Dispatches from Dystopia, part 2

Plan A was jettisoned before it even started. It’s not effective social distancing if we send Jordan out into a petri dish every day. With all the schools closed by the state, I’m shocked we haven’t seen a closure notice already. So now that we have a full house, it’s time for…

Ground Rules to Survive Unexpected Staycation

Category 1: Food

There will be waffle batter. I made a huge batch this weekend, and I’ll make more when that runs out. Waffles have healing properties. There may be other baked goods, too, like cookie dough to pop in the toaster oven in case of comfort food emergency.
Dieting is on hold. I’ve lost 10 pounds this year (yay me!) and I’m motivated to lose more, but I’m not going to stress myself out about food choices and measuring containers right now. I’m also not going to run out and stock up on ice cream, but those fun size peanut butter M&Ms that Mom got me for Christmas might make an appearance…or disappearance.
Take-out for days. Could not cooking be considered a form of altruism? We live in a town with a lot of fantastic little restaurants that I want to see survive this crisis. We also have the luxury of disposable income and jobs that aren’t jeopardized by social distancing, so I feel compelled to stimulate the local economy a little bit. Plus, it’ll give us a sense of variety and a taste (ha) of the outside world.

Category 2: Jordan

Screen-time restrictions are gone. This is also not the time to take away his pacifier, even though we’ve been trying to limit both lately. I have a feeling this staycation will be the hardest on him, so whatever comfort he needs is all right with me.
He will get undivided attention daily. We’re going to spend a lot of time trying to get him to occupy himself so we can get something done, so I’m going to make a point of having time that’s just for him, too.
We will find fun activities for him. He gets to do so much cool stuff at daycare, I can’t hope to replicate it, but I can put in a little extra effort so he’s not just doing the same thing every day. I started with rice in a muffin tin, which he enjoyed pouring from cup to cup (and then onto the floor) with a spoon, and today’s trick is putting pipe cleaners in a colander. It may not be Pinterest-worthy every day, but I want him to have some variety.

He also wanted to help clean up with the broom.

Category 3: Work

Commuting. My laptop will begin and end each day in the basement on my desk, so I make a purposeful decision to start and stop work. The basement isn’t the most kid-friendly, so I will come upstairs periodically when it’s my turn to look after Jordan.
Creating a daily parenting plan. Whether it works out in practice or not, Jerald and I will nightly review our schedules for the next day and decide who will be responsible for the boy during what times. We can at least set reasonable expectations that way, and make sure we’re actively helping each other out.
Learn to love the video chat. I’ve added a TV tray and a stack of books to my desk setup so I can position my camera at a more flattering angle, and seeing other people “face to face” will hopefully lessen the feeling of social isolation.

Category 4: Life

Keeping up appearances. We will all bathe and brush teeth and get dressed for the day as usual. I will make distinctions between my daytime leggings and my nighttime leggings. I’m not gonna lie, not all of these things always happen on normal days we don’t leave the house. They still may not happen on weekends.
Make time for projects. I am a master at sitting on the couch, streaming TV, playing on my devices, and wasting a whole day without leaving the house. If I do that for too many days in a row, though, I’m going to wind up in a depressive state before I even realize it. To combat that, just like I’m making activities for Jordan, I’m going to challenge myself to do things I don’t do every day. For example, on Saturday I catalogued–and purged–my shoes.

Turns out, I buy each type of shoes I wear–sandals, ballet flats, lace-ups, heels, lace-up boots, booties, tall boots–in permutations of black, brown, gray/silver, blue, and some shade of red/purple/pink.

Just keep writing. Y’all are probably going to get sick of hearing from me. I may even stop posting them all on Facebook. This blog is mundane and pointless in the context of what’s going on in the world right now (and I frankly hope it stays that way), but writing it makes me feel connected to the wider world. And helps me keep things in perspective when the wider world seems to be coming apart at the seams.

So, your turn. What’s your survival plan?

Lauren B. Lentini