At first, there was nothing but hysteria, and now we’re starting to realize this may be the new normal for awhile. We’re in the midst of the Coronavirus, or COVID-19, pandemic, and no one knows what to do exactly or how to handle things. Toilet paper has been flying off the shelves, and I am sure at the end of all of this you’ll see some jerk returning to Costco with pallets they realized they couldn’t store, unless they purchased the shed on the Costco display too. Social media is nothing but COVID-19 news (meant to put the fear of God in you) and funny memes and videos, some of which are pretty good. One of my favorites went something like this: “With no where to go and nothing to do, there will be a spike in babies in roughly nine months. Over time we will come to call this generation Coronials. When they turn thirteen they will be quaranteens.” Just remember to contact me when you need a bigger home. 😉
I’ve been on so many Zoom calls and webinars lately, where everyone keeps talking about having all of the time in the world. They obviously don’t have small children, but guess what…they won’t be knocking off years of purgatory either. Just kidding, just kidding.
Speaking of Zoom calls. When we first started this whole social distancing thing, I used the video option so I could feel more connected to everyone on my Keller Williams Realty calls. Lately, I’ve realized I am hitting that “join with video” button less and less, seeing as showering has become an every-other-day kind of activity, and I don’t bother fixing my hair. Makeup was already something I didn’t embrace, so at least my face hasn’t changed.
Yes, social distancing has been a rude awakening for everyone, especially for those parents who work W-2 jobs in an office setting. All of a sudden they found themselves homeschooling, while trying to figure out the logistics of working from home. I admit, being the primary educator for my child was horrifying; however, I think it has likely brought me more grace and made me realize education doesn’t necessarily have to be as formal as it was when I was growing up. (To be honest, Pat and I aren’t even entirely behind sending our kids to college at this point.) I’ve stopped worrying about a structured curriculum as much, and I’ve come to realize when I start getting heated, the best approach is to walk away and come back to it later. Granted, my kiddo is also in preschool. I’ve been working primarily on letter sounds and writing with Pookie…one letter per day. Well, she kept referring to “itchy,” which I knew meant, “i,” but Pat was determined she thought “itchy” was a new letter in the alphabet. He may have been right, but I asked her tonight, “What letter is this?” as I drew a lower case “i” on a piece of paper, and she said, “i.” See, they get it, it may just not be right when you want them to get it. They’ll fall into line, exactly where they should and on their timeline.
Since all of this started, I’ve actually found it rejuvenating not to have the TV on in the morning. Pat gets the kids situated with breakfast, and then I assume responsibility for educating Pookie for about an hour. Then the girls play or do crafts. I’ll work with her periodically throughout the day too, but it’s less formal. We do daily walks, unless the weather is crummy, and we read more stories. The TV comes on around dinnertime, if at all, and we haven’t had it on during dinner more than a couple nights since all of this started. (I don’t even know what day it is anymore. Every day feels like a Wednesday, right?) We were pretty good about family dinners before COVID-19, but now we’ve perfected it. We may be the dinnertime family everyone else hates, but that’s OK because there are probably things your family does much better than ours. 😉
I won’t lie. There has been some anxiety on both Pat’s and my part. Despite having a full pantry, freezer and storage room, Pat looked at one too many headlines on Drudge at the beginning of all of this and didn’t think we had enough. Off to Costco he went to make sure we had enough for a couple months. Normally, when he goes to Costco, he gets three items and comes straight home. This time, Pat was texting constantly, “They don’t have this…They do have that… Should I get this?” I learned Costco was out of toilet paper (no surprise), baby wipes (no surprise), bulk rice (no surprise), but they did have canned beans, oatmeal, cereal, cheese and canned tuna. Don’t worry, they also had a ton of bottled water, should our water be turned off, but I was really more worried about stocking up on liquor.
These days, after a Costco run, I take everything out of the cardboard boxes or plastic wrap and dump it on the kitchen floor. I then wash the fruits or veggies in baking soda prior to sticking them in the fridge, and I Clorox wipe any containers before putting them in the pantry. I’ve now brought another level of anxiety into my OCD husband’s eyes. I honestly don’t know how we will avoid catching the rona, but I am just praying we don’t pass it onto those who may not be able to fight it.
This may not be the year any of us envisioned for ourselves, but I hope you’ll be able to find the silver lining. Maybe this is your year to:
- Grow closer in your relationships,
- Write a book,
- Realize you may want to do this homeschooling thing on a permanent basis,
- Better yourself physically,
- Focus on your family,
- Grow your relationship with God,
- Create your new business endeavor,
- Let yourself go gray, or
- REALLY learn patience.
We are so used to having everything at our fingertips, right when we want it. When I lived in Costa Rica for one year after college, I remember being content with just living. I didn’t care if I didn’t get a haircut the weekend I planned to have it cut. I stopped caring if my English class was cancelled because of a “cafecito” (aka, little coffee break), but guess what? Those people knew how to live. They were living the way we’re being forced to live now, and they were much happier and less stressed for it. Moving abroad wasn’t hard, but coming back here was brutal. No one knew what it was like for me living among my Costa Rican friends and family, but now you have a glimpse. We still had periodic social functions, yes, but my days were full of what, at first, seemed like a never-ending dull routine, or lack thereof, that I ended up embracing whole heartedly. While my life now is different than what it was like living in Costa Rica as a single 24-year-old, I am able to draw many parallels, and I am optimistic this time will work wonders for us as a nation. When things get back to “normal,” I expect some of us to actually experience a bit of culture shock. We’ll have started conditioning ourselves to being around our families, having meaningful conversations and connecting with old friends. Then, COVID-19 will pass, and things will go back to business as usual for many of us. THAT will be a rude awakening. Real estate may never go back to the way it was. I think COVID-19 has opened our eyes to quite a few efficiencies, and some of these virtual options will likely stick around.
I firmly believe at the end of this, we will become a more united society and family unit. Noise has taken over our lives, and if there’s any silver lining with the pandemic, I hope it’s that we see the opportunity to draw closer to our faith and become more communicative, relationship based and familial. My heart hurts for those who are alone during this time because while being in quarantine with small children has its moments, we are the envy of those without distraction. Our girls also have a constant playmate in one another, and our little Peanut is too little to remember any of this. I truly count my blessings. It was during a front yard picnic a few days ago, when Pookie said, “You know what? This is actually pretty fun.” It was in that moment that I realized she will remember this chapter in her life, and how she decides to remember it will be almost entirely based on how Pat and I choose to respond to it. No, she didn’t get her five-year-old birthday party, but guess what…there’s always six, and she had a blast with her family anyway. We did presents and cake on Saturday, and on Monday (her actual birthday) we were outside with chalk and finger paints; her little friend from school did a drive-by birthday song; we got on FaceTime with some family members; our neighbor dropped off a re-gifted bag o’ stuff that Pookie loved; she ate Kraft Mac & Cheese; and we flew a kite down our street. 
Our kids nowadays are given the world, when really maybe all they need is to learn in 20-minute increments throughout each day, to have picnics, do crafts, make cookies and play ball tag in the basement. Don’t feel like you’re letting them down because you can’t keep up with your job and homeschooling. They won’t flunk their current grade because of you, but they will remember the time they got to spend with you, what you taught them and what games you played.