There are some things that haven’t changed too much due to our home quarantine. We still get up at the same time, play with the kids all day, and in between manage to clean the house and mow the lawn. Some things might be harder, so we just don’t do them, or are putting them off. Dentist appointments, mattress shopping, haircuts. But then there are other things. Things that are much harder now, but cannot be put off. Things like blood draws for the kids. We have actually put it off as long as we could, but it was finally time to get it done.
So we donned our masks, brought our hand sanitizer and container of lysol wipes, and headed out. Part of it was completely normal. Checking in, giving insurance information, waiting in lines. But it was also very strange. Masks everywhere. Stops and checks and spacing. Using our feet to open doors. Not letting the kids out of our arms so they couldn’t touch anything. I felt like I was being hyper aware with everything I did, which was exhausting.
They both did great, though. One of them cries every time they see a person in a mask, so that made things a bit more difficult, but we got through it. They both left with stickers and a rash on their arms that mirrors the same one I get when I have blood taken. So I guess anemia isn’t the only thing they got from me.
When we got home, we spent the rest of the day outside, enjoying a new gift from some neighbors. They got the kids one of those red cars that you drive with your feet, Flintstones style. They’re both the perfect age for it, and love it, of course. I can already tell that we’re going to live outside this summer which at least makes life feel normal. And it’s only going to make it so much harder when we’re all forced back inside this winter when the likely second wave hits.
While we were outside, though, we did something I thought was years off, and made me really surprised at how far we’ve come as a family. It may sound stupid, but we weeded an entire flower garden as a family! Seriously though, up until this point we’ve always had a baby we’ve had to hold. We’d have to wait until nap time, or trade off baby duty in order to do anything outside. I thought we were years away from being able to do anything not kid related. Years away from having our children be able to help us with stuff.
But it happened. Even G was pulling up weeds and putting them in the pile for us. They were both completely happy to be working with us, and we actually got work done! It was a fun peek into what life might look like in the future when we’re spending less time with high chairs and diapers and we have more time for other things.
But for now, we’re still mostly in that baby period. Our lives revolve around schedules and naps, which is a good thing, mostly. It’s been allowing us to work from home while they’re here with us, and also keeps us sane. Both of our kids are really good at nap and quiet time. They either sleep the whole time, or play quietly in their cribs until we go get them. Sometimes, though, G gets a little restless. We’ve found if we give him a fun toy to sleep with, he’ll be more than happy to play. It started with small quiet toys that interested him, but has quickly dissolved into large trucks as big as he is that make lots of noise.
The other day I threw Flappy in there with him. He slept a good two and a half hours, maybe a bit more before I could hear him moving around through the wall. Tom and I were both on calls that went right up to the end of nap time, so we were praying that we wouldn’t have to go in early to get the kids. In the middle of my call, I could suddenly hear Flappy through the wall. “Hello baby! Hello baby! Hello! Hello baby, let’s sing together! Hello! Hello baby!” Hey, it not only got us through our meetings, it made my boss laugh.
