by Hope
I sat down yesterday and made a list of all the things this “free” time would allow us to do and accomplish. To be honest, this is not as much a hardship on us as a family on many. Since I already work from home and we homeschooled for the bulk of the kids lives, this is how we lived…
And although they were always involved in sports and some social activities…being home is not a hardship or that foreign to us. As an introvert, I revel in it!
But here’s the list I’ve started, have anything to add to it?
- Take the kids to my favorite place in the mountains. We are not much of a hiking family. But I have found some beautiful spots. Might be time to share them.
- Get our winter puzzles back out. Every winter I buy a new puzzle for us to do. We just sit around it when we can. I thoroughly enjoy it. (I’m even thinking of setting one up at my Grandmother’s house.)
- It’s a great time to try some new recipes. I am thinking we might have a bake off.
- What better time to do a serious spring cleaning and purge.
- More outside time with the dogs.
- Maybe I can get a head start on my garden…tomatoes, peppers, mint and ???
I have been inspired in the ways communities are coming together to feed school kids who might not otherwise eat, to offer online resources for education and to offer delivery to those most at risk. Businesses are adjusting to those they serve as well as considering their employees. We are living in a time like we have never seen before.
As hard as it will be on many, I think we are going to see some awe-inspiring changes in the world as well.
How has the quarantine and shutdown of so many services affected you? Do you have a plan for keeping sane during this time of social distancing?
Hope is a resourceful, solutions-driven online business manager with over two decades of experience helping clients streamline operations, manage projects, and grow their businesses through digital marketing and technology.
But life has a way of rewriting your plans.
A year ago, Hope made the decision to move in with her aging parents full time – a season she wouldn’t trade, even as it came with its own financial and emotional weight. Earlier this year, she lost her mother, and is now walking the tender, disorienting path of grief while learning what “forward” looks like from here.
Hope came to the Blogging Away Debt community in 2015 as a single mom raising five foster and adoptive children. She’s written through job changes, financial setbacks, and the bittersweet transition to an empty nest. Her kids are finding their footing in the world now – and so is she.
Rooted in faith and fueled by the same perseverance she’s brought to every hard season, Hope is ready to face her finances with fresh eyes and an honest pen. She believes that clarity, courage, and community can change the trajectory of anyone’s story including her own.
She lives in Austin, TX with her dad, loves adventures with her dog Addie, and is figuring out, one step at a time, what this next chapter is meant to be.
You’re still going back and forth to Grandma’s?! In her best interest I think one person in the family should take over caretaking full-time and self-isolate in her house. Get another person in charge to delivery groceries and don’t leave! Whether that is you or someone else. Gymnast could have picked up the virus, or any cold/flu, at the airport and you’d be exposing her to it. It’s reckless to go back and forth potentially exposing someone who is most at risk and can’t protect themselves.
I agree with angie. You need to protect your grandmother as a family.
I agree with Angie and SMS above, but at this point it is already too late. If Hope’s son got exposed and has since exposed Hope, her grandma has also been exposed now so avoiding her won’t help I am sad to say. At this point it is just a matter of time to wait to see what happens.
Well the good news (note the sarcasm here) is that grandma is off to assisted living, where she can either expose everyone, or be exposed.
Potentially the last place an elderly person wants to be is assisted living right now. They’re sitting ducks.
Unfortunately, I have no control over what my Grandmother’s children decide for her. I just support her the best I can.
So your sarcasm doesn’t help at all. We are all worried and just trying to do the best that we can.
But “the best we can” isn’t very good if you don’t understand that social distancing and self-quarantining are the names of the game. Hope, we get it, you live in a red state, the people there listen to Fox News and Rush Limbaugh and don’t listen to real news, but you must listen. The people upthread are absolutely right. Pick one person to stay with grandma and everyone else drops off groceries.
I’m an introvert and doing better than I thought, but I’m finding that getting the kids away from the house on a walk or a drive helps our sanity so much. Hang in there!