AKA how I’m only losing my shit occasionally during the coronavirus pandemic. I’m not going to pretend that I’m not stressed and that I haven’t had moments of panic or that I haven’t yelled at my kids, but for the most part, I’m doing ok. But it’s not just “luck” that I’m doing ok. I had to institute some things to take care of myself and make this situation bearable for me.
My number one rule: Cut myself (and my family) some slack. My kids are doing online learning now. I can still work for two of my jobs. My house needs a spring cleaning. Yada yada yada. Bottomline is that there’s plenty for me and them to do. Some days we get shit done. Some days we don’t. And that’s ok.
- I’ve started a run streak. I realized late last week that I do better on days I get in at least 15 minutes of running. So, now I’m running every day. Today was only a little over a mile at a super easy pace, but it was definitely helpful. At some point I may be running laps around my block or exclusively on my treadmill, but for now I’m heading outside every day.
- I’ve instituted a schedule. My boys and I are night owls and could easily become vampires, but Beer Geek is still working full time (from the basement.) So, while I don’t get up at my usual “school day” time, I have been making sure that I’m up by 8am.
- I have a daily checklist of things I need to do. None of them are particularly onerous – workout, go outside, do one cleaning chore, do one organizing chore, text a friend, etc. I admit I’m being VERY generous about what I consider cleaning LOL, but just having things I need to do each day helps me stay centered.
- I’m reading fluff and doing puzzles and staying off of Facebook for hours at a time. I know some people are doing truly productive things and learning new skills (I made bread today – definitely a new skill that will take some work.) I’ll get back to exercising my brain later – right now it’s on a vacation.
- I’m looking for the fun or ridiculous in every day. If you are a friend on Facebook, you’ve probably seen my daily “random” posts. It started as a random one off (see what I did there), but has become part of my my daily goals.
- I’m doing what I can to help others. We are fortunate in many ways, so I’m trying to share that. I’m still paying my cleaning service even though I refuse to let anyone into my house. I’m ordering my milk from a localish dairy. I’m donating to various local groups that are helping the food insecure, feeding the healthcare workers, and have helped out a few friends directly.
- I’m setting some new goals. I fully expect my two May half marathons to be cancelled (after all, we have a “Stay at Home” order in Virginia until June 2nd.) So, I have a virtual relay race this weekend, I’ll be running one of those crazy “run x miles every 4 hours for 24 hours” challenges in mid April, and I’m planning to run the Historic half as a virtual.
