Official Austin COVID-19 thread and discussion. (Spring: homes, school districts, tax)

[Westerner92]

Originally Posted by cBach

I've been raking up all the leaves and pollen and spent all day yesterday taking mulch out of my rose garden, moving it to other just planted trees/shrubs and then I loaded the rose garden with rocks. I had my portable speaker blasting and every other neighbor came out and did the same thing. I guess they liked my music?

One silver lining to this whole thing is that neighbors are getting to know each other better. Most of the houses on my block have large front porches, and we’re actually all using them, making small talk while out on walks. I now know who all the fellow Texans on my block are. One of them even went to my high school alma mater when Buddy Holly was there!

[oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots]

[quote=verybadgnome;57707039 My online order went through so far so I'll stop complaining.

[COCUE]

I'm definitely getting to know/put faces to houses in my neighborhood. We take the kids out in the evenings for a walk around the neighborhood to leave the house. But I'm somewhat envious of folks that are able to do house chores. There are so many things we would have loved to do but DH and I are working from home, kids are all home and its like herding cats (2 - 10 years old). This distance learning thing is tough but i am ever so grateful that we are all healthy. The kids still need a lot of oversight and refereeing:-)

Also grateful that we are bulk shoppers, we both work and we have a lot of mouths to feed (7). DH & I, a grandparent and the kiddos. We have a grandparent in her late 70s albeit super healthy but still in a high risk group. My kids are so young that they are not super well versed in all the safety instructions. I really would not want to be going to grocery stores right now. I generally go to HEB or Walmart every 2 weeks and spend around $350, DH goes to ethnic supermarkets near his job in central Austin to buy specifics things like huge boxes of rice:-) and ethnic foods like 1x a month and we go to Costco about 6 times a year. I spent an extra $150 2 weeks ago and we have enough food and filled our extra refrigerator and chest freezer in the garage. I have a curbside pickup at the weekend and another in 2 weeks for randoms like milk, eggs etc.

Hope everyone continues to stay safe!

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by ScoPro

Who wants to go there?

I actually didn't know until recently that Little Rock had such a crime problem. You would never guess it just staying on the interstate, it just seemed like another small town but they have some pretty serious stuff going on as far as crime.

I was basically thinking of going up to DFW and catching I-30 to Little Rock, then I-40 to Memphis, coming down I-22/U.S.78 to I-20 .. it adds about 2 hours .. I've done it once before coming back during a hurricane which was pummeling Louisiana. Arkansas surprisingly had alot of state troopers though.

Oh and... needing gas out near W.Memphis is not a good idea.

[riaelise]

I've been working in my gardens - mostly laying compost and amending the soil. I really miss lifting weights. I am getting my fitness in by doing manual landscaping labor and it is a lot of land to work by yourself.

I've been spending time with the kids and family. I really don't miss going downtown at all. Overall the quarantine has been great for being with family and getting things done. I'm even more productive workwise as well. My stress levels have gone down.

[Trainwreck20]

The working from home is fine...the having kids home from school is a bit problematic. Not terrible, as they can entertain themselves for the most part (they are 10 and 13), but their education is going to suffer a bit. We do manage to get in 1-2 hours a day of something educational and the school is starting to 'ramp up' (which helps), but it is not optimal.

[riaelise]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

The working from home is fine...the having kids home from school is a bit problematic. Not terrible, as they can entertain themselves for the most part (they are 10 and 13), but their education is going to suffer a bit. We do manage to get in 1-2 hours a day of something educational and the school is starting to 'ramp up' (which helps), but it is not optimal.

Mine are 8 and 13. This is our second week of distance learning. The school actually had to dial the work back a bit. It's a work in progress and keeping kids on task is challenging. Academic wise, hard to say, since there will also be no STAAR. I feel not having that test is problematic and I've never seen anything like that before. As much as STAAR has its share of complaints, I think not having it is..I don't know, not great either. You'd like to see your kid's progress.

[COCUE]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

The working from home is fine...the having kids home from school is a bit problematic. Not terrible, as they can entertain themselves for the most part (they are 10 and 13), but their education is going to suffer a bit. We do manage to get in 1-2 hours a day of something educational and the school is starting to 'ramp up' (which helps), but it is not optimal.

Originally Posted by riaelise

Mine are 8 and 13. This is our second week of distance learning. The school actually had to dial the work back a bit. It's a work in progress and keeping kids on task is challenging. Academic wise, hard to say, since there will also be no STAAR. I feel not having that test is problematic and I've never seen anything like that before. As much as STAAR has its share of complaints, I think not having it is..I don't know, not great either. You'd like to see your kid's progress.

We are in LISD and this is just day 3 of distance learning. First week out was spring break and then last week M - W was the prep. My older kiddos in school have daily zoom calls and its kinda funny when someone says "i have to go, i have a call, please try to not scream".. DH and I look at each other and chuckle because they are just repeating what we day to them when we work from home and they are home rarely.

my older ones are somewhat self directed but i have a toddler who usually is at preschool even when LISD is closed for all the random off days that schools have. its as TW said problematic.

Yep, Riaelise, i'm conflicted about the STAAR vs no STAAR and i dont like the test. I just worry that this year will just be tough to know what they learnt. But then i tell myself that in the scheme of things, this is but only a short time in their lives and in 20 years time, perhaps it will just be a story they tell their children if we are all so lucky

[riaelise]

Originally Posted by COCUE

We are in LISD and this is just day 3 of distance learning. First week out was spring break and then last week M - W was the prep. My older kiddos in school have daily zoom calls and its kinda funny when someone says "i have to go, i have a call, please try to not scream".. DH and I look at each other and chuckle because they are just repeating what we day to them when we work from home and they are home rarely.

my older ones are somewhat self directed but i have a toddler who usually is at preschool even when LISD is closed for all the random off days that schools have. its as TW said problematic.

Yep, Riaelise, i'm conflicted about the STAAR vs no STAAR and i dont like the test. I just worry that this year will just be tough to know what they learnt. But then i tell myself that in the scheme of things, this is but only a short time in their lives and in 20 years time, perhaps it will just be a story they tell their children if we are all so lucky

Yes, I'm concerned that I won't know where they're at going into next year. Next year brings a bunch of new concepts. Simply skipping a year will bring some detriment. We're not educators, plus we're balancing working at the same time. I'm concerned that my kids will be behind but then again, their peers are in the same boat.

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by riaelise

Yes, I'm concerned that I won't know where they're at going into next year. Next year brings a bunch of new concepts. Simply skipping a year will bring some detriment. We're not educators, plus we're balancing working at the same time. I'm concerned that my kids will be behind but then again, their peers are in the same boat.

Do you think it would have been better to have instead finish the current assignments at home then give them the rest of the semester off and bring them back during the summer, maybe give them 2 - 3 weeks off before the next semester and then go back for the next year?