20 Things I've Done During the Pandemic

I'm not much of a diary keeper. I've got a few tucked away that I started when the mood struck me, but it's never become a habit. And while I don't think cataloging every moment of my housebound status is useful, I will want to look back on this and be able to answer what I did during this notable time in our history. So much of what I've done is the opposite of important, but maybe that's why it's worth recording, like a meditation, on what was normal for this time. In no particular order:

1. Because I wasn't commuting or dropping of kids at school, I slept in late unless a child or a puppy woke me up which they often did. Still it turns out I could definitely be a teenager again.
2. I also exercised 4+ days a week. Real workouts following real trainers. It turns out this is something I could do if I had more energy and less distraction.
3. I made hot pretzels twice (so far) because I love gluten.
4. I made multiple batches of hand sanitizer myself with increasing success. Best batch was when my 4 year old put way to much essential oil in. Looks radioactive, but smells great!
5. I also attempted to order officially made hand sanitizer roughly 500 times.
6. I met the children that teachers and other parents always said I had. They are lovely courteous human beings roughly 80% of the time. It turns out they are in a better mood during the day than after school, and I was mostly seeing the other 20%...which I still see by the way.
7. We really pushed the limits on how much screen time is too much screen time. I'm optimistic that every parent is doing the same, so my kids won't be relatively impacted that much.
8. I took my vitamins regularly. Amazing what a pandemic can make you do.
9. I reviewed how to volunteer. With three children, I need to be practical about how and when I can help. I've filled out forms to volunteer for the county. We'll see what happens.
10. I've donated lots of places, ordered food from restaurants, supported small businesses. If I let myself, I'll go down a rabbit hole here because I'm really worried about the community.
11. I paid people who can't currently do work for me because if I'm getting paid, they should still get paid too. We are the safety net.
12. I worried about the future. Realized that was futile. Rinsed and repeated.
13. I felt grateful constantly that I had the luxury of worrying about other people, about the future, about anything but day to day survival.
14. I did artwork with the kids and also by myself when they turned out to be too distracted to do a lot of the projects. Lots of pillow making, painting, and light fixture crafting. Surprised myself that I still had a small sewing machine and remembered how to use it.
15. I did yell. I'm writing this here so I can't be all romantic about this time and forget how much I cursed and screamed.
16. I made sure the kids were happy, healthy and loved, although they did probably pick up some new curse words.
17. We bulk bought questionable dietary items including Froot Loops, Lucky Charms, Doritos, and Mexican Coke. This may impact our future health.
18. I worked. This consisted of a lot of video conferences and email. So much computer time that I finally turned night light mode on all the time to save my eyeballs.
19. We got a new puppy because we had a ton of time at home to deal with the early puppy days. Despite all the poo and pee, this appears to have been a very good idea.
20. I will appreciate real world interactions so much more now. I apologize in advance if I keep poking at you when we're back together. Look, it's you! It's me! We're here!

Love from California. Stay Safe. Be Healthy. Take Care.