So we did it. We pulled our kids in.
COVID-19 claimed 2 lives in our area overnight. As I write this, there are 74 confirmed cases in Jefferson/Orleans. What I originally pushed aside as an over exaggeration is quickly becoming something I am respecting and watching much more closely. We live in an amazing neighborhood. On any given weekend, we could have 8-10 ADDITIONAL kiddos tracking through our house on top of the 5 we already own. Between our house and one of my neighborhood besties … we literally run the social scene of the bazillion kids that occupy our blocks. We normally love the fluidity of our house and feel like we are abundantly blessed to be one of the hubs of the neighborhood. But today, we had to bring it to a halt.
We began by limiting our interactions. Yes to friends during the day, no to sleepovers … kind of. Friends that are family are hard. Being a large family … I lose count of my own kids, much less yours. But now they closed schools. That’s kind of a big deal. They are asking us to socially distance. My best friend’s dad just got cleared from cancer! People I care deeply for are at risk. So what do you do?
Today, we pulled our kids in. We started our morning like a normal Sunday. Slept in, ate cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and did church on our couch. Wait, what?! Oh right. Church. We are super ingrained in our local church. Services today were streamed online with an order of service to follow. My anxiety got the best of me, so I ventured out to our local grocery store around 9:30am. No bread, no eggs, limited milk. I altered our meal plan a bit, but we were totally able to buy enough for a weeks worth … including 2 bottles of wine which was vastly underestimating things.
Once I got home, our family snuggled in on our couch while we watched our pastor preach a message regarding fear and our response to such. The kids were somewhat engaged. Afterwards, our kids resumed their normal routine of floating from house to house and kids from about 7 families represented in and out of our house. My anxiety was through the roof. My hubby sensed it. It was time to take things seriously and make some changes for the next few weeks. We sent everyone home. I got to work on our new normal, and my kids rolled their eyes as hard as they could. Then we made the final decision … for the next few weeks we are on lockdown.
This doesn’t come without a lot of thought. For God’s sake … I have 5 boys at home clawing to get out. But it’s for the best. I started with flipping Haslow’s hierarchy of needs on its head and saying that food and security were the most important things currently. I came up with a plan for my kids to help pull together all our meals during the week. Hoping engaging them will rally some enthusiasm … the bottom line is, enthused or not, people gotta eat. I sleep better when things are planned out, so here is our plan for the next week…
Each kid helps. I feel better.
If you are like me, than a loose outline of what is expected helps you function. I commiserated with my neighborhood partner in crime and made sure our schedules were somewhat similar. School needs to happen. Whether school is actually dictating it or not. For 3 of our kiddos, we are waiting for direction from their teachers to send classwork to complete. The fun part is that our oldest 2 will be given little to no direction from their public school as to what they should be working on, so Mom gets to be the bad guy. At this point … come at me, Bro.
Here is our family’s initial outline for Covid-19 survival.
It won’t be firm. We will take day trips out to nature. But, here is what we are following. Use it if you need solidarity. Trash it if you think I am an idiot. Either way.
We did church on my couch today. We told the neighborhood kids to go home today. We decided things were going to look different today. I’m already ready for tomorrow…
I love it!