Isn't it funny how quickly life can seem to change? How we can go from seeing the world from a certain perspective to having a completely different lens overnight?
Today is Wednesday, which
normally means early out for my kids at school. It means that
normally I take them to school, come home, work out, shower, get ready for the day, clock in and tap into one of my creative outlets by styling a few of my Clients for Stitch Fix, clock out and pick up the girls from school, come home and prep dinner, take Claire to piano and Hannah to volleyball practice, and then home by 6:30 to have dinner with the family before it's time for showers and tv or reading before bed. Not today. Today, Wednesday, March 18, 2020, it is the first Wednesday we are home because of the new lockdown/shutdown procedures put in place due to the coronavirus.
Last Friday afternoon I knew it was coming, and by the day's end, we got word that the kids would be out of school for the next 3 weeks in an attempt to lower the curve and stop the virus from spreading. I thought that was crazy news. And then yesterday we got another update, that school will now be postponed until 4/30. Whoa. Deep breaths. Stay positive. Ok, I can do this. And then, reality starts sinking in when I realized that by that point, there really are only a few more weeks left of this school year. Are they really going to be out for 8 weeks and go back only for a few more? Or will they most likely be home until their next school year begins? Will this be the "longest summer in history" for moms/dads everywhere?
This has been so much to process. Not just from the standpoint of suddenly putting the pressure on myself to be a stay at home teacher/homeschool mom, while trying to work from home, but also trying to process everything else. What is happening to our economy, to everyone's jobs, to my family and friends? When will the fear and panic seem to subside amongst people? Don't they know that they will most likely be ok and not get sick from this virus? That the reason for this lockdown is all to protect our communities and people that we love? To keep our hospitals from becoming inundated and overflown with so many patients that they can't keep up?
I'm not sure if I'm even ready to write about the food situation right now. I know there is plenty of food supply for all. I know that later people will probably fall back into their old habits and even take for granted a fully stocked grocery store on every corner. I know that I've been telling myself that ever since I heard that toilet paper was becoming increasingly harder to find. But I know I will never forget the fear and the unsettled nervousness in the pit of my stomach when I first went into Sam's Club last Friday because I thought I better go get a few things if we are going to be home for 3 weeks with a constantly hungry teen and pre-teen. I walked in and have never seen more people or more chaos at a grocery in my life. I walked in and was so nervous by the crowd I walked right back out. I thought I'd try Albertson's because I heard that they still had TP. I walked in and the same thing. Items were flying off the shelves and into people's carts and the lines went all the way to the back of the store. And a sign that said, sorry no TP. I went home. I went home and ran into my own pantry to take stock of what exactly we did have and how long I thought it would last. I ran into each bathroom and counted how many rolls of TP we had and calculated how long I thought that might last. I went to bed with a pit in my stomach afraid that the food might run out and I don't even have extra TP or an emergency preparedness kit put in place for my family. No, those feelings are something I know I won't ever forget.
I woke up at 4am today because my brain doesn't seem to want to stop right now. I'm making mental lists of how we can fill our days with learning and school during the week. I'm also running through the foods in my fridge and freezer and trying to meal plan and create ideas that will keep the kids full and not waste any produce or meat that we have. I'm wondering if I should make the girls lunches at night so that during "lunchtime" during our school days at home we are still keeping with some sort of consistency and routine that looks somewhat like or old
normal did. I went to bed with a stack of cookbooks to look through and a journal making lists of ideas for "home" school. One of them was to journal every day. Them and me. Today, I woke up and thought that instead of journaling with pen and paper, I would once again, dust off the old blog and document this "
new normal". Follow along if you'd like. Share your comments so we can connect and share ideas on learning how to navigate this uncharted terrain.
I don't quite have a system or schedule in place just yet. But I am a person who thrives on schedule and routine. So hopefully we will discover a
new normal soon. Today, this Wednesday, it's not early dismissal for the girls at school. Today, Mr. Hass was also up early because he couldn't sleep. Instead of worrying about the meal plan this week or the school curriculum at home, he was wondering what the ICU will look like when he gets to the hospital today. He had yesterday off and we were up and out the door early to stand in line at Sam's Club in an attempt to find TP. No luck. We bought industrial-sized paper towel rolls and a 1200 pack of napkins instead. Hoping we find TP before it comes down to that, but it's the start of my emergency preparedness kit I suppose. He may be working much longer hours than "normal" because of all the employees who now also have kids that are home from school. I've mentally added Mr. Hass to my list of people I'm worried about. He helps keep me calm and always eases my fears. Hoping I can do the same for him as he may be facing some very long days in his near future.
Today, Wednesday, 3/18/20, instead of early dismissal from a normal school day, we're trying to find
new normal. We will probably swing into Miguel's Jr.'s drive-thru and support one of our favorite small businesses for lunch. For now, I am going to go work out, make smoothies for all of us from Catherine McCord's new book Smoothie Project, and then... well, stay tuned.
Xo,
Genn
