I’m still here - #10

10 days have gone by.They’ve tried, but my kids haven’t killed me yet. I’m still here.

Gosh, 10 whole days since I last updated you. I mean, not as though I have ANYTHING to update you about, but like I said, the fact that I’m still here…that we’re all still here..is a cause for celebration.

The days are often very long, but at the same time, they fly by. Last week in particular was over as quickly it started. I’m happy to report, last week—week 5—was a lot better than when you last heard from me.

Which, by the way, I have to say thank you all for the positive feedback on my last post. I’ve always said that the reason I write, and write honestly, is because I know people can relate, and if we don’t all talk about it, we’ll all just end up feeling alone. It’s so comforting to know that you’re all feeling just as crazy as I am right now.

I posted on a Friday, and Easter weekend followed. We usually travel home to Iowa for Easter, so this was a tough weekend to be away from family, but we definitely made the best of it. We cleaned the shit out of the house on Saturday and it felt incredible. Therapeutic, to say the least, and the whole family took part!

While we missed our Easter traditions in Iowa, it was kind of nice to just be together the four of us. We’re never alone for the holidays! Bryan was giving me a hard time about why I was going out of my way to plan a dinner, for example. As I thought about how easy it would be to “skip” Easter, I just wanted to have some type of tradition this year so it could feel just a little “normal,” even though nothing is normal right now.

The boys were so excited for the Easter Bunny to come (and he may have gone a little overboard this year…). We opened baskets in the morning, did an Easter egg hunt in the courtyard, played at the park, and I ordered a yummy, non-traditional steak dinner from our neighborhood Argentinian restaurant. Liam insisted we all get dressed up, and so we did. It was a really nice weekend and exactly what I needed after the week we’d had.

Last week, was…better. Liam is still struggling with wanting to attend class. Much like going to the gym, it’s a struggle to get him there, but once he’s there, he’s happy he went. Still not interested in doing assignments of any type, and anything I present to him as “learning’ turns him off. For example, we have a lot of Melissa & Doug activity pads, as well as a sight words coloring book. Today he would color in the sight word, but he wouldn’t write the word himself, or count the number of times he saw it. {eyeroll}

Last week’s weather was also insane. It snowed three days and then was beautiful, so we were inside a lot, and that’s always tough with two active boys. One thing I did a couple of times with the boys was a “stroller walk,” where I put them both in the double stroller (although they barely fit) and we go on a long walk. I play the Trolls World Tour soundtrack, and the boys just chill out. We don’t talk much, and it makes them both relaxed, and it’s honestly relaxing for me, too. (Not to mention the exercise)

Last Friday, the governor officially cancelled school for the rest of the year. I don’t know what that means for us yet. My company isn’t making moves any time soon to go back to the office. I honestly think it’ll be at least June before we go back. In the same week that many states cancelled school for the year, the “President” is making plans to reopen the economy.

I feel like I’ve gotten to the point where everything truly blends together. Sometimes I forget that it’s been 30+ days since we’ve seen family or friends, or been to a restaurant, or been around anyone else other than each other. Some days I feel like saying “fuck it” and calling up some friends to hang out. Don’t worry, I don’t. The good(ish) news is, it seems that what we’re doing is working, but we’re still probably in this for the long haul. At this point, I’d give anything to go back to the life we all complained out so frequently. Isn’t it funny how boring and stressful it was to wake up, get everyone ready and out the door before we went our respective ways to work and school, commute, go into the office for 8 hours, rush home to get the kids in time, throw together a dinner, and squeeze in that family time before bed? It felt like there no time. The chaos and stress of that life pales in comparison to today’s life. And there’s still stress and boredom, just different kinds and on different levels. Just thinking aloud, I guess.

(Above photos are some activities from the week!)

As for me, I’m still not waking up as early as I want to, but I am waking up early enough to get my workouts in. In addition to my Beachbody workouts, I’ve been trying to make sure I get in my steps with our outdoor time. I’ve been a lot better with my sleep and water habits, though my wine intake still needs to be reduced, and I need to get better at managing my time between full-time work, freelance work, parenting and self-care. Somehow.

That’s all for tonight, friends. Here’s to another week. We go this.