The Things We’ve Always Done
I’ve always baked bread. As in, for the last 20+ years, I’ve baked bread about once or twice a week. I am both amused and confused by the number of people posting the bread they’re baking online, seemingly for the first time. Except for this week because it’s still Pesach. This week, I’m totally jealous of all the bread. I want bread.
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I’ve had standing video lunches or phone dates with several people all year. It started with my cousin. We used to get lunch together once a month. When she moved, we started holding our lunches via Skype. Because we don’t need to travel to the restaurant, we decided to do them every other week instead of once a month. We just grab our lunches and sit in front of the computer camera, and it feels like we’re together in the same room.
Due to the success of those lunches, I set up video lunches with a few friends. We’ve clearly been keeping them because they are how everyone is holding lunch dates. So I nod to all the other people who have discovered the joy of the Zoom lunch.
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What has changed:
Outside clothes vs inside clothes. We change the moment we step into the house, even if we’ve only gone on a short walk and haven’t seen a single person.
Face masks. I am pretty reluctant about putting anything on my face, including make-up. At first I was resigned to never leaving the house if it meant wearing a mask. But I wanted to drop off my parent’s groceries so I could see them from afar. So I put on my first face mask, a homemade one that looked like a polartec maxipad.
Disinfecting phones. For someone who loves to clean—even down to my normal bleaching-of-the-doorknobs—I never thought to disinfect my phone. And I use it while I’m out of the house so… Needless to say, I have begun disinfecting everyone’s phone on a regular basis, even if the only time it leaves the house is to go on a walk.
What hasn’t changed / has changed for you?
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I haven’t done regular video chatting for over 5 years, until Quarantine. I used to wear make up once a week, now I’m not. I used to only do stories on Insta and Facebook when something really cute happened, now I do it every day.
I have disinfected our phones and tablets once a week for years. Any time we visit a hospital or visited more than one public place where we set down, those clothes went into the hamper when we got home. Also, changing your kid in to PJs when you get home helps to keep his good clothes from getting stained.
On baking: You know how people say you have a green thumb if you can grow things, and a black thumb if your plants die? I think you have a flour thumb if you can back and a black thumb if you burn things.
I rarely burn things, but I cannot get things to rise. Even cookies. But I can cook meat and other entrees.
I feel like a lot has changed for us, but only because I broke my foot at the same time as all of this happened. So the things I would have done anyway — laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning — suddenly became S.’s responsibility. Now, no more packing of lunches (which is lovely, TBH), no more crazy juggle to get kids to after school activities. I have actually been able to pleasure read a little more. We’ve been ordering out WAY more to support local small business that are suffering. It’ll be interesting to see what aspects of this stick.
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Changed:
Pretty much everything about our daily routines. No school or daycare means kids are at home, and Mr. Turtle and I are re-inventing our jobs as work at home/from a distance arrangements.
We don’t see family and friends regularly as we used to. Our kids don’t have other kids to talk to and play with. They miss that, even though they are resilient and benefit from having each other.
Not changed:
We are luck to both still be employed, have cash flow, the lights and heat are on, we have enough to eat. The people around us are all behaving decently by and large. People are learning, adapting, cooperating. I mean I’m sure I could find evidence of bad behaviour if I went looking, but I really have no complaints about anyone I interact with regularly.
This is very reassuring to me. I have a strong individualist orientation and I do believe that each person doing their best makes a big difference.
Well…one of the first weeks, spouse was off work entirely. Then the company figured out hours and spouse went back part time. This week, he’s back to full hours. I had hours cut at work as my department is low volume right now, then volunteered to go back to my previous department temporarily so their nurses can go to more severe wards. We’re trying to juggle this without preschool as well. So all that is all over the map and we’re just thankful to have jobs at all. No church choir or services, which I miss (Easter was a huge bummer – it is just not the same without other people). I really related to your post on Pesach and holidays and how it’s just a lot of big feelings/not the same at all.
Hasn’t changed: well, I’m a huge germophobe ;). So I’ve been disinfecting phones and such for ages (partially because I do take mine to work and who knows what I got into there even in the pre-coronavirus era). I have taken my e-reader out of its case since the e-reader itself is easy to wipe completely while the case is less so. I always changed my work scrubs at work and left my work shoes at work, but now I’m changing out of my secondary outfit as soon as I get in the door at home/showering immediately. No one is allowed to touch me until I’ve thoroughly disinfected.
Changed: I’m washing my hands a LOT more now, and for longer, and trying (but not succeeding) to stop rubbing my eyes. Skype/Zoom drinks with my friend instead of at a favourite hotel. Enjoying the daily live-stream safari I’ve been raving about.
But otherwise, my life is outwardly the same, except for all the obvious things we can’t do. And in NZ, we can’t even order in ready-cooked meals in our lockdown.
Being retired, we’re at home a lot of the time anyway — except for stocking up on groceries and picking up prescriptions, we don’t HAVE to go out more than once a week or so. Our income (pension payments) hasn’t been disrupted (although our personal investments sure took a hit — ouch!). We can still pay all the bills. We can still find just about everything we need at the supermarket. We’re still eating well. None of that has changed, and we’re grateful for all that.
What’s changed: I was always pretty conscientious about wiping things down while doing the weekly housecleaning. Since we’re not going out much, I don’t feel the need to wipe things down every day, but I do go over the front door handles & kitchen countertop, etc., when dh returns from the supermarket. We wipe down all the groceries before putting things away (I used to wipe down the cans & jars just with a damp cloth, but now we do EVERYTHING, even the boxes, with Lysol). I have become more aware of the need to keep our cellphones clean. And yes, I’m much more conscious about washing my hands more often and more thoroughly. And of how many times I touch my face!!
We used to have a bit of a regular routine: Monday lunch out & grocery shopping, home to put away the groceries & then off to the bookstore for a Starbucks & a browse. Tuesdays mornings to the mall for shopping & lunch. Wednesday, probably lunch out again and maybe another trip to the bookstore. Thursdays laundry. Fridays housecleaning. Saturdays, dinner out, a visit to BIL & family and/or (once a month or two) to see stepMIL. Sunday afternoons to the movies (if there was anything on we wanted to see). Now dh goes to the supermarket once a week or so, alone. No more lunches out, no Starbucks, no bookstore browse. No visits to BIL’s and no dinners out on Saturday nights or movies on Sunday afternoons. We could order takeout or delivery, but dh prefers not to while this is on.
So — we used to be home a lot, but now we’re home ALL THE TIME. I don’t go quite as stir-crazy as dh, but it does get a bit tedious at times. I’ve always spent a lot of time online, but even more so now. People have come out of the woodwork, and while it’s nice to be in touch, it also gets kind of overwhelming at times.
And my hair is getting longer, lol.
Nothing has changed much for me or my husband. The kid is kinda bored being at home, but she’s good at entertaining herself. We’ve been baking a lot more than usual, though. Bread is on my agenda for next week. 🙂
Changed: needing to set an alarm. And “having” to get to sleep. Much more relaxed on both ends of sleeping.
Yoga by zoom or YouTube.
Not changed: lunch dates with friends 🙂
More biscuit making and eating. I bought a quart of buttermilk, which is 4 batches. Yum…