So, How has quarantine been treating you? The videos I have watched about covid-19 and the news scares me so I am all about quarantining… But! It is rough! In no way does our “rough” compare to all of the medical field and sick people around the world. But none the less, for all of the people at home we are still dealing with our own form of “rough”. I have a first, second, and third grader at home. We do school work Monday through Friday for a few hours each day. I have actually been surprised at how well it has worked out. Their teachers are super organized and helpful. The kids definitely fight me on it but I am a master at bribing. But it is a lot! I am ashamed about the amount of times I have to google things for 3rd grade math and science. Is this a larva? Is a rhombus also a parallelogram? Aghh! Or try explaining cause and effect to my son who is yelling “blast off!” and running in place. ADHD does not go away for a pandemic. We were just told that schools are officially not going back this year. We all knew this was coming. But that means 6 more weeks of homeschooling. Deep breath. But, there have been some benefits to doing school with my kids. We sleep in a little and eat breakfast without rushing. Now they even help to make the breakfast sometimes. We complete an assignment and then go for a walk, bike ride, jump on the trampoline, watch a show, or play a game. We finish more school. We make lunch and eat together… Unless I hide in my room to get a little space while they eat. Then more school and then I tell them, “OKay, you finished for today! you are free!” And they run off as fast as they can. The kids are getting a lot more down time. Kiley used to cry sometimes after school because she was tired. We aren’t running to basketball or juijitsu or gymnastics after school now. We are playing, planting gardens, camping on the patio, baking everything, drawing, painting, doing so many things that we have not had time for.
Even though some good things have come out of a forced quarantine there is no denying that the days are running together and sanity is lost at times. I actually fixed my hair one day and Colt said, “You look different.” We set up an office for Duane in the closet. It is his cloffice. I am zooming with my small group at church. I facetime my family and text my friends. I am lucky enough to have neighbors that we can hang out with. But I miss getting dressed, going somewhere, not feeling stuck. I miss the gym, nail places, restaurants, church, seeing friends in person, family get togethers, date nights, ALONE TIME, I miss my brother and seeing my kids involved in activities.
It is interesting to find out what you come up with when you cant go anywhere. I have jumped on a trampoline after years of telling my kids “not right now”. I have watched shows I didn’t have time for. And Tiger King entertained us all for a while. I got a fitbit and realized how little steps I take in a day. I have looked through old photos and memory books. I donated money to nurses. I dropped care packages to people with the kids. I face time with my mom now. I wonder why she only puts half of her face in the shot. The kids and I have picked flowers and made floral arrangements. We have played board games and done puzzles and gotten out play dough. We have taken art classes and painted We drive to drop off coffee and breakfast to Mimi. We refinanced our house and worked more on our budget. We have cleaned the house and organized closets and drawers. I have contemplated new tattoos, new hairstyles, getting a new fence, new careers. We have had a pizza Italian night. Did you know there is a music station called “Italian cooking music”. Try it out. We put up a hammock. I have slept in it, read in it, stared at birds and squirrels in it. contemplated the meaning of anything in it. Started to wonder if this is how you start to lose your mind so I went back inside. We drove over to our families houses and stayed at a distance to see them. The kids and I put leftover Easter eggs in our friends yard just to get out of the house. I have walked my dog so many times. She probably loves this quarantine. I have tried to persuade Duane to get me a golden retriever puppy. I failed. Good call, Duane. We have had all the wine, all the beer. Now I am taking a break from it. I started to make my bed every morning. Read the book “Make your bed”. It is written by a navy seal and it is a short read. I have had so much coffee. We have planted a garden in the backyard. Tomatoes, strawberries, and bell peppers coming soon. I put plants on the patio and have decided to make it a jungle haven out there. Then I fantasize about having land and chickens and goats and horses one day. I have read my bible. I have a stack of other books I am reading or going to read. I have read self help books and worked on our premarital counseling book. Duane and I have started doing a small devotional together and praying together. If that is not something good that has come out of all of this then I don’t know what is. We have made ev-er-y-thing in the kitchen. Banana pudding, beer bread, blueberry muffins, pumpkin cookies, chocolate chip cookies, pancakes, French toast, omelets, peach cobbler, and countless dinners. I have jogged in the mornings, found a snake once. I STARTED A BLOG. I have time now to do bible study with the kids, something I have always meant to do. I will start it and then we forget or I am tired or it is late. That has been fulfilling to finally start to do with them. Laundry and dishes are done daily 100 times. After week one I said, “you use one cup a day and one outfit a day!” We have done spa facials with the kids. They have done my makeup. oof. This is such a rant and I think it is fitting because that is how these days have felt.. like a blur of activities and teaching and trying to think of what to do.
The smart thing to do is to try to think of this time as an opportunity to enjoy what we never have time to do. I know that is easily said and hard to do. My anxiety has gotten worse. My patience has gotten worse. We had to reschedule our wedding which was supposed to be on May 2nd. We had to postpone our honeymoon. But as long as everyone stays healthy and we make it through this I will try not to complain. Kiley and Jack have birthdays coming up. They are 3 days short of a year apart so we always have a joint party. This year they know they cant have friends over. I was so worried about their reaction but they handled it so well. We bought a blow up slide and pool, gifts, decorations, and they get to make their own cakes this year. We are having a party with just us and I think it will be great. We had Easter just us and that was fun too. I missed my family being all together at my moms but we made it work. Mimi even came over and hid eggs for them and air hugged them from a distance. She also made everyone in the family a mask. The kids like to wear them and pretend they are ninjas. Jack wears his on every bike ride.
So the only thing I haven’t done is tried to get in shape, which is next. yay…… We might organize the garage, power wash the patio, put mulch in the front yard, come up with healthy meals, start yoga, go kayaking, de-clutter, send out cards to friends and family in the mail, create vision boards, play basketball in the driveway, watch the new little women movie, whiten my teeth, try “clean” makeup products, or finally dust all of the fans. The kids get to learn how to do different chores. They are about to start to get an allowance and have to budget their spending, saving, and donating. There is an endless amount of things we can come up with to fill our time.
This is a weird time in our lives but we shouldn’t waste it. We all have had our moments of being scared and stressed. We do not know why things like this are allowed to happen. Great advice I heard was that instead of asking God why things are happening, ask him what he is trying to teach you at this time. I am a firm believer that God does not cause these bad things to happen. Everything does not happen for a reason. We live in a broken world and bad things just happen sometimes. But he is with us through them. So while we continue to think of different ways to occupy our time, hopefully we can be grateful for our health and this extra time to not be distracted. Lets keep praying for the medical field, the people who are sick, people who have lost their jobs. We are apart but together.
Send me ideas on what you are doing during the quarantine! Thanks for reading.
ponderwithpatty 