I left the house for the second time since we self-quarantined – don’t worry, I didn’t see anyone or touch anything. (And to clarify, when I say that “I left the house,” I mean that I left our property – like went in the car and physically left the property and went out in the “real” world). But when I was in the car I realized that I was in my … “house attire” … and you know what I mean by that. No, I wasn’t in my PJs, and no, my hair wasn’t up in a bun. But I had the crazy patterned yoga pants on… yeah. Not a proud moment, but it happened.
It’s been well over a week since we quarantined ourselves at home, and everyone is fine with this new normal at my house – for the most part. Everyone is very relaxed and content. We do the normal stuff – get up, have breakfast, go outside, do chores, do schoolwork, have lunch, rest/nap time, play, snack time, play outside, do schoolwork, have dinner, etc. It’s kind of like a weeklong weekend so far. We’re fortunate that our kids are not in need of constant entertaining and are fairly self-content for the most part. My challenge, however, has been finding motivation and the quiet space to work under the circumstances. Yes, on the few rainy and dreary days or late in the day, I’ve let them watch a show or something so that I could get some work done. But I feel guilty… Of course being the anti-device household that we are, I don’t really like that I’m utilizing it. But watching a cartoon or two is fine – really – especially under the circumstances. But I also feel guilty because my family is literally feet away from me and I want to be engaged with them, but instead I have to work. Perhaps this is why it is easier to “go” to work and work, rather than work from home with your family? Maybe? More productivity on the work-front, but of course not as many hugs and special moments. So which is the better circumstance? That might be an obvious one.
I’m sure there are plenty of you out there who are just killing this whole family/work/homeschool/everything-thing. And good for you, I really mean that. But I also know that it can be a lot – a lot of things to do all at once. And I’ve talked with a few of my mom-friends and most of us are all having to work while at home, and at the same time we are needing to homeschool our kids, while now cooking and preparing three meals a day, and keeping the house… ugh, it sounds exhausting just talking about it. And let’s not kid ourselves; the house is probably not that clean by this point.
But you know what? Who cares? The state of world health affairs is out of our control and all that we are being asked to do is stay home with our families in order to keep us all healthy and safe. That sounds like a stay-cation to me… minus having to work. But if we are all healthy, I think that we can consider ourselves lucky at this uncertain time. So why not just enjoy this and make the best of it? Spend a little more time doing crafts or a puzzle, trying out some new baking recipes, or even watching a movie – and just snuggle those kiddos. Because before we know it, they’ll be back at school and we’ll be back at work wishing that we were back at home with our families.
And maybe, just maybe, we can manage to do a little spring-cleaning during this time at home? … or maybe that’s just being too ambitious? I guess we’ll find out in the next few days.
Stay healthy and keep your families safe.
