In all my mom brain glory many years ago, when I first kicked off my adventure into blog writing, I somehow ended up with two different websites. Both under Too Much Laundry, Not Enough Wine…one a .org and the other a .com. These next few posts were ones I originally posted on the .org site. This year, the .com renewed so here we are.
Day 81. Today marked 81 days of working from home, social distancing, mask-wearing, missing the normal time with family and friends and our boys being home from daycare. It’s also the first day I seriously considered giving myself a haircut. For about 18 seconds the rational part of my brain took a detour to some solid quarantine lies that told me I was more than capable of blindly chopping my hair off and maybe even adding a few sassy layers to the mix. Again, it was a fleeting thought. Lies that could not be maintained. Rationale won out in the end. Thank goodness for small miracles.
Anyways…back to the 81-day marker that we hit today. I’m sitting on the couch, with a glass of wine, watching my ghost stories on TV. Reflecting on the last 80 days. Days that have been exhausting and draining and surprising. Some are great. Many have flown by. Others drag on and yet somehow we find ourselves in June. JUNE. JUNE.
If I remember correctly (asking me to go back to March is quite a feat seeing as I can barely remember if I showered today), Mike and I were granted the ability to work from home on the same day. My office sent an email that Thursday saying that as of Friday, everyone would be working remotely. Mike was home with Logan that same day as our poor monkey butt has been diagnosed with the flu a few days earlier. My anxiety was most definitely triggered by the notion that things were bad enough to shut down both of our offices, so I asked if Mike could grab Jax from daycare as well. I had a few things to finish up at the office and then prepped to work from home for the next few weeks. Who knew we’d still be here 11+ weeks later. Either way, the boys were home safe and sound and we were gearing up for what working from home would look like with two little ones.
Our first day of quarantine life was not as successful as our future ones. We prepped the kitchen to be our “offices” with the expectation that we would shift every few hours who would be at the helm with the kids and who would concentrate on work. Who knew working in the same room as your two kids wouldn’t work? Well about 16 minutes into day one we knew. Take 2. Both offices were permanently moved back downstairs and we took two-hour shifts between kids and work. Phew. That ran a little smoother than our kitchen-as-office plan did.
That was day one. Somehow between those first awkward, busy moments, we’ve found our rhythm. Celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, Mother’s Day and lots of smaller milestones. Not all days are what I would hoped they would be. There are times I’m not the mom I want to be. Yelling is more frequent than the kind words I would otherwise use. Too much television. Too little outdoors time. Not enough time for the boys to get a break from each other. But at the end of the day, I can be nothing but grateful that we’ve been able to keep the boys at home with us, safe and sound. That our jobs have pivoted and we are both still working full time. That we have the convenience of having groceries delivered since the idea of either of us going to the store makes me incredibly uncomfortable. And on a lighter note, that the boys are incredible sources of comic relief and keep us laughing on a consistent basis. The following are a few of my favorites….
I woke up one morning with our oldest standing next to my bed. Not a first. Most certainly won’t be the last time that I’m woken up with a child in my face. The first time it was quite startling, but now I’m far more accustomed to seeing him two inches from my nose when I wake up. Well this morning I didn’t see him. I heard him. Woke up to a toddler tooting next to the bed. I questioned whether I had just heard him toot. His response: “I tooted to wake you up.” Well sweet boy, I’m up. That was not the last time I was woken up by a tooting toddler.
Gummies go a long way for quiet background noise when meetings arise during my time with the kids and this mama is nor above some hardcore bribery. Oh yes, you want your third packet of gummies and it’s only 9:30. Let’s do this thing!
Logan had a meltdown one evening as a result of a lack of leaf blower in his life. That’s right. A full-fledged, catastrophic, couldn’t breathe meltdown because he did not own a leaf blower. Apparently our inability to provide our 3-year old a leaf blower became all too abundantly clear at 8:30 pm. Tears were shed. Bribery was discussed. Deals were struck. Thank goodness for Bubba and Ma (grandma and grandpa) who saved the day and purchased a kid version of a leaf blower shortly thereafter. Who knew those even existed?!
One afternoon I let Jackson run around naked for a few minutes. Yes. This is headed exactly where you think it is. He ascended the couch in his full mountain goat, naked glory to yell at “Lexa” and instantly peed on the couch. First mom reaction. Take him off the couch and start cleaning the couch. First sweet, baby reaction. Pee on the floor. Had to call for backup assistance. Logan reminds me of this at least once a week.
Logan is a big fan of salsa and chips. BIG. So when he spotted the tortilla chips in the cupboard one day, it’s all that he wanted. Turns out we had no salsa but explaining that to a wild animal who wanted nothing to do with my excuses did not go over well. While reviewing the fridge for salsa, his keen eye picked up on the bottle of BBQ sauce in the door and demanded said condiment accompany his chips. I did not fight the request. Obliged and gave him BBQ sauce. 2 chips in, BBQ sauce was returned with a “too spicy” complaint and demand for substitute. Chips and salsa devolved into chips and ketchup. I didn’t fight it.
There have been several days where PJs were an all day affair for the boys. Yesterday’s nightly walk was one of those. Snuggled up on his side of the wagon, Logan was quite pleased that he enjoyed the fresh night air donning his favorite dinosaur jammies. Upon our return home, he requested two minutes to run around, which is a typical post-walk activity. During his run around, he informed me that these were his “outside jammies”.
These moments remind me, on the tough days that we are beyond lucky to share this time with our boys. Time we would not otherwise have. As crazy as the days are, I get more hugs, kisses, snuggles and moments I will hang onto for a lifetime than what would have been possible otherwise. That, I will keep, as the brightest part on the difficult days.
Today we folded the 40,000th load of laundry we’ve washed these last eleven weeks. It currently sits in our hallway. It will remain there until we get tired of tripping over it, need the basket for the plethora of laundry we have somehow collected in the last 72 hours or I’ve run out of pajamas to wear. Whichever comes first. Until then, I will pour myself another glass of wine because today has involved far too much laundry and just not enough wine.
Too Much Laundry, Not Enough Wine 