It’s a crazy time! Pandemic, quarantine, baby #2 arriving in a month. People are losing their lives, jobs, and minds. But for us, life isn’t really all that changed since covid19 arrived. My husband and I already both work from home so we are used to working while Eleanor is running around the house, crying, being cute, or the dog's bark when a delivery truck shows up. 😂 We also were at a point where we didn’t really go out like we used to pre-Eleanor etc.
But we definitely do miss the visits we made to see friends and Donny’s mom who lives about an hour away. It's sad to have to stop taking Eleanor to “story time” at the library, the park, and gymnastics. I miss my pilates classes and Mom misses her MELT classes, even the dogs miss trips down to dog beach now that the weather has gotten hot!
To say the least, we were already homebodies, and it kind of worked out that I’m pregnant with baby #2 right now because that naturally keeps you close to home. With that being said it is very scary being pregnant right now knowing I am going to be giving birth during a pandemic. I try not to think about the fact that being pregnant makes me high risk as is a newborn, and that we will be in a hospital with the chance of coming in contact with people who have the virus. Or that Mom's asthma makes her high risk too and I can’t even think about Eleanor's little body having to fend off this illness if she got sick. Needless to say, we are taking the quarantine seriously and only really leave the house to get essentials, and then whoever in the family does go into town has been wearing a mask, washing hands, and we even have them shower and change clothes as soon as they get home. I myself only go out for my baby checkup doctor appointments.
This whole thing has made us even more aware of how very lucky we are to have our jobs still and so far not have anyone close to us get sick. We are also so lucky to have Oma and Opa (Steph and Herb) living here with us. There is no way both Donny and I could work from home without child care as a lot of our friends are having to do. Let alone Eleanor would be heartbroken if she couldn't see them every day.
We are also so fortunate to live where we do! We have a big grassy backyard for Eleanor to play in and our horses in our backyard too. So there’s always a garden and yard to tend, horses to feed/brush/ride. Plus, we live on a private street so we are still taking our daily walks every morning and evening with Eleanor and the dogs. I truly can’t imagine how hard it is for people who don’t have a yard to get fresh air and play in especially with pets and kids.
I guess the main thing for us is that we already went through the loneliness of not seeing friends and family when we moved and had a baby. We already went through the transition of living on a budget aka not going out to eat, shop, travel, etc when we started supporting 5 people and launched a new business all at the same time. 🤦♀️ We went through the challenges of living 24/7 with your extended family, aka a house with a lot of opinions. And while we still all have our days when we are frustrated by one another we have learned to get along, to help one another, and make it work. More than that we are happier than ever, we have each other to lean on and lift our spirits share our joy and in a time when so many people are sick, struggling, lonely, and sad we are acutely aware of how VERY lucky we are to have FAMILY.
Steph's thoughts on the pandemic and lockdown...
There are families that have lost lives, and families totally uprooted by this 2020 pandemic, we can’t imagine how devastating it would be and are very very grateful for our circumstances. With that being said we can imagine what a struggle a lot of people are going through living with your families 24/7 because we basically made the decision to move in together over 2 years ago, pool our resources, and spend as little money as we could, at times it felt like a lockdown.
You can only imagine how strange and uncomfortable it was for four adults to move in together with a 6 week old baby. Even though we all were trying to fit in, help, and get along, at times the tension could be cut with a knife. Yet with time most points of friction smoothed over or were outgrown. We have become entirely different people, I see just as much change in all of us as one can see in Eleanor, from year to year.
It feels like I’ve cooked a million meals, I’m in the kitchen most of the time, making almost everything from scratch, so I know exactly what is in the food we are eating, which is great for us but so important for little Eleanor to be eating healthy. I used to grocery shop every few days with Miss Eleanor, but now I shop once every 2 weeks and leave my precious Eleanor at home. We don’t go out to eat anymore "to give Oma a break" and only do take out once a week or so. But I take pride in fixing up a fun pub meal 🍗 , or pizza 🍕 that the whole family says is better than any restaurant. I have been out to eat a lot in my life so I have lots of ideas to bring to our table. I think back to when I was 13, my mom and I went out to eat 35 nights in a row 😂my dad was out of town and we were treating ourselves since we were alone. And you know what he asked us the 1st night he was home, “Do you girls want to go out for dinner?” Of course, the answer was, "Yes". So I try different recipes and when I make a bad meal no one complains, it just makes the great ones better.
And let me tell you I never thought I would do this much laundry in my life, yet there is always a helping hand to fold. My mother taught me to love myself and do things for my own joy and satisfaction because there is no one better than me, and that it shows respect to others if I show that I care about myself and how I do something. So as day after day goes by I find it a pleasure taking care of our little tribe.
I still ride every day that I can some weeks that's 5 days others only 2. I never lose the desire to learn or figure something out new on my horse. My big red mare is trained to perform moves I don’t know, so it’s always exciting when we understand each other well enough to experience moments of pure connection. I truly love this horse. It’s funny I find aging just means if I remember how to do something I used to do it’s just as good as learning something new.
And last but surely not the least important is this quarantine has me missing teaching. My new students have said they were so lucky to find Cori and me to teach them because we have such passion that it shows in everything we teach them, that we have changed and filled there lives in a way they never ever could have imagined. This makes my heart sing and is why I love teaching so I look forward to when the lockdown lifts and they can come back and take lessons again.
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