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.
It’s a little hard to believe that school starts next week and we’re still doing the exact same thing we were doing in March, when it ended. I keep thinking that we’ll wake up and things will be different. I keep thinking I’ll stop writing about it and talking about it. I keep thinking that I’ll start working out more and drinking more water. I keep reminding myself that this is an actual global pandemic and it’s okay to feel stuck and overwhelmed. Even still, I’m ready to not be stuck or overwhelmed.
At the beginning of the week, we got a better picture of what school will look like, at least in the beginning. Our system is doing a staggered schedule, so my girls will go to school on Mondays and Tuesdays and then have virtual lessons the remainder of the week. My initial thought was to be disappointed — even though I’d rather them stay home and safe with me — but now that I’ve formulated a plan for how our days will look, I’m feeling better about things. I’m also trying not to get to attached to our current schedule, since I’ve learned that the rug shifts beneath our feet, pretty much every day.
The last few weeks, I’ve been getting up really early in the mornings to workout and get some work done before Polly gets out of bed. I still have plenty of work to do during the day, but giving myself a few kid-free hours to get the more complicated projects done, has made a world of difference. Today, I was done with my entire to-do list by 8 o’clock, so I dropped Ella off to babysit and took the little girls out for a morning date. We ate biscuits in the car and were waiting at the library door when they opened.
It was Polly’s first public outing and she did so good. I had no intentions of making her wear a mask — it’s only required for patrons under six years old — but when she saw that Sophie and I were wearing them, she insisted. Believe it or not, she left hers on for almost thirty minutes and barely paid it any attention at all. She had never been to the library before and was very impressed. She kept saying, “These books are so cuuuute!”
We were back home by 9:30 and Sophie volunteered to be the babysitter today, while I finished up a few more projects for work. A spontaneous trip to the library was exactly what I needed to whip my attitude into shape. I’m predicting we’ll need to come up with some other fun outings to keep my mind off of how bizarre our lives have become and to keep my kids from melting into the couch!
