What's Getting Me Through Quarantine (Days 1-10)

• Chocolate chips & peanut butter
• My new gratitude journal
• Good books
• Writing letters to loved ones
• Puzzles
• Having my teacher husband home with us
• Diamond dot art (have you tried it yet???)
• Homeschooling: our emotions unit; this history read aloud & Prodigy for math
• Organizing all.the.things
• Facetime & phone calls with family & friends
• My 5:00am quiet time 
• Social media, especially my Bookstagram friends like her & her & her
• Evening walks with Josh & Grady

I have not left my house to run errands (except to sit in the car while we pick up the kids school lunches- the kids are required to be present, and they hand them to us through the car window) since March 15th.  That's ten days of being home, in quarantine.  I told Josh that at first I was surprised at how well I was handling it all, especially considering my worst type of anxiety is health anxiety.  (I'm looking at you, Coronavirus)

But then I thought about it some more, and realized, we used to do this for nine months at a time.  We would fly (in August) into our village in Alaska (where Josh taught elementary school) and be away from friends & family until mid-May.  My entire life would happen within the four walls of our home, barring an occasional visit to the post office or co-op (local "store" that was like a glorified, overpriced gas station).  Thankfully we also had friends there, a handful of fellow teachers whom we could spend time with, but most of our living happened in our home. (I'm looking at you, -30 degree weather)

One thing I am doing that is helping (a lot) with my sanity is waking up before the kids.  I spend that time doing whatever I want.  Sometimes I just scroll my phone.  But mostly I am reading or journaling, and, per the advice of my newest library book (The Stress Solution) I am saying a mantra, out loud, for two minutes. At first it felt kind of weird, but YOU GUYS when the kids start fighting and the twins are brawling over a Lego piece while Carly lays on the floor crying because I won't let her have a bag of chips for breakfast, my mantra pops right into my head and reminds me that "I am calm and in control." It is like legit magic. Highly recommend.

For homeschooling the kids, I am using the anxiety workbook a friend's counselor recommended for my kids' anxiety. It's called "What to do when you worry too much", was less than $10 on Amazon, and is SUPER easy to work with, including the kids in each lesson with drawings and discussions.  I am LOVING it.  We're also enjoying reading The History of the World by Susan Wise Bauer out loud each day.  It's the story of the world, with tons of fascinating history facts, but written in story form, so it keeps the kids' interest. We're doing Prodigy for math, and that is saving my life because my kids think they are playing a game (similar to Zelda, maybe?) with quests, but they are really doing math! Win/win!

Having my teacher husband home is, of course, also making homeschooling easier.  He is in charge of doing Science (we use Mystery Doug) and Kahoots (a competition the boys love to do) as well as running a Storyline Online while I shower.

In addition to school, I am aiming to do (at least) one thing each day that stays done (like, not dishes & laundry), and that has mainly been organizing, room by room, closet by closet. I just tackle one small thing each day.  Every single person in the house has commented on the junk drawer since I organized it last week. (It was really bad! hah!) I'm also staying busy with reading, a new sea shell puzzle and the diamond dot art the boys and I are trying to finish for Wyatt's bedroom.  (He got it for Christmas from my mom- it's been a team effort all the way!)

I shared on Instagram yesterday that before we all got stuck in our houses, I stopped by Barnes & Noble (oh how I miss you Barnes & Noble) in Vancouver and happened to pick up a gratitude journal for $8.  It has spots to write three things you're grateful for daily, and it's been a really great way for me to look for the silver lining among this craziness.  I have never been so grateful for social media as I have been in the last week and a half.  Checking on my friends, laughing at Covid19 memes (truly the best medicine) and cheering everyone to carry on has buoyed my spirit.  I also hit 500 followers on Instagram which feels exciting!

Three things I'm grateful for right now:

• A warm cup of coffee in my hand
• Sunny weather for my kids to play in
• That I get to be stuck with my favorite people

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