Week #2 – Not Over Yet

So how was your second week? Are you starting to look (and smell) like a hippie? Have you forgotten how to tie shoelaces? Getting tired of pasta and beans? Starting to feel carpal tunnel syndrome on your remote control thumb? Understanding why your dog eats the sofa? Excited when you realize it is time to cut the grass?

Are you looking at your partner in a different way than the honeymoon? Are you wondering why you had so many children? Do you answer the phone when it is from the boss? Do you answer the phone when it is from your mother? Do you answer the phone when it is from the bank?

Working @ home used to sound like a fantasy until you have to do it. Trying to figure out a problem without you cellmate assisting you puts a strain on your talents. A coffee break can take an hour then a dog walk and a check of your kid’s mathematics. The same deadlines apply whether you work in your jammies in the bed or if you wear a suit. Still you are getting a paycheck.

For those who are now completely on their own with no paycheck, no health insurance, no meetings or interaction with others; life is a stunner. The car still needs repairs. The children need training (and thus entertainment). The cat needs to go to the vet, but the vet isn’t open. Your wife’s mastectomy has been postponed as ‘elective’ surgery. Your neighbor’s dog just pooped on your lawn.

Then the committee of doctors put on their daily show of praising the President; there is no deadline to this ‘invisible enemy’. The only proclaimed answer is to extend being claustrophobic and wash your hands. We are all in this together. Does that make you feel better?

As the movie list start to look repetitive and the wine supply starting to dwindle, here is a new educational game for the little ones.

It is called: “The Spooky Castle”.

Take all your clothes out of the closet. Tell your kids a spooky story about ghost and goblins and put them in the closet. Turn out the lights and play some scary tunes. The kids were try and figure a way out and their anxiety will grow. Every 30 minutes go by and bang on the door. They will scream. Be sure to put some pillows on the floor for they will wear themselves out in fright. The smart ones will climb on top of each other and get out through the ceiling. Beware of them before you go to sleep.

So now you know this ‘sheltering in place’ will continue, readjust to your new normal.

Learn how to cut your hair. Take up singing together. Learn to sew patches on clothing because you can’t go out and buy another one. Start a ‘Victory Garden’. Keep your kids on a schedule like they had in school. Turn off everything you didn’t have in the office. Keep a diary or journal for later years.

Tomorrow is Monday. It is trash day here, but I don’t have enough trash to fill the bin. Trash day is the excitement for the week (to me) but tomorrow I’ll just wave and say, “Thank you”.