Today is the first shopping trip that I have seen a decent supply of toilet paper on the shelves. It wasn't as much as what used to be normal, but they weren't completely bare this time. I think we are adapting to our situation better now, finding new routines and new habits.
Being home-schoolers, we are naturally home more often than most people, but we aren't home this often. Everyone misses getting out to visit friends. I miss our local library and shopping just for fun. I am beginning to miss hair salons and other places like the eye doctor, dentist, and our new natural care center providers. Those places are all closed except for emergencies right now.
In the bigger city, I would guess around 60-75% of people are wearing masks and practicing social distancing. Locally, it is less than that even though we've had cases of COVID-19 here in our little town. My goal has been to buy enough for 2 weeks so I don't have to go out more often than that, but so far I have had to go out each week for something or another. Mainly it is for staples like butter and our almond milk. Those things the online stores are completely sold out of or won't sell online, forcing people to go in and get them in person. My newest discovery is hand soap is one of those items. I shopped locally today and neither of the two stores we have had any in stock at all. We have dish soap and body wash, so those will have to suffice for now.
The kids have also changed some of their wants. We got them Styrofoam airplanes for Easter and a plastic racquetball set. They play with those things a lot! My oldest bought herself a pair of roller blades and now her sister has just gotten a pair that they both pitched in to purchase. I bought a cheap foam football with kickstand that they are super excited to play with outside. Little things they might never have been as interested in before we were stuck at home.
We've also been without a microwave for the past week. A royal pain in the rear. It isn't quarantine related other than we haven't called a repair man yet. My hubby is going to try to figure it out this weekend. I know many people don't cook with them anymore, but warming up leftovers is new to me and challenging when almost everyone in the family is heating their own individual food choice vs all of us eating the same food. I miss my mug cakes. I can still make a double batch for the stove top, but I haven't perfected the technique yet.
I have had sneezing fits like allergy sufferers for the past two months now. I can't seem to connect a cause for them yet, but it is driving me bonkers. Antihistamine pills temporarily resolve it completely, but they cause my little guy to have reflux because they are all created with corn starch in them and artificial dyes. I use essential oils and they reduce the frequency of my sneezes. I sneeze mainly in the mornings, it's like lying down all night just causes gunk to collect in my sinuses and gravity starts pulling it back down and tickles my nose when I get up in the morning.
These are just some random thoughts of how the quarantine is effecting our family. I have trouble imagining life returning to the way it was before, somehow I don't think it will. This experience is going to change our way of life even after the quarantine is over.
Friday, April 17, 2020
Tuesday, April 7, 2020
Living History
For school, we are listening to the book: Diary of Anne Frank: A Young Girl. We talked about some of the ways that Anne's life in hiding parallels our life of quarantine inside our homes. Thankfully we can still enjoy the outdoors and I can go grocery shopping, but life has changed so much in such a short time frame. Normally I would order a bunch of books from our local library system, but now I am learning how to use e-books, YouTube, and other audible book websites to supplement our school curriculum plans.
A friend of ours had a birthday this week. How disappointing it must be to not be able to have a party with friends. We sent him a gift via amazon and made a little video that we texted over to his mom's phone. She sent a picture of him beaming with his gift -he didn't know it was coming so it was a fun surprise for him! We have a birthday coming next month and are hoping that a party will be do-able.
Easter is next week. We're supposed to have snow that day and we'll watch service online as usual. We spent less on candy and focused more on gifts the kids could use and enjoy here at home. I bought a turkey for a nice big meal. Poultry is difficult to find lately, so I bought what I could, and whole bird seems to be what there is most of in the stores.
I can't order our almond milk from the stores since it is a "high demand" item. I have to physically go in to see if they have it in stock and buy some. Shopping has become a chore rather than a relaxing escape from the house. I no longer bring a purse, instead I put my ID and debit card in my pocket. In my other pocket, I keep my little spray hand-sanitizer. I wear my hair pulled back and a homemade face mask. In stores, people try to avoid each other. About half of them are wearing masks and half are not. I don't take any of my children with me so I have to go shopping when the timing works best to leave the baby at home.
When I get home, I don't enter the house until I have delivered all the groceries (one of my kids carries the bags from the door to the counter). Then when I get into the house, I remove all outer clothing and drop it in the washing machine. I run to the shower and wash in as hot of a shower that I can stand. Then I start the tedious task of wiping all of my grocery items down with cleaner and putting them away. It takes forever. I even wash all my produce before putting it away. I've been trying to do two weeks of shopping at a time, but it is hard when I can't find all the items I need for the meals I plan. I've started shopping to keep ingredients on hand verses specific meals planned. I couldn't get Chili Powder this past weekend. Chili powder. Seriously? Why does anyone need to stock up on that? Luckily, I can make my own taco seasoning using an AIP recipe that doesn't call for any chili powder. I just can't make chili until I get some more.
We are loving having my hubby home. We've figured out a better routine and how to work with his schedule and our schooling needs. On nice weather days, he joins us for a walk midday and we all love that time outdoors together. We try to get outside twice a day. I hope you are finding new rhythms to your days at home too. :0)
A friend of ours had a birthday this week. How disappointing it must be to not be able to have a party with friends. We sent him a gift via amazon and made a little video that we texted over to his mom's phone. She sent a picture of him beaming with his gift -he didn't know it was coming so it was a fun surprise for him! We have a birthday coming next month and are hoping that a party will be do-able.
Easter is next week. We're supposed to have snow that day and we'll watch service online as usual. We spent less on candy and focused more on gifts the kids could use and enjoy here at home. I bought a turkey for a nice big meal. Poultry is difficult to find lately, so I bought what I could, and whole bird seems to be what there is most of in the stores.
I can't order our almond milk from the stores since it is a "high demand" item. I have to physically go in to see if they have it in stock and buy some. Shopping has become a chore rather than a relaxing escape from the house. I no longer bring a purse, instead I put my ID and debit card in my pocket. In my other pocket, I keep my little spray hand-sanitizer. I wear my hair pulled back and a homemade face mask. In stores, people try to avoid each other. About half of them are wearing masks and half are not. I don't take any of my children with me so I have to go shopping when the timing works best to leave the baby at home.
When I get home, I don't enter the house until I have delivered all the groceries (one of my kids carries the bags from the door to the counter). Then when I get into the house, I remove all outer clothing and drop it in the washing machine. I run to the shower and wash in as hot of a shower that I can stand. Then I start the tedious task of wiping all of my grocery items down with cleaner and putting them away. It takes forever. I even wash all my produce before putting it away. I've been trying to do two weeks of shopping at a time, but it is hard when I can't find all the items I need for the meals I plan. I've started shopping to keep ingredients on hand verses specific meals planned. I couldn't get Chili Powder this past weekend. Chili powder. Seriously? Why does anyone need to stock up on that? Luckily, I can make my own taco seasoning using an AIP recipe that doesn't call for any chili powder. I just can't make chili until I get some more.
We are loving having my hubby home. We've figured out a better routine and how to work with his schedule and our schooling needs. On nice weather days, he joins us for a walk midday and we all love that time outdoors together. We try to get outside twice a day. I hope you are finding new rhythms to your days at home too. :0)
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