I saw a Facebook post that recommended giving our kids a notebook and having them journal their thoughts each day during the shut down, the quarantine, the virus that rocked the world. I thought I should do the same. One day, we’ll look back and ask, “How did we ever get through this?” (Maybe we’re asking this now: How are we going to get through this?) As they say in Tanzania: Pole Pole; slowly, slowly, one step at a time.

We knew last week the shut down was coming, that our school was heading to online learning, and that we needed to prepare for long stretches of time at home. Thankfully, my husband is proactive (over-reactive?) and we had already stocked up on many items (yes, including toilet paper), so we didn’t have a mad rush to the grocery store. Just to catch up on what we’ve been doing:

Saturday (3/14): We reached out to friends and family who are physicians to get their opinion on the virus: how much do we really need to quarantine ourselves? And the answers varied from “just wash your hands,” to “stick to small gatherings (3-5 people).” My girlfriends and I texted back and forth with updates on our information gathering.

Sunday (3/15): My husband I am ran to Home Depot to pick up the salt we ordered for our water softener (without it, our well-water turns everything in our house orange), and cleaning supplies. We sat down with our boys and came up with a chore chart for the coming week. My husband told me “don’t over do it, they are going to hate being home enough…” So they just had to sign up for laundry duty and bathroom duty. And I “signed up” for a room a day to clean out and scrub…not because of the virus, but because my baseboards need it!
My boys also each had a friend over; throwing the football outside and practicing social distancing. This is going to be hard for them.

Day One: (Monday 3/16) First day of distance learning! My boys’ school, Mount Saint Joseph High School in Baltimore, has been preparing for distance learning for a few weeks. Before the school officially announced a shut down, our academic VP sent out the distance learning plan and schedule. It was well-thought out, well-planned, and reasonable (classes don’t start until 10am so the teenagers can sleep in). “Class” was the highlight of my sons’ day. It made me so happy to hear them engaging in a class discussion, laughing with their classmates and teachers, and just enjoying themselves during this time of isolation. It was a bit of normalcy during a very abnormal time.
We began a family game of Monopoly (my youngest’s favorite; good thing I love him!), and I began my springtime purge - one room at a time. Today’s room was the laundry room.
Cases in the US: 3815

Day Two: (Tuesday 3/17) Today’s room was the Mud Room. Restaurant, did that need a good clean out! Each of us have a cubby with shoes and hats and “stuff” from years past. Well, not anymore. I started my day with a long text exchange in my survival moms’ group chat, in which one of them suggested a Purple Heart pick up soon. Good idea! That gives motivation to clean out.
It’s St. Patrick’s Day, and my thoughts were with good friends who own an Irish Bar/Restaurant. This is their biggest day of the year, but yesterday the Governor of Maryland closed down all bars, restaurants, movie theaters, and gatherings over 50 people. By today, they were recommending gatherings of no more than 10 people. Things are changing quickly. For our friends, it meant no St. Patrick’s Day party. This is tough, folks. And this is just the beginning.
My husband is winning our Monopoly game, which is highly annoying to my oldest son.
Cases in the US: 6362