Last week the boys were mostly home but I had a few doctors' appointments and we were making grocery runs to get stocked up for awhile, so Matt and I were still going a few places, besides him working. Now that our freezer and pantry (and TP stash) are sufficiently filled, the boys and I are home. Indefinitely. I ran to work (where I saw zero people) to pick up some papers on Monday, anticipating the "stay at home" order that was announced while I was gone and now I don't know the next time I will be leaving the house. Or at least leaving the house by car. I'm hoping the weather cooperates enough soon that I can get in a few (painful) runs! And maybe some walks with the boys too.
This whole thing still feels very surreal. We've accepted it as normal for now but when I stop to think about it, my mind is blown multiple times a day. We've really shut down schools, closed churches, almost shut down the world in order to stop this thing. It still feels like at any moment someone could say "psych!" and the world would immediately go back to normal. I ache for my normal routine and seeing people in person outside of those I live with. And I'm an introvert! But it is also comforting to have NOTHING on the calendar and our days completely open, outside of schoolwork and all that. But nothing to schedule around, no mornings of rushing out of the house. It's like what I think Christmas break will be like except...it's scary when it's actually like this.
Life is far from normal right now but there is still a lot of normal that needs to happen. I still do laundry. I still read to the boys. We still need to eat. I still want the house to be relatively picked up. A few things that have helped my sanity in the past two weeks:
1) Keeping routine
Obviously, huge parts of our routine are different - I'm not doing twice a day school runs - but there are things that I have kept doing. I've still been updating photobooks on Monday evenings and doing bills on Wednesdays. I am still aiming to workout each weekday morning. Luke still has a chore to do most days. A lot is different but a lot is the same.
2) Focus on now
I start to get real panicky about this virus if I thing about how long the quarantine could go on or what could happen if people close to us get sick. I do much better if I focus on what we have to do today (schoolwork, house things) and tomorrow (schoolwork, house things). The best thing I can do is stay home with the boys and take care of them, and enforce regular hand washing.
3) But still plan
We maybe did a little too much grocery shopping last week (it took us until mid-week to really find meat and milk!) so I sat down earlier this week to do a menu plan for the next 4 weeks as assured myself we have plenty of food. We will likely run out of milk in about 10 days and that will warrant a trip to the store for that and a couple other items (maybe some fresh fruit) but otherwise, we are good.
Likewise I planned out my books, exactly what order I will read them, for the next month. Our library said they will reopen after Easter but I would not be surprised if that's extended so I am mixing in my library books with books I own and e-books I've put on hold through the library. To assure myself I have plenty of books, for awhile at least.
4) Keep the house clean
I do much better when the house is cleaned-up, everything put away. That means toys put away before nap and bedtime. Luke's school papers cleared off our dining table in the evening. Dishes done, kitchen floor swept. When I can't control much about this, it's reassuring to control how my house looks.
5) Watch social media time
My screen time was HIGH in the beginning of this but now that everything is closed and there isn't much new pressing news, I've tried to put away my phone much more. There are still pretty active text convos going with both sides of the family but I've cut my social media usage back to closer to what it was before Corona and I am much better, mentally, for it. Plus, more time for my boys AND more reading time.
Other than Matt working near the belly of the beast, things haven't been bad for us at all. I appreciate hearing how others are coping with this and I also feel it's important to do my own documenting of this time in history. Because this is a specific time in history. I'm trying to take pictures and write things for myself, keep a few more papers than I would normally - the ones saying school is closed and such. Having a plan for looking back on this some day makes it feel like it will be over. Some day this won't be our normal but I want to remember the specifics of a time when it was.
I'm getting in A LOT of reading with the boys and there are many days I don't put on real pants (yoga pants for the win). Life is weird but so much that is still the same. Luke still begs for screentime. Sam still yells "Hey!" at his brother multiple times a day. It's comforting to have so many little things that are still like life "before".
How are you handling the quarantine?
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