Life in the Time of Corona

             We are currently living in strange times. This COVID-19 is dominating our lives.  Everywhere we go (which is not really anywhere these days), there are reminders … whether it's the masked people at the grocery store, the slightly comical choreography that people are doing when passing each other on the streets ( in order not to get too close ) or even something as serene as the stillness on the roads during what would normally be considered "rush hour".  I can’t believe I’m writing about Corona, but I can’t help it, it would be like ignoring the big elephant in the room. Is it possible to go about life and just ignore it? Nope, not really.  Maybe it’s good that there are constant reminders, that way we all try harder on a day-to-day basis.  We don’t want to let our guards down at this point. My family is pretty lucky and I am grateful for this blessing. What I mean is, our house is big enough so we are not on top of each other, we have a lovely spacious yard that we can enjoy and we don’t have more stress than necessary; we can try to be as normal as possible.  However, it’s still sad when your favorite restaurants are shutting down “temporarily”, when I hear about new mothers giving birth at the hospital without their support systems and like the rest of the world, we miss seeing our friends and family in person (thank goodness for video chats, but nothing compares to the real you). We will get through this, we will do it together and by “WE", I mean collectively as humanity. 

             Right now, we are all living the new normal; we are getting the hang of it, although we don’t want it to last forever.  We just got news that our school will be closed for all of April, if we are lucky. But you know what, we are team players and this is what we need to do. I actually can’t imagine going back any earlier, it would feel too soon considering the US still has not reached the peak of the Corona virus. Ideally, it would be great if the kids could go back to school before it ends and say good-bye to their teachers and have closure on the school year,  but if that does not happen, I guess it’s not the end of the world.  It suits us to follow a schedule since we have three little ones in school and two adults trying to work at home (at least a bit, geez). It would be madness without one. To feel somewhat productive between taking care of the house ( I can’t live in a mess, especially if I am in the house all the time now), homeschooling and doing some work, I decided to focus on 1-2 priorities per day.  This can be a project related to Notebooks & Honey, for instance, doing analytics, fulfilling orders or putting up the new items in the shop and/or house related tasks like paying utilities, laundry or going to get groceries.  If I can just check something off my list, then I feel I had a successful day.  If we are in this for a while, if this is our new norm, then I personally need order and some control.  But that’s just me, I’m a type- A dreamer, organizer, planner, you name it. For somebody else, organized chaos and spontaneity may be their comfort zone. 

Me being productive, finally adding additional items to the new CURATED COLLECTION. 

             Speaking of lists, I keep coming across various lists of things to do with my kids during the time of Corona (example here). They are great lists and I admire the ambition, I really do, but I’m sorry, it’s just exhausting. Really though, do I have to build a fort in the living room and have a pretend grocery store in there with items from the pantry? No thank you.  I am holding on to the list though in case I get motivated one day or it’s raining out.   I get it though, the kids are constantly looking at the screen because that is how they communicate with the school, but I’m not going to feel bad if they want to watch a show (or movie, ha) while I’m making dinner or need mommy time. They need to unwind, I like to unwind with TV too. As long as we get outside to play/exercise, I feel like that balances out the screen time.  

Homeschooling a Pre-Schooler 

            We have bonded as a family, but I told my peeps “hey, no offense if I take off for a few days once the madness is over".  In the meantime, we have been enjoying family game nights, epic Star Wars bing watching (have to educate the kids) and I decided to start baking. It seems like Mommies all know how to bake and since I’m one of those, I’m going to give it a go.  My birthday is a few days away and thinking back to this time last year, well, it just seems like ancient history.  Heck, back in early February when things were normal, at least in the US, that even seems like a lifetime ago.  I enjoy creating things and making things pretty and cakes are pretty, so I’m going to make a three layer coconut cake for my birthday.  If it looks good (hopefully also tastes good), I will share it with you on social media … then I’ll cross it off my list. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Just a few things I’ve learned from Corona: