Remote Learning Election Day Adventures: A Comedy of PJ’s, Diet Coke Explosions, and Pizza Chaos

Ah, Election Day! A day for democracy, voting, and—apparently—remote learning! With no alarm clocks needed, I let the kids stay in their PJs as long as they wanted, figuring today would be a mellow combo of relaxed learning and a sprinkle of science.

The morning started with full-fledged pajama mayhem. I assumed a morning of casual “learning” while lounging in robes and fuzzy socks would be delightful, but by 10 a.m., it was more like an extreme sport. Brittany is darting around in her mismatched pajamas, Blake is sliding across the floor like he’s training for the PJ Olympics, and I’m praying that something, anything, resembling learning will soon begin.

Science Experimentation with Explosions…Sort Of

By mid-morning, I declare it’s time for “Science.” Blake’s eyes widen at the sight of the Pepsi Zero, Diet Coke and Mentos setup in the yard. As any good science teacher would, I give a little spiel on chemical reactions (with my best “teacher voice”), and then I say the magic words: “One of you can drop the Mentos in.” Chaos ensues. Mentos fly in all directions, Pepsi and Diet Coke erupts like a yard volcano, and Blake is soaked and giggling before he even realizes he’s sticky from head to toe. Brittany, meanwhile, is channeling her inner chemistry teacher, claiming she “predicted this reaction” (oh, really?).

Harry Potter Time (a.k.a. My Attempt to Regain Sanity)

After cleaning up the sugary science explosion, I throw in a movie—Harry Potter, because let’s call it Literature Studies! As the opening music plays, the house finally quiets down. For 20 blissful minutes, both kids are enraptured. Just as I’m contemplating sneaking in a nap, Blake decides he’s now an aspiring wizard and starts “casting spells” with a broomstick. Soon Brittany is shouting spells back, and I’m half expecting one of them to turn the other into a frog.

Pizza Night Shenanigans

Dinner? Time for homemade pizza from scratch! Which, in this house, is synonymous with “prepare for a flour storm.” Blake and Brittany take on dough-kneading with enthusiasm, and I step back to let the magic happen. Dough flies, flour ends up in hair, and there’s a strong resemblance to a very messy cooking show with two contestants who have no intention of following any recipe.

Finally, we get some semi-circular blobs that somewhat resemble pizzas into the pizza oven, and everyone is beaming as they pull their creations out. It’s slightly burned, maybe, and not quite round, but we’re calling it a victory anyway.

Election Results & Bedtime…Almost

As the pizzas are finally devoured, we start our grand finale: checking the election results. As we stare at the red-and-blue map, I’m fielding questions like, “Can we vote for dessert again?” and “Is the map just a bigger pizza?” And at that point, I can’t blame them—it’s been a day of explosions, magic, and messy dough… of course, the final vote will always be for bedtime, because tomorrow... school is back at school!

~ Mary

#MomLifeWithMary