Since our new school relies on parent participation, with each family expected to work one shift per week per child, I’ve been leading an art enrichment in R’s class every Wednesday. It’s a lot of work and can be stressful at times, but I’ve come to realize that I do it as much for me as I do for them. This past decade as a SAHM/writer has made me realize that I need meaningful work. Not paid work, necessarily (hello privilege!), but meaningful work for mental health.

So as soon as the school closed, I shifted from classroom planning to remote planning: how to demonstrate over video, what supplies might parents have at home, what supplies can be made using items parents are likely to have at home, how long will it take for me to get over my fear of being in front of the camera?

For the first remote project, I decided to start with something that would be fun for me to make and not stress about technique or how best to make a fool of myself in a recording that will last millions of years and one day be studied by anthropologists eager to understand culture during the 2020 pandemic.

We had been working on painting rocks, especially with bugs and flowers, in previous weeks so I went with a demo of a dragonfly. I searched for a model to work from and found this dragonfly rock. (I’m not affiliated with the Etsy shop, just liked the pic.)

I’m hoping to find more time to make videos between schoolwork meltdowns, writing my novel at a consistent snail’s pace and scolding my parents for leaving the house. Maybe I’ll even show my face and do some awkward talking.

How have you kept up with meaningful work during #stayhome2020?