Things I Want To Remember – A Global Pandemic

Awhile ago, Steph shared a things she wanted to remember post and I thought it was a great idea to put it all in one place to reflect back on. Because with anything major in your life, there are some things you will never forget…but there are little things you want to remember.

I started writing this post in June I think? The last update I did was in July before today. I am reading through it today and adding updates since some of the information needed updating. Those updates will be in bold italics.

I want to remember how terrifying it was on Friday, March 13, 2020 when I left my office in the middle of the work day to go get groceries and pick up Zoe. I didn’t know if I would be returning to the office on Monday or not. I had figured probably not. I wasn’t sure when the next time I could go to the grocery store would be, did I get enough food???? And what do I do with Zoe and daycare? That was decided for me that evening when we got an email from the director telling us they would be shut down.

I want to remember that evening because my sister came over and had a sleepover with Zoe. They had plans to go to a family event at Chick Fila that was cancelled. Tracy got together items and had an indoor egg hunt for Zoe here, and her and my nephew spent the night to have a sleepover party. It was the last time I saw anyone in person for a long time. Tracy was the last person in our home since March.

I want to remember that initially I thought we would be home for maybe two week to up to possibly a month.That originally I didn’t think that Zoe’s dance recital in May was going to be cancelled. Or her friends birthdays in June and July. I definitely figured she would be back to daycare by July. But now I am debating if she will even go back when the new “school year” starts in August. Or if she will do dance this fall. Seriously, most of the time it has felt like this is never going to end. Update, it is now November and she still isn’t back in school, and we are doing virtual dance for the time being.

I want to remember how much time I spent researching for lesson plans for Zoe in the beginning. And how quickly I fizzled out because working a full time job and schooling your kid and trying to keep up with everything else is hard. Damn hard. It is still hard and I am lucky to do a lesson 3-4 times a week.

I want to remember how vital Shipt and Instacart were for us during this time. We had all our groceries delivered by one of these two services each and every week. We had positive experiences, and I appreciate how hard our shoppers shopped for us.

I want to remember how resilient Zoe remained through most of this. Of course, she missed her friends and old routine. We definitely had some major meltdowns!!! But also, every night when we tucked her into bed, she would tell Chris and I what kind of party we were going to have the following day. A Frozen Party! A Jasmine Party! A Sofia Party! A Sunglasses Party! A DANCE PARTY! She found joy and something to celebrate every. single. day. Every single day for 8 months.

I want to remember what our new normal looked like. My typical weekday schedule has been to wake up at 5:00 am (letting myself sleep a whole extra hour!) workout, work (from 6:00 am to when Zoe woke up), let Zoe sleep in until she naturally awoke (anytime between 7:00 am – 9:00 am), make breakfast, walk Mac, do a lesson (most days not all), play outside, make lunch, make coffees for Chris and I and grab a snack for Zoe, work from about 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm while Zoe played/watched movies/colored, play Just Dance/Mario Kart/Sit on Deck with popsicles, dinner, go outside and ride bikes/walk/drive Minnie car, do pajamas and read a book, go to bed. This is still mostly our schedule, the time change and the fact that it gets dark is messing things up this week.

I want to remember how Zoom calls basically replaced the office. We have one every Monday morning (two once a month with the entire team) to discuss what we have going on for the week and anything important about certain jobs. It really is an excellent way to remain connected to your team. I always showered, did my hair/makeup and got for real dressed on these days.

I want to remember how important home items were that we took for granted. Side walk chalk, inflatable pools, sand boxes, bikes, paints, craft supplies. All of this became a hunt to find at one point or another. A pool I paid $21.97 for last year is over $100 and out of stock constantly now. A good reminder to keep these things on hand. Also, I will never be without toilet paper and disinfectant again. I will forever have a pandemic hoard stashed somewhere in my house.

Starting here…stuff I wrote out today before posting….

Chris and I have been enjoying some adult beverages most Thursdays and Saturdays after Zoe goes to bed. We go down in our game room and watch old sets from Tomorrowland and comment on how many people there were and will it ever be like that again. And listen to 90’s and early 2000 music. It has been like our “date nights” and very crucial for maintaining our sanity. I can’t imagine doing this pandemic with anyone else, and I am so thankful for him. He has been my rock through all this, and has let me cry and let my frustration out more enough times.

I started out strong with keto and workouts when the pandemic first began. I stayed strong for months, slowly adding in more carbs when I realized that keto was messing with my body in a bad way. And then I got depressed sometime around August and started slipping up more and more. I think it was because I saw the summer coming to an end, and the school year starting and we were no better off than we were back in March. The light at the tunnel went dark, and I started getting really upset about all the things we were missing. Seeing our friends and family, going places, all the experiences we didn’t get to have with Zoe for several months. It was my dark time during the pandemic and I was in denial about it.

One of my daycare mom friends checked in with me several times, random texts that just said “Hey girl, you are on my mind. Just checking in. How are you doing.” I don’t think I have expressed to her how much those have meant to me, I hope to do it in person sometime. Hopefully over wine with no kids.

Shout out to Laura. We still gchat like we did throughout the day at work, and I appreciate her listening to my ridiculousness. I cannot wait until she comes over with her fam and we play arcade games and have the biggest dance party ever and order food from like 5 different places. We have birthdays and weekly lunches and Tomorrowland 2020 to make up for, among lots of other things. And Lindsay who has been pretty much a daily text for the last 8 months. She has cracked me up, listened to me bitch and rant incessantly about several things, and am so thankful for someone I have never hung out with in person, but feel like I have known forever.

I started online Christmas shopping in September. And now as we are approaching November, my company has sent out analytics saying that online shopping will be up 40% this year, and there will be so many shipping delays, if you want something for Christmas it needs to be ordered by November 30th.

And I cant forget mentioning that I am so so so so so thankful that I made the decision to leave my old job last summer. While I absolutely loved what I did, and some of the people I worked with…I hated the environment there. I felt like I was back in high school with the way they watched your every move and micromanaged the shit out of everything. They were very old school in may ways, and were not flexible at all with you and your family. They went back to work Monday, March 16th like there wasn’t a global crisis and haven’t stopped, No option to work from home.

Meanwhile, my current company sent everyone to WFH worldwide. And I am still working from home 8 months later, with no intentions of ever going back to the office full time. My boss has made comments like “Do what is best for you and your family” over and over again. I know that I am more than blessed in this area, and I never for a day take it for granted. Working from home full time while trying to keep your kid happy, learned, entertained, etc is so hard some days. MOST DAYS. But it is a privilege and a blessing that some people are not afforded, and I can never be grateful enough for it.

And if you made it to the bottom of this post, thanks for sticking around. I really just wanted somewhere for all my thoughts though this to land. I didn’t even want to get into the political war and divide that we have going on in our country right now. I just can’t with it. Both sides are insane. I am curious, what are some things that you want to remember from this time? I think I am going to get one of those 2020 ornaments I have seen around everywhere. For my Christmas tree that was up November 1 for the first time ever. Because 2020.