Life Lately During Quarantine
We are on week 7 of "quarantine" with plans to begin our gradual trek back to normalcy in phases beginning this weekend. Hip, hip, hooray! However, I have a feeling it's going to be a long time until life is truly normal again.
I can rattle off two positive personal outcomes from staying at home.
1. Conrad is officially poop trained now! He's such a stubborn turd. (Pun intended.) It only took him a solid year after being pee trained THROUGH THE NIGHT to accomplish the task. Believe me when I say I tried absolutely every tactic out there. I now keep a stash of potty treats in the pantry and eagerly give it out in handfuls.
2. I make the bed everyday. And since I make the bed everyday, I figured I'd better attach another habit to it: my morning prayer. I've never been able to make that a consistent habit... until now. It's amazing what impact a little prayer (and honestly a moment to meditate or reflect) has had on my life as a mother.
In other news, however, it feels like the outside world is preparing to rip itself apart. The economy is in ruin, the food supply chain has been severely disrupted, free speech through media outlets is being censored, and people are verbally and/or physically attacking each other in the name of social distancing. A political power struggle (remember, it's a presidential election year) seems to be running the world these days. It's very concerning.
This meme pretty much sums it up:
My stance? Live and let live. We all come from so many different walks of life and are making decisions based on our own knowledge and situations. So, you do what you need to do with respect for others (i.e. go back to work and wash your hands), I'll do what I need to do with respect for others (i.e. self isolate to stay healthy), and we won't bother each other about it! I think it's pretty simple.
Plus, from what I've read, scientists are finally coming out with some meaningful statistics about Covid-19. It's about darn time! Though the virus can be dangerous and should be treated with respect, it's not nearly as deadly as initially thought.
There's a light at the end of this tunnel! (Unless the conspiracy theories are true.)
ANYWAY...
Though I occasionally find myself wishing for life the way it was two months ago, staying at home has become our new normal. It no longer feels like the threatening stranger it once was. We have embraced a new routine of very slow mornings, afternoons working and playing outside, and eating dinner together as a family always. We live in a bubble with few obligations outside of our home and family. It feels safe and familiar now.
That doesn't mean life at home is all roses. Haha. No! It's quite the opposite, really. It's very noisy and often messy around here. I can barely string two thoughts together before I am interrupted all. day. long. When will they figure out how to solve their own problems? I am the circus ringmaster of three monkeys whom must be commanded in all things: from showering and getting dressed, to doing their homework, to feeding the dogs, to picking up after themselves... EVERYTHING. It can be exhausting! And I haven't even scratched the surface of how much our bossy three year old yells at his big brothers or how a wrestling smackdown can erupt at any moment. The boys are kind of tired of each other, you know?
But overall, they've been good sports. Jed and Levi have adjusted well to their online school routines. In fact, Jed is rocking the final part of 4th grade! I am so proud of him. Levi, on the other hand, is a bit lazy. And I'm still confused on exactly what he's supposed to be doing. But I'm honestly not concerned. Missing parts of the last quarter of 2nd grade is not going to have any lasting effect on his education, so I'm choosing not to stress about it or die on that hill. We will do what we can do and call it good enough.
The kids have mellowed out a little bit too; they've learned how to entertain themselves better now. Just yesterday they created their own kites on a whim. Cool! And they're learning how to buckle down and get some work done. They help with dishes and vacuum and occasionally pick rock at the new house among many other chores. It's so good for them.
Speaking of the new house, it's completely framed already! I cannot believe how fast the house is going up at this point. It is so much fun to see the rooms I've been dreaming about take shape!
We spend quite a bit of time up there. Bron enjoys helping in the building process where and when he can. He also started helping the boys put a pump track together in the backyard. Many of my favorite evenings have happened when we've gone down into the canyon to explore and play in the creek! These boys have no idea how lucky they are going to be to live there and have all that space.
We haven't exactly kept the social distancing protocols 100%. I live for friendly faces and live conversations! I suppose that's why visiting the construction site feels like a bit of a reprieve? Dave and Joey often bring their children to work/hang out. It gives Jed and Levi an opportunity to play with some other kids too.
A week ago Sunday we met some family friends in the South Hills for an afternoon picnic. The kids ran around and rode their bikes while we adults chatted and laughed. It was a breath of fresh air -- both literally and figuratively. I needed that so much! As human beings, we are meant to have friends and interact face to face, to be there for one another.
I am optimistically looking forward to many sunny days ahead.
I do wonder what permanent changes we will make to our family's schedule after this quarantine. Bron and I have been very conscious about preserving our family time in the past, but I think more can be done.
Can we please have less church meetings/activities and cut back on how competitive children's sports have become? I'd like to become more disciplined with our time and make family dinner a priority every evening like it is now. I want the people and relationships in my life to take priority over all the places I think I need to be or the things I think I need to do.
I wonder if God saw all the good we were doing but knows that we were generally overscheduled and distracted. The BEST thing for us is actually more quality time together at home in the small everyday moments.
Just my thoughts.
Next up, pictures and short stories!
^^I found Conrad zonked out in the living room one afternoon just like this... sticky red lollipop and all.^^
^^Swimming in the dog water again. Notice the blue washable marker. Conrad keeps asking when the pool will open. This is as good as it's going to get for a while!^^
:: We got hooked on making gourmet cupcakes! These were our first batch: vanilla bean + raspberry filling + lemon flavored frosting. They were delicious.
:: Conrad woke up crying one morning because no one would sing Happy Birthday to him in his dreams. Poor kid! So I asked him to come cuddle next to me and I sang him the song. He felt much happier after that. I noticed that my dreams were uncharacteristically stressful for a while too!
^^Conrad enjoying a long afternoon bubble bath with some bath colors my mom sent. It's a great time buster!^^
:: Bron gave all three boys Coronavirus haircuts one evening. He did a great job! My kids were due for a haircut before the quarantine happened, so I was grateful they no longer looked homeless.
:: I get some kind of twisted satisfaction when one of the boys steps on a Lego and exclaims, "Ouch!" One day Conrad bossed, "Mom, make sure the Lego stays off the floor." Haha. Nope. That is your job, Bud!
:: The weather has had more nice days than blustery or cold ones. Thank goodness! It means that when the temperature reaches 65* or above, I can most likely find the boys playing in the hose. One afternoon they spent a couple of hours making a waterslide in their fort.
^^Homeschool^^
^^Jed and Levi doing a kids' exercise class with Aunt Lauren via Zoom!^^
^^Conrad's quarantine outfit is better than yours! I'm digging the plaid on plaid with boots.^^
^^Notice the little rainbow umbrella on the back of his car. It's one of Conrad's favorite toys at the moment.^^
:: I woke up one morning to Jed and Levi making brownies for breakfast. Yum! It's totally a Smith thing. Those particular genes run strong.
:: Bron and I were teasing Conrad one evening. Conrad wrapped his "baby" (a stuffed animal) in a blanket and showed us how sweet his baby was. Bron and I carefully held the stuffed baby drowning in a blanket. Then Bron snuck the stuffed animal out of the blanket and into his sweatshirt. We handed the "baby" back to Conrad. When he unwrapped his toy, Conrad was so surprised, "No baby!" He looked around in disbelief. "That's okay. I got another one." And off he ran to his room to fetch another stuffed animal. Bron and I were rolling with laughter. We repeated the scenario at least three times until Conrad finally figured out something was up. It was so funny.
:: Homeschool at its finest: After dinner one evening, Bron quizzed Jed and Levi to name the 7 continents of the world in exchange for Cadbury Eggs for dessert. They lost some eggs but we all had a good laugh. I'll bet the boys will remember all the continents from now on!
:: If only every day in April could be sunny and 65*! We enjoyed a really fun afternoon in the South Hills one day just hanging out and killing time together. The boys made boats from found items and floated them down the stream over and over. Then I sat on the stream's edge with my big belly and let Conrad dump cup after cup of cold water onto my legs. It such a relaxing few hours with my boys!
:: Jed and Levi were entertained for days by the new gliders my mom sent in the mail. They were pretty awesome!
^^The many faces of this silly little ham.^^
:: This little cot from Regalobaby is something I didn't know we needed! As soon as it came in the mail, Conrad was obsessed. He drags it outside to sit on with a popsicle in the yard, brings it back in to watch TV, and has been sleeping like a rock on it every night. It's just his size and has so many uses for this 3 year old. I suppose it's the little things that are keeping us all happy and entertained these days, right?
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