Living in the time of pandemic: COVID-19 (5)
April 27, 2020
If you’d like to join me in helping Lakota families and/or rural libraries this year, please read this post. Over 6 weeks in 2019, we raised $2669.94 for the Lakota families, touching 27 lives. What can we do in 2020?
Current total: Lakota, $640.74; Rural libraries, $321.62.
Weeks 5 and 6 of shutdown in the Bay Area.
This is a record of our weekdays. Video calls with other kids have been spectacularly Not Fun.
Week 5, Day 1: Most of the time, I’m dropping quick money updates in PiC’s ear. He may listen, he may not, but he knows I’ve got it. Things are exceptionally topsy turvy because he actually asked for a check in on our finances. Since I’m obsessively on top of them, it was easy to give him the birds’ eye view. Basically: we’re on the right track, we have a plan, I tweaked it a bit, but as long as we keep our jobs and incomes, we will be ok. We stash lots of cash in case of job loss, but you know I’m going to worry if we do lose a job. It’s how I’m built.
Jenny got me thinking about the Dragonbox apps as way to incorporate math for the kiddo. I would have to find my iPad and charger though. 😬
PiC has me concerned about his job security. I don’t want to have to add worrying about his job on top of my not sleeping, and my extra heavy workload. I just do not want one more thing on this plate please and thank you. I last resolved to go limp on this one and I am very bad at it.
Week 5, Day 2: This was a particularly grumpy day. JB was defiant and rude and frankly bratty most of the day, and simply could not deal.
I was not in the best form myself and my patience wore thin by the time I hit the 6th repetition of simple instructions that they refused to follow. Thank goodness for the one day of warm sun to at least somewhat offset the high level of grouch of the day.
I couldn’t get into one of my primary banks to view updated transactions for the day. That was unnerving. I’m looking at my accounts frequently, they are my emotional security blanket. While we are still giving to help others, I’ve come to realize that even though we’re saving in a couple of budget categories, we are definitely not spending less overall. Drat. Throw that out with that whole “use the pandemic to learn something new!” thing that’s going around.
Week 5, Day 3: JB’s current grievances with the “corony”: We can’t go to hotels anymore. We can’t see Best Buddy anymore. Sigh. Yeah. I’m both overwhelmed with everything that has to be done and sad that there are so many fun things we cannot do right now. No swim lessons, no playdates with good friends, no library visits, no grocery shopping for me.
Then there are the not fun things that I needed to take care of this year: finding a good dogsitter, travel arrangements to support a loved one.
Week 5, Day 4: I don’t think I was able to step outside even once today. Work was a veritable flood AND I struggled mightily to get even the most basic stuff done. Luckily, we invested some of my very few brain cells into obtaining an amazing Peruvian meal (yuca frites and lomo saltado) for dinner and that helped lift my doldrums.
Week 5, Day 5: I am in mourning today for SDCC. It should be cancelled. I know it’s the right decision and there’s no way we can safely do this convention this year considering how things are right now. People would be coming from all over the world, this would be an infectious disease disaster. But I am still sad. JB is very sad.
This is the first SDCC we’ll miss in their short life and they have only been getting more into it with each year. Sigh.
Week 6, Day 1: By 9 am I had already forgotten it was Monday. That bodes well.
Our stay at homes from our employers have been changed to “indefinitely”. They didn’t want to keep pushing the date back when there’s not enough information to make real decisions on being able to come back but they do know schools are closed and there are no summer programs this year, nor is there much possible childcare, so anyone who has minor children would struggle to come back in any meaningful way.
So I’ve been working on getting educational and organizational supplies in order for JB. I’m not loving the expenditures or having yet more stuff in my home but we can’t spend the next four months just painting and coloring. We have a family member who can do online tutoring sessions that JB has responded to very positively and we’ll expand that into some kind of a regular program to make up for the fact that I have no time and am a terrible teacher. PiC has more time and is a better teacher than I, but neither of us are no match for an actual trained teacher. I’m much better at being support staff and a parent.
Keep. On. Slogging.
Week 6, Day 2: Hours of hunching over my computer has taken its toll. I normally have better posture but a week of not sleeping well has led to me sort of slumped over my desk during the days. Not good. I finally kicked myself out of work an hour early today because I really needed to NOT be going on all slow and sluggish pistons. I spent my hour working on Seamus’s pedicure and soaking his hot spots. That was soothing even if he wasn’t wholly appreciative of the attention.
We had high winds today so going outside for some sun time was good fresh air but way too cold to be out there for long. Nippy!
I threw together a quick gluten free, low carb, no sugar soda bread. It was a flop as soda bread for dipping in soup. It was excellent as a gigantic pie sized scone to eat with butter and jam. Happy accidents, I guess. 🙂
Week 6, Day 3: I am flat out of patience. We’ve been quarantined for 37 days today.
I don’t feel well, JB was on a low-blood-sugar rampage, and I simply could not deal. I had to abandon work-ship and walk away from my desk for a while to do kitchen prep so I could release the expectation that I’d get anything done when I was so tightly wound. That helped settle my mood a little. I should walk away more often but I worry that I won’t come back.
Day three of soaking Seamus’s feet to make them less sore. He remains grumpy and ungrateful about it.
Week 6, Day 4: PiC has been going out for runs on nearly empty streets where no other runners are. Let this be a caution to you – less traffic means drivers are being less attentive and more careless. He almost got hit by a car whose driver was definitely not paying attention (he admitted it and apologized).
We’ve ordered the supplies to add to JB’s educational repertoire and now mak decisions about curriculum is sapping what little is left of my brain since I also organize supply orders for a few other people.
I’m back to scribbling long lists of checkboxes and to do items lest I drop one of the thirty plates I’m juggling.
Week 6, Day 5: This false flats analogy rang so true for us today. It was never anything big but we were each struggling so much to get through this day intact and there was so much cognitive dissonance. We’re home, safe, healthy, and not in dire straits. Why can’t we get it together??
Well, because… !!
I had to step away from work early to stretch my aching legs, spray some weeds, then just sit with my eyes closed. We had some rare sun peeking through so I grabbed the camp chair and collapsed. We made it through dinner without ending up with my face in my food, I managed to clear some of the table and empty Ronnie the Roomba’s full to bursting gut so I could set him loose on our disgusting floors, then dragged myself off to shower and bed.
PiC passed out reading to JB so, deeply exhausted but wakeful because I had to get up after an hour to take the dogs out for a last potty break, I assigned myself a very close scrutiny of our filed tax return to see if there were any errors I missed the third time and to see if there are any items to remove from my 2020 tax prep spreadsheet because they’re not deductible. I’ll have some questions for our CPA.
I also assigned myself reading on the Net Investment Income Tax. I’d seen it before but I didn’t understand it and what better time than during an insomnia episode to study up? Either I get too bored and fall asleep or I learn something before eventually drifting off. Win-win.
I look at pictures of elaborate jelly cakes, like this (https://www.instagram.com/bloomin.jellies/); it’s very soothing.
My brain is also out of cope and I don’t even really have to work! Except for the endless child wrangling, which is definitely work.
Oh my GOSH that is cool, thanks for sharing!
Child wrangling is DEFINITELY work. My partner has been willingly taking most of that burden since his work obligations were fewer than mine, so I am 10000 kinds of grateful for that but I am still parenting while working on and off, so that’s not been easy.
I think everyone has those one or two things that they are super bummed about with this whole thing. Mine is around beach volleyball. Even when they do open the beaches, they will more than likely keep the nexts down for awhile to discourage groups of people playing together. A lot of the AVP tournaments have been canceled or postponed, and of course the Olympics. 🙁
Yes, PiC’s sports are his weekly bummer, I just have the big things through the year.
I’m sorry about the beach volleyball, I think you’re right that it’s going to be a while before you’re back to playing with other people again and that’s totally a bummer.
Right now I’m keeping my spirits up with candy. And sometimes cookies, or ice cream, but mostly candy. I don’t normally comfort-eat and this is definitely not a long-term healthy option, but several of my normal coping techniques are off limits – so short-term I’ll enjoy my *literal* sugar-pills. 😉
Normally I keep new toys, books, art supplies, sugary treats, etc, for the kids to a minimum because materialism, clutter, cavities, frugality, blah blah responsible parent stuff. But when we told the kids we were starting this “quarantine/lockdown” thing, we also introduced The Treasure Bag: they get a treat from The Treasure Bag every day. It might be a (used) book to read, a sheet of stickers, we bake cookies, new packs of sparkly crayons, a balance beam for gymnastics, beads, a video game expansion pack, spent the two extra bucks to get the snack with branded-character advertising & extra food coloring, do a cool science experiment – all kinds of things! My kids LOVE it; it gives them something exciting to look forward to every day, something magical that’s been added to their lives when so many other things have been taken away.
In normal times I admit I probably would have rolled my eyes at the idea and scoffed at throwing money at the problem. But somehow with so many bigger issues at hand, it just doesn’t seem worth being prideful over.
Re: sugar pills – indulge for both of us, please? 😀
I am impressed that you have enough for a new treasure each day! I was only able to manage a new thing a day for about 9 days. But they now have daily lessons to look forward to with someone they adore so I don’t feel bad about spending zero brain cells on the Treasure box right now!
I think those of us who can throw money at the problem should, these are beyond abnormal times.
We are in the same location as you, so no end in sight. My kids have hit a wall with school productivity, and unfortunately, they are at an age where it matters. We are doing the best we can on that front, but it’s certain that I’m not qualified to be a middle school teacher, nor do I have the right attitude/demeanor. My kids would agree. 🙂
I’ve worked out every day of March & April, and will continue through June. It helps. A lot I also have been meditating, writing down three things I’m grateful for every day, and just generally trying to keep it together.
You are in a much tougher position with your guys needing to actually be productive with school – you have all my empathies! I am similarly not-blessed with teacher demeanor. 🙂
That’s impressive that you’ve worked out everyday. Today’s the first day I did anything at all like a workout. I’ve been walking but not much else.