Momming Hard: COVID Day 1

Yes, dear readers, I know it has been over two years 👀 since I last posted on my blog. To be fair, it has been on my to-do list for some time. Every time we have a vacation or hit a child's milestone, I have every intention of writing about it. But... life gets in the way and here we are 29 months later.

And what is life right now? We are in the midst of the coronavirus. School is closed for two (+)?? weeks, and my entire family of four is home together. We are learning about what 'social distancing' means in our socially active neighborhood. I made a 'school schedule' for the kids to follow. My DH has taken over the upstairs office, while I moved to the basement poker table to host my 'home office'. I think I got the better end of the deal, as I sit here staring at the bar and the bottle of wine waiting for me at the end of the work day...

I read somewhere that writing/journaling/recording what happens during this time is very beneficial. Just the push I needed to find my blog again!  So here we are. Day 1.

I created a schedule for each kid. On Day 1 they were very excited to follow the schedule and kept checking the time to see what to do next. 

I gave them an option of (electronic-free) creative activities to do. Ainsley started on a puzzle, and Parker built a Gravity Maze that he got for Christmas. 

The kids were, of course, very excited about recess time. We are blessed to have beautiful weather - sunny and mid-50s - to spend time outside. We took a family walk after lunch and collected rocks. The kids then painted the rocks during creative time that afternoon. We'll hide them along the paths later this week!

To stop the constant question of 'what are we eating??' I created a lunch menu. 

Panda is very curious about what I'm doing in the basement. He enjoys trying to 'catch' my mouse, and trying to see himself on my screen during video conference calls. 

The dogs love having the house full of people. During creative time, Ainsley decided they all needed to be dressed up for a theater production. 

After that production, a neighbor walked down the sidewalk with her dog. We invited them to the back yard for a doggie play date. 

Mommy had a play date too. Outside only. And sitting 5 feet apart. 

If this is any indication of what is coming, I have learned a few things:

1.  I look terrible on video conference calls. I understand now why people on TV need professional make-up. Seriously.

2. There's a logical reason there is no toilet paper in any grocery store. Do you know how much toilet paper our family of four uses when we are home 24/7? A LOT.

3. I need more wine. Even our fully-stocked bar isn't going to get us through eight (or more) weeks of this.