our car. That's one less debt to worry about and one less monthly payment.

We were also able to completely rid ourselves of a consolidation debt payment that was slowly taking a toll on our bank account. Financially speaking, that monthly payment made absolutely no sense and so we finally paid it off.

Another tough but smart financial decision we made was to pay off our credit cards and bring our balance down to zero. As far as big debts and monthly payments are concerned, we are debt free. Finally.

Now we look forward to the future and we have big plans and possibly acquiring the biggest debt we will ever have thus far, a mortgage. 

We are hoping to remodel, as I've talked about before, and so have applied for a loan from our  bank. Fingers crossed we can secure the loan to finally realize our dream of a bigger home for our family. However that means that this will be biggest financial decision we will make, the biggest debt we will owe and the toughest decision we will make in terms of our finances. 

Hubby hustles to make sure we have the funds to  not only pay off debts but to pay our basic monthly expenses as well like the light bill, putting gas in our car and paying our children's tuition.  We also look toward the future and hope that all the tough financial decisions we made thus far have been the right ones.

New Bed, New Room

 After years of thinking about it and talking about it, we finally bought our 7 year old son his first real bed with a real mattress. It has taken us this long to get him a big boy bed and comfortable mattress for his room. Talk about finally getting a good night's sleep.

Just yesterday, we built his bed and rearranged his furniture to give his room a brand new look and he could not have been more excited. I even had new sheets waiting for him, Jurassic world sheets I bought at the mall. 

My baby finally has a big boy room to call his own, a comfy mattress to sleep on and a bed he can grow into as he gets older. 

Valentine's Day Treats

 It was a day like any other except that maybe the food was extra bomb and there were more treats to be had. Valentine's day was not that much different than a regular day and that was fine by me.

I do like to acknowledge the day because it's fun. In recent years, hubby and I have gone out on date night and exchanged gifts. I've even done the Valentine's gift exchange with the kid's classmates and given my kids a special treat to mark the occasion.

This year, we kept it simple as per usual and stayed home. But I did get the kids some pizza and garlic parmesan bread sticks from Papa Johns.

I also gave them their special Valentine's day gift, an m&m chocolate bar each. I even made a special dinner, a delicious meal of Jamaican style oxtails and rice and peas. It was a pretty low key day but a memorable day for sure.

Hubby even got me a gift and the kids and I watched a bit of the Charlie Brown Valentine's Day special. 

It was the perfect no fuss family day, simple and fun. Just the way I like to celebrate.