I woke up yesterday and seriously thought it was Wednesday, when in fact it was Thursday. I thought about putting up a sign that says something like “Today is [Friday] and today we [work/don’t work].” But then I realized I’d probably forget to update it, and confuse myself even further. Everything is so disorienting, I really need to spend a few minutes each morning trying to remember what I’m supposed to be doing, and when.
We can only take things one day at a time. There is no planning, and no looking forward. Sometimes it’s even less, focusing on one hour chunks. One hour of working, one hour playing with the kids. Which, speaking of time.. remember when a two week shut down felt impossible? And now we’re a week into it and thinking how EASY two weeks would have been compared to the months we’re facing instead. Will the months ever feel easy? I get panicky thinking about it.
It’s hard to tell if the kids really notice anything is different. I’m sure G doesn’t, since kids that age don’t really have a concept of time. And even though E is aware there isn’t daycare right now, there wasn’t at Christmas either. So I don’t think he knows that anything is wrong or different. It’s just home time, where they get to play with Mama and Dah.
Which, if anything good comes from this, it’s all the extra time we get to spend with each other. These years really do go by so quickly, so having a forced slow down to enjoy them at this age is actually a pretty big gift. Sure I wish we didn’t also have to work at the same time, but I’ll take what I can get. I wish it wasn’t at the cost of not seeing the rest of my family or any of my friends, but considering I don’t have a choice, I’ll focus on the gift I have.
I feel like we found a sort of rhythm this week. It wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t what we wanted, but it worked okay. I worry a bit about what happens when the kids get sick of the toys we have, the crafts we’re doing, and the food we have to offer, but we’ll deal with that when we get there. Without knowing if further supply chains will get disrupted, it’s impossible to plan for things that might be hard to get in the future.
For now, a “normal” day has been looking like this:
5:00am: Tom and I get up, shower, and eat breakfast. All the advice seems to say that a routine is important, so we’re still sticking to our routines. I might have swapped my jeans for yoga pants, but I haven’t shown up to “work” in my sweatpants yet. I usually log in sometime between 5:30 and 6:00 every morning.
6:30: The babies wake up, and Tom gets them, brings them down stairs, and eats breakfast. The one rule of routine we’d relaxed is making them get dressed every day. E’s not a big fan of changing clothes, so enforcing a once a day PJ change is enough for now. I occasionally get G dressed, mostly because he’s easier to get changed, but also I do feel like I notice a mood shift when we’re wearing clothes instead of PJs.
9:00: I stop work for a bit, and Tom logs in. I usually have a pretty good idea of what they’ve been doing – I can hear if they’ve done some dance parties or rode bikes or gone outside. Since it’s my strength, I usually use this time to do something creative with them. Art projects, cooking, or the other day I somehow made play dough with them. At one point I was entertaining two children, stirring the concoction on the stove, and managed to answer a video call from the neighbors next door. Let’s just say that multitasking is the new normal around here.
G’s favorite activity lately is “water play” or when I give him a Tupperware full of water and see how long it takes until he dumps it over his head. It will always end with an outfit change and mopping up the floor, but it’s a guaranteed 10 minutes to get something done. And that is a miracle when you have a one year old.
E loves all his normal things, cooking, art, riding bikes.. but the thing that has surprised me, is that he’s finally hit the “enjoys books” phase. We’ve been reading to him all along, of course, but his attention span has been short, and he usually runs around as we read. This week, though, I’ve noticed that he’s paying more attention to the story, asking questions, and looking at the pictures. A few times a day he’ll bring me a book and we’ll sit on the couch to read it. If it’s a new story, he might ask us to read it 4-5 times in a row until he knows it. This is something that wasn’t happening even a week or two ago. I’m definitely thankful for the opportunity for a “quiet” activity!
10:30: I usually bring the kids upstairs around this time and read a few books and put G down for his nap. We had tried to sync their naps so we’d be able to have more fun in Florida. Turns out instead we’ve synced them so we can get some work done instead… oh well. E usually follows for his nap by about 11.
11:00 – 2:00: This is time where Tom and I can get work done, eat lunch, and get anything else done around the house that needs doing. It’s speed cleaning bathrooms as dinner is cooking and I’m also answering work emails or on a conference call time. Whatever it is, it’s definitely needed.
2:00 – 4:00: Tom and I have been switching off in the afternoons, sometimes hourly. Someone will get them up from naps and feed them lunch. If it’s nice out, they might go outside. Otherwise it’s more crafts, puzzles, toys time.
5:00: Bedtime starts. I bring the kids upstairs, we brush teeth, have a drink of water and get in PJs. They play in their rooms for a bit, and depending on how tired they’re acting (some night they’ll lie down and just ask to go to bed haha), they’ll go to bed somewhere between 5:45 – 6:15.
6:00-8:00: (Assuming Tom’s able to sign off.. sometimes he’s on until 8) Get stuff done and relax time. Food prep, activity ideas for tomorrow, negotiating schedules of who has the kids and when for the next day, both picking up and cleaning the house, anything else that was ignored during the day, and maybe an hour of TV. All to do it again the next day…
