Social Distancing – Week 2 Wrap Up

I, like most of you, wrapped up a second full week of social distancing on Friday and based on the press conference today, it sounds like we’re likely going to be buckling in for a few more weeks.  I’m grateful as I reflect on the last two weeks things have been overwhelmingly positive despite the circumstances that have us practicing distancing in the first place. I’m thankful to have been able to continue working and for a company that is set-up to so easily do so from home and that C has been able to take care of the kiddos during the day to make it possible.  I know others have had a much harder time, for those that are, I’m thinking of you. We’re inviting our co-workers into our homes by way of video conferencing and in doing so breaking down the barrier between professional and personal life. For those with kids creeping in the background on calls or howling animals and messy backdrops, I feel you. For those taking a quick cry break because sometimes those colliding worlds are a little too much to take, I am you.  With a little extra empathy and grace we’re all going to come out of this new normal as better people.

All of that said, here’s a rundown of how it went and what worked at our house. 

Meal Planning:

This has been pretty awesome.  I’ve always planned meals and usually just accounted for left overs to be part of C or my lunch the following day, but with COVID-19 shopping making sure we were making the most out of every meal/ingredient has been eye opening on how much food was wasted before.  Its also the push to suck it up and eat the leftovers, even if they haven’t been transformed into something new. Last weekend I made a ham and turned leftovers into a Ham and Cheese Strata and sandwiches and then later in the week made Buffalo drumsticks followed by buffalo chicken naan pizzas the next day.  With dinner leftovers being transformed into dinners lunches have been focused on healthy bento boxes (hardboiled egg, colored peppers, hummus, cheese and fruit).

The Schedule:

I think structure is important and when we embarked on this journey I’d put a loose idea of activities that should be done throughout the day to get the kids out of free play mode and into some sort of structure.  After two weeks, I think a close second to structure is flexibility.

Who knew a 3.5 and 1.5 year old wouldn’t want to follow along on a perfectly designed schedule? Some days they just didn’t want to go shoot hoops in the basement, and that was ok.  Some days we watched a lot of Puppy Dog Pals or Rescue Riders (or both), that was ok too.

One thing we have been pretty consistent on and I think its been making for a great night sleep is our pre-bedtime family dance party.  Right around 7p after dinner has settled we push the coffee table out of the way and get ready for some serious booty shaking. We’ve got a solid 4-song playlist that wears those little dudes down just in time for bed time.  If you need a headstart on your nightly jams here’s what we’re rockin’ to:

Family Time:

I had been looking forward to the work from home time as a way to get more quality time with the kids and its been absolutely amazing.  Every morning I’m up with the kids and downstairs to get their breakfast going, sometimes my little chef is even helping make smoothies.

About half the time I’ve been able to get down for lunch with them too.  Sometimes just a quick hello while I put my lunch together and run back up but other times there’s been enough of a break to eat with them, put a puzzle together or just talk for a few minutes.

Dinner time has been great.  The kids are eating earlier – sometimes by 5:30p or 6p, which used to be completely unheard of, and then we have more time to play, read and dance.  Its also been making bedtime more consistent start to finish.