I don't know how your family is operating, but mine is currently operating on what I think of as the middle ground. We are taking the advised precautions, but we did not fight anyone for toilet paper or water. I'm still very confused by those two things...first, even if we do need to have a 30 day lockdown, does your family seriously go through multiple packages of toilet paper in that time? I mean, we are a family of five (one in diapers) with what I would call very normal digestive systems, and we did not panic over toilet paper. Full disclosure - I am a toilet paper baller and yesterday, I had a flashback to my Mamaw scolding me for using too much TP! So, I think this could be a lesson for everyone - you do not need a handful of toilet paper when you pee. Be conscious of how much you are using, and no one will need to hoard that TP! Second, say we do have to go on lockdown...are they shutting our water off? I'm just unsure of why there are zero cases of water at the store. I mean I understand grabbing 1 or 2, but take one for the team and drink that tap water folks!
I digress...anyway, I have prepared my family with food that will last us a while and the essentials I thought we would need such as, formula, diapers, pull-ups, etc., and each kid was allowed a toy from the dollar section to make things a little more fun!
This gets me on a whole other topic. While I sometimes find the "drinking mom" memes funny, it does make me sad that this has been the reality that most moms seem to talk about in the past few years. I feel like my social media is absolutely flooded with moms talking about how they open up a bottle of wine at the end of each day just to get through the evening with their kids. Now, do I think the hours of 5 to bedtime are the hardest of the day? Yes! Do I feel like I need to drink multiple glasses of wine just to tolerate my children? No! I promise I do not judge a glass or two of wine at the end of the day, but I do find it sad that moms direct their drinking towards their children these days. Truly, I am excited to have my oldest home for at least another week with my other two babies! George is so happy to have his big sister home every single day to play with! I say this on Day 2 of being stuck at home, so I may change my tune by Week 2, but I'm going into this with a thankful heart and hoping it's just extra time together as a family. I'm not trying to get on a soapbox and shame anyone. I get that there are super hard days when we're all just OVER IT, but I think if we changed our mindset each day and were thankful to be home with our kids, our attitudes at the end of the day would change too!
TIP: Listen to some uplifting podcasts when you can. I started doing this during nap time instead of doing laundry in front of trashy tv and my mindset at the end of the day did a complete 180!
Back to COVID-19...y'all, I cannot believe that I was having dinner with friends a little over a week ago, talking about how I didn't think we really needed to worry about it, and now, here we are. I am pretty good about staying busy during the day and doing things with the kids, but when they go to bed, I end up being a complete ball of anxiety. I am trying to balance not really watching the news, so that I don't get anxious, while staying informed. Anyone else in this boat? I don't really even know why I get anxious about this. I truly am not super worried about my family getting the virus. There have been no cases in our area, and we have been very careful since everything came out, but I am nervous about my parents, my in-laws and my Papaw getting it and being prepared. I think I'm also just nervous about what is next. I get nervous about what other people are going to do, are people going to go crazy? Then this spirals me to thinking about keeping my kids safe and down the spiral I go. So, I am working to just pray through everything at all times and be conscious of my thoughts. The prayer "Lord, please capture my thoughts" is very present in my life right now.
I say all this, trying to simply keep things in perspective for us all. The unknown is a little scary, but we have to trust that God is bigger. We have to trust that our government officials are doing what they can to keep us all safe and healthy. I keep thinking that this is the time to show our best selves. My heart broke at the grocery store when I saw all of the elderly people there. It happened to be a rainy day, and I just hated that they had to get out in the nasty weather and hope that there was enough at the store for them while hoping they didn't catch the virus they were trying to keep themselves safe from at home. I stocked up on things, and truly, we probably have more than enough. I did this, just in case someone I know is coming back from a trip and doesn't have enough, or if an elderly person needs a little more to get by, or if someone down the street has a couple kids that need to come over so we can all survive being home for so long. I just pray that at this time, instead of letting our crazy come out, we can help one another. Hopefully, this will also keep us in the mindset to continue helping one another after this all blows over, because let's just be real, small businesses and people who own their own business may need an extra boost come April. Lets not use this as a time to become more divided, but to realize that we are all in the same boat. Let this put us on level ground.
I would love to know how you are doing right now. Please feel free to comment. I would also love to know how I could be praying for you or anyone you know that needs prayer and if anyone you know needs help, feel free to share in the comments as well.
