Yesterday was exactly what I needed to get my mind back in the quarantine game. The weather was gorgeous. The sun was shining and the temperature was warm. I spent the majority of the day outside, playing with the boys and working on our peach trees.
Being outside, I felt so happy and blessed. I know that we are still social distancing, but just being able to breath the fresh air made a world of difference. Playing with the boys felt like a joy instead of a chore. My heart was happy!
Timmy, Robby and I spent a lot of time launching soda bottle rockets in the yard. My goodness, they thought that the soaring bottles were one of the neatest things they have ever seen! Finding an activity that delights and entertains both boys is rare. Yesterday, I hit the jackpot with the soda bottle rockets.
At one point, Timmy decided that he wanted a close up look at the launch. He positioned himself close to the bottle, which was set on a dirt patch. Unfortunately for my little engineer, the launched caused some unexpected mud splash back. He was covered with mud, and absolutely delighted.
I definitely feel like I redeemed myself yesterday!
Another day in quarantine has come and gone. At this point, the days are all running together. Robby's online classes are the only thing keeping me on track to remember, and to even care about, the days of the week. I feel like we are stuck in a perpetual loop of Groundhog Day.
Like so many days before, yesterday the weather was miserable. The skies were dreary and rainy all day, forcing us to stay inside. Timmy and I built a fort, but even he is becoming bored of our games. He was content to veg out and watch cartoons for most of the afternoon. I never thought I would be a "watch TV Mom" yet here I am, killing it.
Quarantine is starting to wear me down. Most days I feel like I'm able to go with the flow, but yesterday was rough. I'm not sure why, but I woke up feeling claustrophobic, irritable and antsy. I wanted nothing more than to just hop into the car to drive and visit my friends.
Being socially responsible, I knew that a friend visit was not feasible. I tried to occupy my mind with mundane tasks throughout the day, hoping that my stay-at-home malaise would wane. The more I tried to pretend that everything was okay the more irritable I became. I finally decided it would be best for everybody if I just surrendered to the sadness for the rest of the day.
It's odd, because allowing myself to feel sad and restless actually helped me to feel better. This is hard for everybody, moms included. I think I have become so consumed with making sure that everybody else in the house is comfortable, happy and calm that I forgot to take care of myself.
Sometimes I guess we all need to curl up on the couch and wallow for a little bit. After a good cry, a long bath and a bowl of cookie dough ice cream, I began to feel the quarantine anxiety lift. Today I'm feeling happier and stronger, ready to tackle another day of quarantine!
Oh my goodness, the weather yesterday was unbelievably beautiful. We spent the majority of the day outside, playing and working around the house. The boys were thrilled to be out of the house, soaking up the fresh air and warm sunshine. From a Mom's perspective, it was refreshing to have everybody simultaneously busy, happy and not fighting. Over the past few weeks, those moments of zen calm have become increasingly rare.
Robby and Scott continued to work on dismantling the platform while Timmy bounced on the trampoline and soared on his swing set. After they took a break from demolition, we decided to go for a quick family bike ride through the neighborhood. Our "quick bike ride" turned into a one-hour, four mile adventure. Timmy's little legs were so tired he was wobbly by the time we returned home, but he was smiling from ear-to-ear.
After lunch our peach trees were delivered, which was the cause for even more excitement. Everybody headed outside and began to dig holes to plant our trees. There is little Robby and Timmy enjoy more than digging holes! The brothers grabbed their shovels, went to their designated spots and began to dig. They were happier than a dog hiding a bone!
Unfortunately one of our trees was damaged during delivery, but we are hoping that it still might grow. (The company was wonderful and has offered a replacement as soon as more become available.) The trees were smaller than we anticipated, but we are hopeful that they will grow strong in a relatively short amount of time. The description promised a bushel of peaches the first year, but looking at our newly planted twigs, I am doubtful that the claim will come to fruition.
I guess we will see. At this point, all we can do is wait. With the current stay-at-home order, we've got nothing but time.
Our weather was gorgeous on Saturday, allowing us to spend the majority of the afternoon outside. While Timmy and I played (mainly consisting of my pushing him on the swing), Robby and Scott worked to dismantle the platform in out backyard. Mr. Bill built the platform nearly a decade ago for a pool. Unfortunately the concept never worked (it collapsed and sent the pool water rushing towards the creek), and we ended up using the platform for a trampoline instead.
We recently moved the trampoline to the front yard and it felt like the perfect time to start the destruction process. Robby was more than eager to grab a sledge hammer and start breaking it apart. Of course, the task ended up being a tad more labor intensive than he anticipated and his enthusiasm quickly waned.
I tried to be helpful, but between my having the upper body strength of a tyrannosaurus rex and Timmy's need for constant supervision around tools, my efforts were limited. Timmy and I did break up some boards with hammers, an activity that he found profoundly exciting. His zeal with the hammer caught me off guard and made me nervous!
Working together, we ended up tearing down about 3/4 of our
platform. Our saw blade was worn down and we are waiting for a
replacement to be delivered before continuing. Hopefully everything will
be dismantled by next weekend and we can clear out the debris and start
working on growing grass.
