A Day in My Life of 2 Little Kids the and Covid-19 Quarantine
A group of my close girlfriends inspired me to write this post. We have been swapping stories and all seem so relieved when we are reminded that we are not alone in our instant homeschooling parent journey and a feeling of overwhelm as we navigate new territory. As one of my friends said: “We’re now the principal, teacher, specialist teachers, janitor, food service workers, lunch monitor, and after school teachers all in one. Oh, and some of us are also supposed to be working full time.”
This post is meant to give a window into my reality. MINE. I’m not judging others and I would ask you not to judge me. Instead, find a laugh in something you can relate to. Or take a sigh of relief that your day looked different. For folks without kids your days may look different, but you are busy too. Everyone brings their own challenges to the table. At the end of the day, we’re all in this together.
Context: I operate a home organizing business that has come to a screeching pause (yes, we are still doing virtual organizing—thank you for asking!) although I still seem to have an absurd amount of meetings, have a husband with a full-time job who is working at home, and live with my 6-year-old, 2-year-old, and dog. My kids can play independently in spurts, and together for a total of 10-15 minutes before the screaming matches start.
Here’s what my Tuesday looked like:
6:30 AM Wake up and have a cup of coffee and some “me” time. This usually consists of approximately 15 minutes of watching a show before I am interrupted. To put that in context, it takes me about 3 days to get through ONE episode of Grey’s Anatomy.
7:00 AM Both kiddos wake up. I make breakfast for them, get them dressed, do their hair, and let them watch a tv show. (I know you might feel the urge to judge here but try not to. For the record, on weekdays it’s PBS.)
8:00 AM Go for a 3-mile run while my husband watches the kids. If I don’t exercise now, it won’t happen and I’m a much nicer and more patient human being when I exercise.
8:45 AM Take over watching the kiddos while my husband “heads to work.” After much convincing, I get them to accompany me outside on a walk to take the dog out. This may or may not have involved snack bribes. Of Pirate’s Booty before 9 AM.
9:15 AM Return inside for some free play. Next activity: baking Puppy Cupcakes because our dog turns 8 tomorrow. Happy Birthday Pup! I genuinely love cooking with my kids. They decide we’ll decorate the pup cakes with peanut butter and dog treats. Then they start fighting over which one of them is going to eat which one, dog food included.
11:00 AM Kids do virtual Frozen-themed yoga class while I take an hourlong work related Zoom call. Husband is on “kid call” during this time.
12:00 PM Lunch time. After much whining about the choices, everyone settles in and eats. Only one child is upset over which plate and cup we have used, so I’d call that a small win. Within 5 minutes of finishing, my 2-year-old is demanding snacks and preemptively telling me that she doesn’t want to nap today.
12:30 PM Kid play time/adult lunch time. Obviously this takes close to an hour because as soon as the adults attempt to take any kind of bite or utter a word of conversation, we are interrupted by a variety of toddler demands, the need to referee the screaming match that has ensued, or a litany of questions and requests.
1:30 PM I attempt to put my 2-year-old down for a nap. All is quiet for a few, so I give my 6-year-old a manicure and pedicure. She insists that I paint her nails in a rainbow variety (red/pink on one hand, red/yellow on the other, and red/green on her toes) and then begs me to do the same. Seeing the excited look on her face, I know there is only one right answer…
2:15 PM Set up 6-year-old on a kindergarten Zoom call with some of her classmates. (We are 15 minutes late). HUGE shout out to all the parents making these happen. She will only do the call if I sit with her, so I set up my computer next to her and try to catch up on a few emails while she is listening to her classmates’ discoveries in nature.
2:30 PM Loud crash from my 2-year-old’s room (She’s in a crib, how much damage could be done?) Rush in to find that she can actually reach the dollhouse from her crib and has sent the entire wooden dollhouse crashing to the floor. Pick her up and comfort her (thankfully no injuries) while my 6-year-old tags behind. Make a mental note to relocate the dollhouse this afternoon. So much for the Zoom call.
3:00 PM In our former reality, my 6-year-old was taking Spanish lessons after school and LOVED it. Fast forward to now and we have a workbook they provided at the start of the year, but given that it says at one point “you may want to pause the tape to take out your box of crayons” my level of faith in it is not secure. (Side note: anyone want to work on Spanish with a 6-year-old over Zoom? Shoot me an email!) I resorted to downloading a Muzzy Spanish video from the library. While my 6-year-old watches it and repeats various Spanish vocabulary words, I attempt to wade through the various emails for both my children with “enrichment activities” that have been sent home so that I can try to incorporate some into our future.
3:30 PM Time for another work Zoom call for me. Husband takes a break and feeds both kids snack. Again, 2 minutes after they finish they are already planning their next food indulgence.
4:00 PM Husband’s time for a work call. I head outside with the dog and both kids. Of course my kids have packed a snack bag filled with what pre Covid-19 consisted of an entire day’s work of snacks. Now it’s just enough for snack #2 of the afternoon. The sun has come out by now, so getting them outside takes less prodding. We spend the next hour exploring the neighborhood, watching the moon follow us on our path, navigating away from other dogs and taking in nature. I’ve lost count of the number of fights over who gets to hold my hand, or whose turn it is to be the leader in follow the leader, but this might be my favorite part of the day so far.
5:00 PM Return home and Hubs is done with his call. He takes my 6-year-old out on her bike (She’s learning to ride a 2 wheeler—after all we need some Corona Goals. Right?) and I engage in games and play with my 2-year-old. Her favorite game currently involves telling me I have to eat tomato sauce and then cracking up at my indignant reactions. I love one-on-one time like this.
6:00 PM Tube Time. I’m throwing it back old school here, but if my kids are going to watch TV, having them watch things like Reading Rainbow makes me feel just a bit less guilty. During this time, Hub and I prep dinner for everyone.
6:30 PM Dinner Time. My 6-year-old eats half her dinner without a protest. HUGE win. She then siphons the other half to my 2-year-old. I can live with that. My 2-year-old is super proud of herself for eating her entire dinner. Don’t forget the after dinner snack. I have magically convinced my kids that a prune and an apricot are the equivalent of dessert! On a scale of 1 to 10 of painful, this dinner session gets a 3!
7:30 PM Bed Time for the Kiddos. Hubs and I split bedtime, pajama, teeth brushing and story duties. I am finding that I actually enjoy the bedtime routine these days (no judgement, remember?) Maybe because it’s less hurried and I genuinely enjoy reading to my kids.
8:00 PM Adult time. Tonight there are no board meetings, book clubs or social hours to be had. (Yes, those are all still happening over Zoom). We decided to catch up on an episode of Stumptown that was less than a week old. (Does anyone know for sure if it was renewed for a second season?) I’m kind of impressed with us. Shows on our DVR are usually 2-3 weeks, if not months old by the time we get to them. We also completed puzzle #3. Given all the articles I’ve seen lately on the availability of puzzles in stores, I’m willing to guess that might be part of your nighttime activity too.
10:00 PM Bedtime. It promptly takes me less than 5 minutes to actually fall asleep once my head hits the pillow.
End of Day Counts:
Number of Nails Painted: 20
Number of Toenails Painted: 10
Number of Steps Taken: 16,557
Number of Kid Arguments Broken up: Too Many To Count
Number of Glasses of Wine Consumed: 1.5
Number of kids in my household who know they are safe and loved: 2
Yes, my days are exhausting. Yes, I am tired. But I love my husband and my kids. They make me laugh when I want to cry, know just when I need an extra hug and are just genuinely interesting humans. I also remind myself that we are living through history. For those of you who don’t have kids, I hope you might remember this for a bit of perspective when you are scheduling calls, or are feeling impatient or annoyed with someone’s availability. Balancing logistics can still feel like a full-time job. At the end of the day, if my kids know they are safe and loved, I’ve done my job for today.
So let’s work together to build each other up. Forgive me if I don’t answer your text immediately or if I am 8 weeks behind on our favorite show that we use to chat about weekly. I’ll forgive you if you are not available to FaceTime on demand per usual or if you take a week to respond to my email. Let’s share our “true” realities and help each other by reminding each other that while we may be physically apart, we are by no means alone.