Hi everyone! I hope you are all doing well, or as well as can be expected with everything that is going on in this crazy world right now. This week has been tough emotionally. I have tried so many times to write a blog post, but it seems like every time I started writing everything changed within moments. Much like a lot of other bloggers (and pretty much anyone right now) I have had lots of ups and downs this week. I never know what my emotions are going to be from one moment to the next.

Two weekends ago we had a huge family shopping trip. We had shopping to do for Track and Field, Prom, and my nephews birthday. We had such a great time, and my heart was so full. Within a week, all of those activities we had just shopped for were canceled. Then a couple days later, school was canceled for one week as ordered by the governor. I figured that our schools were going to be closed much longer than that. Not only because almost every other state in the country was implementing home schooling, but because right from the start we were receiving emails from the superintendent saying that they were coming up with a “distant learning” plan. We wouldn’t have to take the kids to clean out their lockers and pick up a curriculum on Wednesday and Thursday if they were going back to school on Monday.

Thursday March 19, shortly after we got back from picking up Khalubs things from school the governor held a press conference. In that press conference he announced that he was closing all bars and restaurants for any dine in service, but delivery service was okay. He also announced that all theaters, recreational centers, shopping malls, would all be closed effective immediately. Also, schools are to stay closed until further notice. Yikes!

Honestly we expected this, or I did anyway. We are simply following suit with all of the other states that already have this implemented. Let me just say, I completely understand this! In no way do we want the spread of the Coronavirus. We have been staying away from everyone for the most part,(aside from work) and not hoarding toilet paper. I did prepare for this a bit, though. Here are a few things we did, and did not do.

We Went Grocery Shopping

Yes, we went grocery shopping. We got a little bit more than what we normally would, but not because we are hoarding food and supplies. The kids are out of school, so lets be real – there needs to be more food in the house if they are going to be home all day. We even had to discuss with them not to eat all of the snacks in one day. Teenagers get really hangry…

Before all of this madness even began, we went to our butcher shop and purchased one of their meat bundles. Let me tell you I am so happy I did that! Our local grocery store was selling a 10 pound roll of ground beef for $50! No thanks! We also generally have a pretty good stock of canned vegetables and non perishables on hand anyway so we didn’t have to go overboard in the stores.

We also bought our typical shopping items that we get every two weeks to include the cleaning supplies that we needed and toilet paper. We didn’t buy a whole cart of toilet paper, because we have more sense than that. I know that other people need these things as well!! I will start to worry if in a couple weeks the stores don’t get restocked on toilet paper and other paper goods. If it were to come to that, we have several t-shirts that could be cut up and used. There are also non poisonous leaves outside – but I doubt it will ever come to that.

We Disinfected Our Home

I am a generally pretty clean person. Hence the chore chart from my post How We Keep Up With Chores In Our Blended & Busy Home. But for this, we did a bit of extra cleaning and disinfected almost every single surface. My teens were even on board! When I got home for lunch on Monday Khalub came down and told me that he was washing his walls, and then he was moving to the bathroom! Funny, but wow!! At least my kids are committed to not contracting this as much as I am!

What we did not do was buy all of the Lysol and disinfectant in the stores! Even though we are mostly chemical free in our home, we still have chemicals in the house. While vinegar is mostly effective, it is not on the EPA’s list of certified disinfectants. We are not wanting to take any risks with this Coronavirus crap.

We Are Continuing To Take Our Vitamins & Focus On Our Health

This is an area we are not skimping on! I don’t understand why the vitamin isles aren’t running low. Seriously, the toilet paper shortage doesn’t make any sense to me, but if it were a vitamin shortage I would understand that more. Isn’t the whole point of all this social distancing and disinfecting also to keep our immune systems strong? Why wouldn’t we also take vitamins to help with this? We are anyway. We still only bought what we would need for a 30 day supply.

We are also following all of the CDC’s guidelines in only going out when necessary and washing our hands often. My hands are so dry from continuously washing, thank goodness for my homemade body butter!! Unfortunately the company I work for is mostly customer based, and when customers come in they have a habit of hanging on the counter. I am about six feet away from them, but my coworkers are not. My specific job doesn’t deal with customers so I don’t have much contact. Bubs also works for the same company, but he is hardly ever in the office and always off doing his own thing. I think our place of business will only shut down if there is an executive order put into place by government officials, but we are definitely a lot slower. We are also asking customers to call ahead if they need a part to minimize contact.

The Kids Are Handling This Surprisingly Well!

Honestly I am so proud of my kids. They are handling all of this really well. I talked to both of them and asked how they felt about online learning. They both have mixed feelings about it, but overall they are looking forward to being able to sleep in and still get their school work done. They also really like the fact that they don’t have the stress of all the other kids at school. I can completely relate to them on that! Some of those kids are the worst!

Anyway, I think their biggest disappointments are the activities being canceled. Khalub and Cassidy were really looking forward to this track season, and they didn’t even have a chance to go to one meet! Of course Cassidy is really disappointed about prom being canceled, but their school is going to try and reschedule it for the summer months. That might be fun!

Overall we are all handling this the best we can, one day at a time. I think if there is ever a mandatory quarantine (absolutely no going anywhere), we might not handle it so well. I will let you know. How are you guys handling all of this? What have your biggest challenges been? Let me know you guys are all doing okay, this is so stressful for all of us.

Feature Photo by NastyaSensei from Pexels