2020 will most likely go down in history for the coronavirus pandemic. I can't give the whole history of it, but only document what it has looked like for our family.
The last week of February, talk of the virus started floating around. Ben came home from work one day and said that he saw one of the buildings on base getting set up to be a place of quarantine for people coming back into the states from overseas. That same week, while on the women's retreat, there was a great debate among the women if it was actually necessary to start stocking up on food. I shared that Ben believed schools would eventually be closed down, to which everyone was shocked. Only one other woman there thought any precaution were necessary. Within a week, the virus talk started to increase and people started stocking up on food.
(The beginning of March ) I went to Trader Joe's, which was completely normal at the time, and the cashier told me that other Trader Joe's in the area were starting to have their shelves cleaned off. I ordered groceries that same day from Costco and the lady dropping them off told me that the lady before me nearly lost her mind because she couldn't get her requested 2 packages of Clorox wipes (that's 8 giant packages!). She said Costco was insane and people were going crazy over water, toilet paper, clorox wipes and hand sanitizer. When she mentioned what was in high demand, I was immediately SO VERY THANKFUL. By providence, not knowing what was coming, I was already well stocked in all those things. It also helps that Alison is currently in love with Bath and Body Works and has over 50 hand sanitizers in her collection.
I spent the following week doubling up every meal that I cooked so that I could freeze one; ensuring we had meals for later on if a crisis occurred. That was our last "normal" week...Alison had Language and Spanish class, I took a meal to Miss Erin and got to meet baby Kailey, went to a class at the Y and I went to the dentist.
We had planned to go up to San Luis Obispo for Ben's birthday (the 14th), but decided to postpone because of the rainy weather. Again, we were so very thankful that God sent the rain to keep us home. His birthday was simple, but we were able to go out to dinner. I made a last minute run to Walmart Marketplace for groceries since we hadn't planned on being home for the weekend. It had such a weird vibe inside. I had to scour the parking lot for a cart. People were in a frenzy and filling their carts with pasta and canned goods. Looking back, I wish I would have bought more on that trip, but I got everything that I needed and was pleased to come out with my sanity.
The day after Ben's birthday, everything started closing down. The restaurant we just ate at, closed. Alison's classes, homeschool group and basketball, all closed. The public school system closed for an unknown amount of time.
Within a short week, our state was in complete lockdown. Church is closed. The Y is closed. The dentist and vet called and said that we can't come in for our appointments. We can't go to the park and play at the playground. We can't even go for a hike if it's in a national park.
As a homeschooler, this is a very unique time in history. Right now, the entire world is homeschooled. For a brief time, the entire world is getting a taste of my world. For a little bit, I am not the odd man out, but the rare person who has already been doing what the world has been thrown into the this week.
Grocery shopping isn't easy anymore. Ben was home 2 days this week and we made up a plan for our food. I went to Sprouts right when they opened one morning; they had zero bread, eggs, milk, canned goods, frozen produce or poultry. There was a worker stocking some roasts while I was there, so I grabbed a couple. He was so friendly and assured me that things would calm down soon and there would be plenty of food for everyone. Now stores are limiting how much you can buy, which is reasonable considering we're in this shortage from everyone stocking up on food, but I'm feeding a family of 5. The cashier told me that they got a shipment of milk in the day before and there was practically a stampede for it. It was so bad that they almost had to call the police! I ran across the street to Grocery Outlet and was able to find milk and picked up some lunch meat just in case. Ben went to the Commissary. They were also out of bread, but he was able to get milk, eggs, 2 pork butts, and everything else we needed plus a lot of fun snacks for the kids. It was nice to have some treats when everything else felt restricted.
A few of the things Ben came home with:
I tried my very hardest this last week to keep our days as normal as possible. We continued to follow our school schedule and I think it helped our days feel like they had purpose and going along quicker. I told the kids that I would like to use this time wisely. The world has stopped, but our school can still keep going. In fact, we have been given the gift of time. Our days are wide open now and if we continue to work hard, we can finish our school year early and take a break when we can actually go somewhere. I suggested we plan a fantastic trip to celebrate the end of the pandemic. Planning trips is therapeutic for me and I asked the kids where they would go if they could go anywhere. Alison said Scotland. Eli and Colin said Joshua Tree. I think we should go to Hawaii!
I also told them that this is the time to do all the things that we've said we were going to do and haven't because we're "too busy". Busyness was taken away. What we have is eachother. The only thing they could think of was I said we would go to the beach and do school, but it's too chilly for that right now, so I don't feel so bad about that. I do know a big one for me; I always say I want to write more. What better time to write. I looked back on our blog one night, trying to find how we survived Yuma summers. That was basically quarantine. And we did it 3 times! Surely I wrote about what we did and what helped me get through. Nope. You know what I wrote about? What we did to escape; trips to San Diego and Flagstaff were mostly what filled the feed. I was so bummed. Even for school. I don't want to forget the little things of our days. They seems silly now, but they sure won't in a few years. So, here's hoping for more quarantine writing!
Unfortunately for us, it's also been pretty cold and raining. I shouldn't complain, as the rest of the world is staring at snow right now. When you live in California and you get slightly chilly, you bundle up and turn on the fire. We.are.spoiled.
Grammar by the fire with Eli:
I know there will be blessings that come from the hardship. I see glimpses of God working everyday. Our open schedule has given us time to fully do each thing. Real reading time has come back. Up until now, I would work with Colin for a little bit, but he has yet to really sit and read on his own. Until now. It just melted my heart hearing him reading in his bed.
One afternoon, I pulled a full Charlotte Mason and turned on some classical music, lit a candle, pulled out some classic artwork and we drew with oil pastels. I'm not a Charlotte Mason person, but the kids all said this was their favorite.
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