Survival

It's been a week. And we survived. I don't mean survived the  Covid-19 virus, I mean the kids and I survived each other.  In case you don't know, my husband is in charge of the Island's drinking water system, so it is important for him (and his staff) to stay healthy. To decrease his chances of exposure, the kids and I have been religious about practicing social distancing.

It's been hardest on the kids. Take two teenagers, add a bit of stress and a huge change in routine and it's just put them on edge. Me as well. Despite the challenge of adjusting to our new normal, the three of us had a pretty darn good week...

S and K built the most amazing blanket fort in the living room.

They spent a lot of time in there this week. It was the perfect place for keeping up on Spanish homework  and watching musicals (Hairspray, Rent and Grease.) We've also listened to hours of the soundtrack from Beetlejuice the Musical. (Yeah, its on Broadway right now.)

My daughter spent time inside writing and drawing in her journal while I organized closets.

All of them...

Once I was out of closets (and drawers) I moved on to cutting and sewing mitten linings,

and then on to the outside portion of the mittens...

I've made fresh bread twice, washed every stitch of laundry in the house, hung all the pictures I've not gotten to since Christmas, and the kids and I cleaned pretty much the entire house. It's probably the cleanest the house has ever been. Kind of a bummer we can't have anyone over to enjoy it. That said, I did manage to spend a little time with friends. 

One evening, six of us spent three and a half hours together. It was wonderful! Besides giving me a break from The Whole Being Dead Thing,  it felt so good to laugh. Normally we all get together for a long weekend this time of year, but that's kind of hard to do while being socially distant. So until we can physically get together again, we've scheduled weekly meet-up like this.

The kids scheduled an online D&D game yesterday so they could  spend some time with their friends. It was  wonderful to see some of their stress melt away - I think spending some time with people (other than their sibling and parents) did a world of good for their moods.