Well it looks as though shit is getting pretty real for us Americans. I suppose that means it’s getting real for the whole world. Businesses are closing to the public, schools are shutting down indefinitely and I have officially been moved to a remote position. For the first time in a long time I am going to be a stay-at-home mom, and I am nowhere ready for that undertaking. To be honest I am beyond grateful to work for a company that allows me to work from home. There are countless parents out there who are not as lucky as me. There are single moms who need their hourly income to support their family. There are healthcare workers who literally have lives depending on them showing up to work. There are children who depend on free meals provided by public schools. We are all hurting. Some are hurting way worse than others. We must keep perspective and practice gratitude for the things we do have. We must help local businesses where we can. We must support each other and check in on others. But most importantly we MUST stay at home and flatten the curve.
In the last few days we have scrambled as a family to hunker down for the foreseeable future. My husband and I split the duties to divide and conquer our prep work. Nick (the husband) focused on grocery shopping, and making sure we had enough food and supplies to tide us over. Let me be clear. He did not panic buy, or over purchase, more just bought a normal amount of groceries to stock us up for a couple weeks. Unfortunately since others are panic buying, there isn’t much left at the stores. Our normal grocery list quickly adapted to revolve around whatever is available. He said he witnessed people losing their sense of humanity right before his eyes. Some customers are fighting over the last of the ground beef, while others are yelling at employees about the “limit one per customer” rule. It is disappointing to see people fall apart so quickly but I have to hold onto the fact that I have seen much more good in humanity pop-up around our community than bad.
My job was to focus on Austen, our three year old little girl who will be home with us. You will also hear me refer to her as “A” and “Little Bug” in the coming weeks, but it is all the same cute and wild child. I quickly brainstormed how on Earth I will be able to entertain a child at home for who knows how long. I stocked up my Target pick-up order with crafts and pinned as much as I could on Pinterest. We are relatively lucky because A is an easy kid who is great at entertaining herself, but she is still a three year old. She is still demanding of our attention. She is still confused as to why Mom and Dad are suddenly home all day. She still needs us. So working from home with a toddler should be an experiment of chaos to say the least.
As I go into a two week quarantine I decided it would be a good time to start a journal. This journal will not only be a documentation of my day (which I am sure will not be that interesting), but also a documentation on the ever changing news, our mental health, and the state of our country as it evolves. My hope is to capture a snapshot of what the country is going through at this unique and scary time in our history. I would love for us to be in a much better spot in two weeks, but only time will tell. Check back in two weeks to follow my journey. Wish me luck. Wish us all luck. We all need it!
