I will be documenting our experiences, during the COVID-19 pandemic, to preserve this time at home together. Although the world is a very scare place at the moment, I want to be intentional about our days at home together and provide my children with the story of what it was we lived through. Day One for us was Monday, March 16th (I’m counting down starting with the first day our regular schedules were disrupted) — the first day the girls didn’t report to school.
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
During my commute on Monday, we got word that the counties where I live and work would be limiting gatherings of more than twenty people. They also announced closure of all restaurants and establishments, except for takeout and delivery. We feared that a limit on the number of people allowed in the grocery store might follow, so I made one last Walmart trip. We needed pain meds for Polly since we’re still battling an ear infection and I wanted to try and grab a few packs of wipes, since our diaper delivery hasn’t arrived yet. It ended up being the most overwhelming grocery experience of my life. I spent an ungodly amount of money on baking mixes, oatmeal, flour, sugar, and other things I could use to make food, instead of meal components. I bought what meat I could find and grabbed some fruit for the current week. It’s my last stop for awhile and I’m only just now feeling confident about what I’ve been able to hobble together. It is not lost on me that we are very privileged to be able to buy a month ahead and, even though it stretches our budget, we’re probably going to be okay.
Tuesday should have been a typical work from home day for me, but my load was pretty light. I barely got any emails or voicemails and I’m guessing it’s because we’re all still adjusting to a new normal. Instead, I got to spend a fair amount of time with the girls and tried to set our house up for success over the next 3+ weeks of intense family time.
I tried a new activity with Polly to encourage her to eat her banana. I sliced it with the peel on and let her take the rings off and put them in a bowl. She had a great time, ate half of the banana, and made a huge mess.
Sophie made a batch of mini muffins for breakfast. I’m trying to rely less on convenience foods, so I told the girls we’d be making breakfast and snacks for the foreseeable future. Brownies, cookies, and homemade bread are on my radar for this week.
There is some question about how many people you should engage with during quarantine, but we live in very close proximity to my parents and since my mom keeps my niece a few days a week, too, my sister’s family is also included. We let the kids run around and play in the yard for a few hours and it was a nice break from being trapped inside.
We also decided to be as productive with our time as we can. My dad and Josh installed our new french doors last night and the kids left notes “for the next owner” under the door jamb. We also plan to finish painting the interior of our house and install the flooring upstairs, since we can’t actually go anywhere for the next how ever many weekends. I’m trying to get some extra supplies ordered today.
The biggest to-do on my list yesterday, was to make craft supplies more accessible for the kids. They will eventually live upstairs, so they’ve been packed away since the holidays. I shifted everything in our kitchen to accommodate them and I’m hoping my kids will be more likely to use them now that they are eye level.
I swear my pantry has never been so full and I keep having to remind my kids that this needs to last us an entire month! We are requiring them to eat what I cook for dinner — even if they don’t like it — and we’ve limited what they have access to for snack. I’m not assuming we will be out of food at some point, but I am trying to stretch this as far as I possibly can.
I think my goal for the days I’m at home is to work on a project during one nap time and rest during the other (obviously this depends on how busy I am with work on a given day). I’d like to be productive with this extra time, but also be intentional on how I’m spending it with the girls.
