Day 3

Day 3 of the apocalypse:  Emily just came home from her dad's, so really my hell has only just begun, lol.  Alright, I'm going to say this one last time and I will consider this point covered for the duration of the crisis.  I love Emily.  A ton.  She is my world.  But I am terrified of spending these next 4 weeks with her, haha.  I dreaded summer enough as it was, but that would have just been her home, while I'm working.  But now, I've got her home, I have to work, AND I have to teach/supervise her school lessons.  If I have any sanity by the end of this month, it will be a miracle.

But, silver linings...I am not a happy, skipping, annoyingly positive person.  In fact, my sister-in-law quite often shakes her head and has alluded to the fact that I am like Ron Swanson from Parks and Rec, and also some DJ that she listens to that "hates" everything.  That being said, I do always try to look for the silver lining in things.  So, the ones I have found thus far....1) my dad/stepmom and my ex-inlaws will each be watching Emily one day a week.  So that's two glorious days a week that I can work in peace, and not deal with her homework.  That should give me some energy to tackle the other three days and it should give her more willingness to entertain herself when she's home..  2) I only have one child and she is a relatively good kid.  So yes, I know some people are looking down the barrel of the gun of 3 long weeks with multiple children.  All I can say to that is, you should have thought about the possibility of a quarantine/homeschool/pandemic situation after that first kid...just saying.

3) As insane as it makes me to think that they are going ahead with spring break (thus adding a 4th week to the school closing) I will say that after 3 weeks of this shit, I will be happy to have that week of no school work.  I'd be even happier if the little rugrats were back in school, but I digress. 

I thought I had a 4th silver lining, but I guess I do not.  Oh yes, I do....I just spent a good 30-45 minutes organizing Emily's homework packet, breaking up each lesson and assignment into days and weeks and labeling them so the grandparents (nor I) will get confused.  As much as I am dreading this, the nerd in me is also a little excited about going through the checklist each day and helping her complete her assignments.  Ask me on Tuesday if I am still excited and that answer may change.

So I had a decent weekend.  Friday I picked up dinner and I am on Season 2 of my biennial re-watch of The Sopranos.  It is my all-time favorite show.  Saturday I got a pedicure, and then I went to Party City to get stuff for Em's birthday party.  Just from what I have seen on FB, there are two camps regarding this.  There are people like me who are still trying to live their life, but cautiously.  I feel like I had good hygiene before, but now I am really trying to be conscious of not touching my face, washing my hands way more and of course, I will avoid really crowded places.  Then there are the people who are screaming GOOD GOD PEOPLE, STAY HOME, ARE YOU CRAZY??? 

Ok, if you are elderly, or regularly see/care for someone who is, then yes.  Seriously limit the places you go to.  If you have a compromised immune system, same answer.  For the rest of us, I think avoiding very crowded places, upping the handwashing regimen and just being more conscious about what you touch is enough.  Let's not forget that mental health is also important, and if you can risk going out some, then you should.  We're also just coming out of winter (and still in it actually) where we are already indoors more,  when seasonal depression is more common, and suicide rates are higher.  If you think you need to stay in your house 24/7 except to get groceries, then by all means.  No one is dragging unwilling people out of their homes.  But I choose to be a little more level headed and balance my life some. 

My regular nail lady was out as she was experiencing some symptoms, so I am pretty confident that the salon is taking it seriously and not making possible sick people come in.  I used sanitizer when I first walked in, and I washed my hands when I got home.  Party City was not very crowded at all...probably the closest I got to anyone was when I checked out, for all of 2 minutes.  Again, I washed my hands when I got home.

Today was a beautiful day so before I picked up Emily, I took a drive out to my mom's cemetery.  I was surprised, I only came across a handful of other cars.  Now that is probably the safest place to be, I guarantee you nobody at the cemetery has Coronavirus, lol.  And of the 5 or so people I did come across, they were all in their vehicles, at least 100 yards away if not more. 

So this Thursday is Emily's birthday.  We were going to take her to the aquarium, that oddly enough we have spent 2 other birthdays at, and then have dinner at The Rainforest Cafe.  As of today, both are still open and are limiting the number of people allowed and spacing people apart.  But, when I mentioned to Ryan that we should have a backup plan in case they do close, he suggested we just put it off for another day.  Eh, I'm bummed, and I'm annoyed that Em doesn't get to go out and celebrate her birthday, but it likely wouldn't be as much fun is he isn't happy about going.

And while I do think the hype and panic is way overdone for most people, he does work in a hospital.  He isn't in the medical field, but he is IN the hospital all day every day.  For someone like me who won't be going to work and is cautious about the places I do go, I think it's fine.  But seeing as he does work at the very hospital that many of Michigan's confirmed cases are or have been, it's probably very smart to limit his outings a lot more.  And, the way things are closing left and right, they may not even be open still come Thursday.  So instead he'll bring some take out for dinner and she can open her presents.  She'll probably be fine with that because she'll want to stay home and play with the Nintendo Switch anyway.

So Saturday we're having her birthday party...it'll be small, just us, our parents, siblings and my friend.  Less than 15 people.  But he thinks we should cancel, and he quoted "for our parents' sake at least".  Ummm, well he lives with his parents, so it's not like canceling the party will keep them safe from possible exposure and I really don't think my parents are worried about it.  It's a small number of people and I would think we can trust that we have all been cautious and would not come if at all sick.  But, convincing him is sometimes like talking to a wall.  I told him we can revisit the idea later in the week, but I think I will suggest having separate parties. 

I've already got food for it, I've already done a lot of cleaning...yes the food I bought will keep, but I also just don't want to cancel.  She's already missing out on celebrating at school, on just plain going to school which is fun when you're in Kindergarten, her swim school just closed so she won't have lessons for the next 3 weeks, and we cannot go out on her actual birthday.  I don't want to take this away from her too.  So if he wants to cancel he can, but I think I will still have my family over as long as they're all feeling fine, and then when he has her the weekend after they can celebrate how they chose to.

I really wanted to keep the parties joint for as long as we can and for as long as we're getting along, but these are extenuating circumstances.  We can always try again next year to have a joint party.