Covid-19 update from our family

Hi, Friends. We wanted to take a moment to update you about what's happening with our family and business during this crisis.

We're incredibly fortunate to be able to run this entire business from our home. Our inventory is all stored on our property and we're able to ship orders with minimal interaction with other humans. We're doing our part to limit the spread of this virus.

Quarantined at home

So far it's mostly life as usual here on the homefront. Our son, Opie is already a homeschooled kid so nothing has changed for him except his extracurricular activities are now virtual – violin lessons are now being done via FaceTime and his Gracie Barra Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu school is doing workouts via YouTube.

Thankfully we've always had little side projects going on so there is plenty to keep us busy and happy. Here's what we have going on in our lives:

  1. Spending time playing with our four dogs
  2. Planning and renovating our 1972 Airstream
  3. Preparing to build a greenhouse and chicken coop on our property
  4. Plant spring crops in our garden
  5. Cooking lots of delicious goodies including this delicious tropical jam.
  6. Binge-watching more Netflix
  7. Working on jigsaw puzzles from New York Puzzle Co.
  8. Taking 4pm catnaps
  9. Learning new crafts (Hello Blueprint!)
  10. Staying positive

Business amidst uncertainty

The virus has actually been affecting our business (slightly) since February when China went on lockdown. Since almost all of our products are manufactured there, we haven't been able to reorder and restock some of our bestselling products. That's not a huge problem (yet), but it's still a concern. While many of the factories in China are starting to re-open (at partial capacity), our primary factory hasn't been able to restaff yet.

It seems that everyone we are connected to in China - from our agent to the factory workers - are all in good health but they aren't able to travel between provinces at this time. You see, many factory workers travel from places in more central China, like Wuhan, where they are from to factories closer to the coast in order to find work. Most of those migrant workers haven't been able to return to work after being quarantined in their home province.

The good news that we've heard from our Chinese friends is that it's starting to get back to normal for them. They've done a great job of social distancing and they are seeing fewer new cases pop up. Overall, they seem ready to get back to work and life. Slowly but surely.

Finding a sense of normalcy

We honestly feel the best thing we can do right now is to keep calm and carry on while distancing ourselves from other humans as much as possible.

We're in a better financial spot than a lot of other people are right now so we're trying to support our local and small businesses in whatever ways we can. We're shopping small online and sending cards and gifts in the mail. 

We do still have plenty of alphabet magnets and they are a great tool for all you new homeschooling parents out there! We've gathered some mega fun magnetic activities on our Pinterest that will help your kids age 3-7 learn colors, letters, and numbers. We're also offering 25% off all purchases in our shop (Use Code Homeschool) through April 5th, 2020. 

Support small

If you are able, continue to support our economy by shopping small. Support your local shops and restaurants by ordering online and buying gift cards. If you aren't able to do that you can support them in other ways - write good reviews, follow them on social media, like their posts, share, repost, retweet. 

P.S. Don't hoard all the toilet paper. Wash your hands. Be nice to people. And if you have any questions about business, life, or homeschool leave them below and we'll answer them. 👇