Posts

A Modern History Lesson

/in , /by

As most of us did, I attended public school where I had all the typical history classes, year after year. And I hated, Every. Single. Class. Anyone with me on that? It was so tedious and boring to try and memorize all those facts! I could not relate to the dry material in my history books, the pictures were lame, small, and not engaging. My father always told me it was important to learn about history so it didn’t repeat itself, but my 15 year-old self heard blah blah blah. I figured I wasn’t going to have enough impact in the world for this to really matter. So, I just did what I needed to, in order to get by with good-enough grades in those classes.

But now, as an adult with three children, and a few decades of understanding how the real world works, I can appreciate the importance of learning history. The COVID-19 catastrophe, or the Corona-tastrophe, as we are referring to it in my house, has many lessons to teach us. We are actively living in a moment that will go down in history. One that absolutely needs to be avoided again in the future, if at all possible. What we do in this situation, will impact how things are in future generations.

Now don’t get excited, I didn’t have a crazy change of heart and become a history teacher. I am also not a nurse, or a doctor, or a scientist. I cannot develop in the cure or immunization, and I do not have the skillset to help those who do. But, what I can do to give back, is teach future generations about what it was like during this time, for those of us who lived it. I can use graphs to show how quickly the disease spread, I can share news headlines declaring the state of the country. I can offer photos of what it was like for our family and how we survived. I am not a teacher, but I can teach.

So, I have decided to build a time capsule. The definition of a time capsule, as per Wikipedia, is as follows: A time capsule is a historic cache of goods or information, usually intended as a deliberate method of communication with future people, and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians.

Now, I know you know what a time capsule is, but the key words there are “a deliberate method of communication with FUTURE people”. We now live in a time where we can deliberately save, store, and share digital media for future generations. This is so exciting! What do you think your ancestors would say, if they could have told you first-hand about the Great Depression? The Civil War? Or any other historical event? Wouldn’t history be so much more relatable, relevant and more easily understood if it were told in a more modern form of a personal story, or news headline?

I encourage you to join me in creating a time capsule to tell your story, in your own words, to your own family. Sure, some of your family will live through this with you, but there are generations to come who aren’t even born yet, who don’t know what things were like before COVID-19 appeared, what it was like during its’ most aggressive time period, and how it changed the world afterwards. The truth is, at this point, we still don’t know what the world will look like when this is all over, but we can begin preserving history now, by documenting our experience.

So how will I get that digital time capsule to future generations? I thought you’d never ask. I use a platform called FOREVER.com to store my photos. I like this site because it is uniquely designed to pass on digital information, of my choosing, from one generation to the next. Not only does it have secure digital storage, it is guaranteed for one lifetime plus 100 years, which, if you do the math, is more than just the next generation. I want my great, great-grandchildren to learn about this time, first-hand. COVID-19 is unlike anything else because it has affected so many parts of the world, in very similar, yet vastly different ways.

Work with me, to share this story, so we can teach future generations how to potentially avoid situations like this, survive them if they arise again, and see that with great change, comes great opportunity.
Scan the QR code below or click here to learn more!You can also check out my virtual time capsule here!

They Are Learning

/in /by

I am not a teacher. I give all the credit in the WORLD to teachers. They are amazing, devoted and committed to their students in a way I could never replicate.

I did, at one point consider being a teacher… I shadowed my sister in law for a day while she taught her second grade class, to see if I had possibly found my calling. The only “calling” I heard was the one in the back of my mind urging me to get out the classroom as quickly as I had gone in! I realized almost immediately that teaching was not for me. I have a great respect for the people who dedicate their lives to teaching. Not only their time, but also their own hard-earned money and most importantly, their heart. I can see it the faces of nearly all the teachers I know. A HUGE shout out to you for your hard work, and big hearts.

I have realized these last few days, while stuck in this house, that even though I’m not teaching them per se, they are still learning. I have seen growth in my children in way that both warms my heart and breaks it all at once. I see them flourish before my eyes. I see them truly understanding that family matters most, above everything else. That siblings are a gift. That there are ways to make the best of a crummy situation. That being kind to one another is not that hard. That being stuck within the same 4 walls for several weeks at a time, sucks. That COVID-19 sucks. That Mama and Dad work a lot. That we go through a lot of food. Like A LOT of food. That doing school work at home takes barely any time at all (compared to 8 hours at school)! That playing with your siblings can actually be tons of fun. That sleeping in a tent, in the house is almost as much fun as sleeping outside. That you can learn science while making cookies, rock candy and dinner. That if you become part of the “clean plate club” at lunchtime, you get candy. That if you help out Mama around the house, you get extra screen time. That using your imagination is actually fun. That getting outside can feel like recess… They learn at school, of course, in a way that I cannot replicate at home. But what I can offer is real life lessons, snuggles, cookies and my love. I’ve watched them learn, in this short time, that life is precious and at any moment, things can be drastically changed before we even realize it has happened. They have learned to take things for granted a little less and to be a little more kind, and in this moment, I’ll take that as a win.

Slow down, love your babies, snuggle more. Learn some lessons.