Come together right now!

These are strange times, something I have never experienced nor have my parents. We're mostly all on lock down, cant move, cant see our friends or family and do our daily routines.

We are human, we are social creatures by nature, no matter if you think you are "anti-social" studies show, we all need social contact. It's now been over three weeks in isolation with our family or closest friends. To say it has been an trying experience would be an under statement but we are trying determined to make it through all of this better than when we started.

While we attempt to implement a routine within our household to keep the kids busy, occupied and learning each day, it does not always go as smoothly as one would expect. We then pick up, discuss and learn from each hour and day to make the next one a little better. Our kids may not be following along with the Ontario curriculum exactly as intended, they are gaining many other skills that may not have been learn in a school setting. 

Some of these off learning skills have been (images above): 

• learning about S.T.E.M. by producing their own YouTube show called Shut in with the Sooley's;
• Learning the game of Crib and the math behind it 
• Family art lessons
• Learning about money, debt, credit, cash and working

These are all life skills that may be remembered a little more with the kids as being something they done as a family. 

There is also a much larger lesson that is being taught at homes all across Greely, Ottawa, Ontario and Canada. That is the lesson to being a good neighbor, friend and caring individual in general. 

This lesson seems to be showing more and more as the length of this continues. It goes back to the need to be social, people want to help and do what they can and that can come in many forms:

• Staying the blazes in your home even though you want to be social, meeting with your friends through technology to keep in touch;
• I've see friends sewing face masks and giving them away for free to people who need them;
• I've seen people picking up and delivering groceries to friends in self isolation or to people who are in vulnerable social category to catch the virus; and
• I've seen Front Porch Photography.

This last one is close to our family as my wife if a part time photographer and she decided to lend a hand into the front porch photography project. 

Over the last two weeks she set up a Go Fund Me page, where she invited people to give what they could as a donation to the Osgood Food Cupboard. Last weekend we drove around from property to property where she took family photos, from a long distance to ensure physical distancing, edited these photos and created a memory for the people who donated in this different time of our lives. 

She was able to raise just over $2000 and a local Greely resident topped it up to a whopping $2,250.00, with it all going to the Osgoode Food Cupboard for families in need in our neighborhood. 

Today my kids and I had the honor to go with my wife to meet the Director of Osgoode Food Bank, Denise, so Jodi could present her with the gift cards.

And this my friends is a lesson to Paige and Sadie on community spirit, giving, caring, sharing, teamwork, unity, love, giving, support, hope and so much more that no reading lesson or video could ever teach.

The good that will come out of all of this once it is all over, is how we all come together right now in a time of need to bring hope and guidance to each other. How we can and should strive to do better, each and every day.