Another one: my org normally has a “no WFH” policy even though a lot of staff could WFH just fine and there’s a parking shortage at the office. I am hoping that these weeks of mandatory WFH will be successful and cause leadership to reconsider the policy.
-Work stuff is stressful for very situational reasons for me, but I am so incredibly grateful that we both have jobs we can continue to engage in and that we aren't financially impacted by this.
-On a related note, I paid my housekeeper her full rate for tomorrow's cleaning and asked her to stay home instead. It felt really good to be able to do that without batting an eye.
-I liked seeing everyone out on walks this weekend. It was clear a lot of a our neighborhood was taking social distancing seriously and opting to stay home (and go on walks) rather than do their normal weekend activities.
-DS1 is super excited to do the workbook I bought for him and I think it's really cute. I'm so glad he's not in Kinder yet so that we're not dealing with him missing actual schoolwork.
-I am letting my kids watch more movies now that I'm not so worried they'll be scared of everything and we've had some real hits lately. They'll be watching one movie a day for the next two weeks, so it will be fun to see them enjoy some of my favorites. They really loved Monsters Inc. last night.
I’m going to take this time to actually train my hair to not need to be shampooed every day. I will only wear stretchy pants for the next 3 months. I shall drink lots of wine.
I started stretching it out more and more and honestly, it now takes so much longer to look dirty. And I work out most days. I do think some people might sweat more on their heads than others, but I do think once it gets used to not being washed daily, the scalp adjusts.
My son has an awful class this year and it's the first time he hasn't adored his teacher. It's the perfect year to miss 2 weeks of school. I also went back to work and even though it's part time, I've been missing having the whole time with him in the summer and on breaks. You know when there's too much time to fill and you get bored? He's out for 2 weeks right now and I'm not going into the office for at least a week, and I'm so looking forward to it. Knowing it's finite, I think, will give me the chance to make the most of it and really appreciate it.
Post by 1confused1 on Mar 15, 2020 21:38:11 GMT -5
I am approved to work from home til April 14 and I am thrilled.
This may sound odd, but I saw my sister yesterday and finally told someone how anxious I have been. I cried but it felt so good to admit it out loud. I am a single mom and haven't been able to see my friends (all activities canceled) so I have been feeling very isolated.
I think we are going to save a lot of money this month because we aren’t going anywhere and I bought food with the idea that we might be here until into April.
I taught myself cribbage. I kind of enjoy meal planning and having an excuse to use leftovers in a new way and this is perfect for that! I also have a few craft kits I bought over the years and never actually used them so I think I’ll try them now.
Being home like this I feel will bring us closer together. I feel like we are always rushing to go somewhere and then we have little time to put into the basic maintenance. We grow so many great things in our backyard. We have grapes, pecans, figs, pears and peaches and now growing strawberries and watermelons. Now we have more time to put into it. It's not going to kill us to slow down. We are very lucky to have two homes (my inlaws house is like a second home) and they can take care of the girls when we work from home. They grow even more things than we do and they yard is like a sanctuary.
Post by scribellesam on Mar 15, 2020 22:09:40 GMT -5
We just adopted a puppy last weekend, about four days before everything in our lives was canceled, and now we have lots of time to stay home and play with her.
A friend of a Facebook friend has started a Lego challenge group. A cartoon artist that does classes at a place near us is doing a short online course tomorrow on Facebook Live. People care. It's beautiful.
Well, new silver lining. Apparently the guy who is replacing me can't be in the office for two days (wtf is two days going to do you might ask...), so now I get to work from home tomorrow and Tuesday.
A friend of a Facebook friend has started a Lego challenge group. A cartoon artist that does classes at a place near us is doing a short online course tomorrow on Facebook Live. People care. It's beautiful.
I’ve seen at least three areas post Google Docs attempting to connect people who need assistance to those who can provide assistance.
The homeschool moms in our community are being incredibly kind and helpful, with not a hint of self-righteousness that often comes on snow/summer days. I’m honestly really looking forward to having my boys at home. If not for my ADHD, I would have strongly considered homeschooling the early years (we have a large, well-supported community here).
We are typically fiercely protective of our schedule, and I refuse to over schedule our family, so our evenings won’t look much different. I’m excited that more people will get to experience the feeling of taking a deep breath in the evenings knowing that there’s no where that they need to be. I’m ecstatic that the go-to answer to “How have you been?” will not be “Crazy busy.”
We’re basically self-quarantined. My H is the designated runner to get things we might need. It’s easier to explain to the kids than we can do some things, but not others. Having this decision made brings calm to my mind. We’re not at risk for unknowingly infecting others if we’re not around them!
I’m having fun thinking of all of the different ways we can stay connected with family and friends, and also connect more with others who may be lonely!
My third grader has ADHD and anxiety and has had a terrible school career, despite us all working so, so hard to make things better (him, me, the school, many medications, therapists, etc). I had recently been pushing the school to allow us to do independent study to push the reset button on his anxiety after several panic attacks related to school. It was looking like that would be a huge fight and we had more meetings scheduled when school got cancelled and we are all moving to distance learning. Obviously this is not how I would have chosen to give independent study a whirl, but my kid is so much more relaxed already knowing that he doesn’t have to go back to school for awhile, and I am honestly interested to see how “homeschooling” goes.
I love this thread. I think WFH will do well for both my wallet (my commute including train & parking is $20/day, plus I won't be tempted to buy lunch or run for a $5 Starbucks break) and my waistline (I immediately lose weight when I really buckle down and only eat food I pack vs. buying on the fly in the city).
My cats are also all thrilled that we're home with them all day.
My H and I are so, so lucky that we can WFH and I want to continue to support small businesses in my community (buying gift cards, etc and we're still paying our after school teachers and sports class). Continuing to support people when they aren't allowed to provide services reminds me of how very lucky we are at this moment in time.
Post by wesleycrusher on Mar 16, 2020 10:22:42 GMT -5
Our house is getting clean since we are home. We're trying to eat through our freezer and our chest freezer in the basement is pretty full so we can finally clean it out. I still have to go to work (at dr office) and there is a lot less traffic since our local universities are shut down.
A friend of a Facebook friend has started a Lego challenge group. A cartoon artist that does classes at a place near us is doing a short online course tomorrow on Facebook Live. People care. It's beautiful.
Can I/my son get in on that? That sounds AWESOME!
I don't know the person who started it, but I messaged them to ask if we can add people. It does sound like fun!
Post by fivechickens on Mar 16, 2020 11:13:40 GMT -5
Since St Patrick’s Day is essentially canceled someone in our neighborhood had a great idea of having a shamrock hunt. the kids draw/color/print out/whatever shamrocks and tape them to windows. If we go for a walk around sub they will look out for them.
It not super exciting but it is a fun social distancing activity.
I have been drowning at work since before Xmas when I got sick and got worse when I was sick again in January (I'm fine now, I normally am healthy, but got hit 2x in a row). I have been so far behind and stressed about it and working on weekends. We got the WFH directive this morning. I think working from home for a couple of weeks should allow me to catch up and do some projects that are on the back burner right now. I work in an open office, which is killer for productivity. I don't have kids, so it's just me with my dog (and sometimes DH).
We should also save a lot of $$ - we travel and eat out a lot. We have a big 10th anniversary vacation scheduled at the end of next month that we'll have to cancel, so we'll have that money for awhile too.
Save on gas; limited driving. I can put the savings towards credit cards. My house is clean, I have spent a lot of time outside, and my cats are thrilled I am home. I am thankful for being paid this week, so I do plan on supporting some small businesses.. my takeout budget won't go down.
Since St Patrick’s Day is essentially canceled someone in our neighborhood had a great idea of having a shamrock hunt. the kids draw/color/print out/whatever shamrocks and tape them to windows. If we go for a walk around sub they will look out for them.
It not super exciting but it is a fun social distancing activity.
Someone in our area shared the same idea!
A friend said that somewhere else, kids were putting all of their art in the front windows for people to see as they walked past. I think we will do the same!
The birds are singing and soon things will start to bud and bloom. I was trapped at home after surgery around this time one year, and just observing all of the changes was wonderful! It’s so fun to watch the world come alive again! The birds are cheerfully singing despite the somber world.
Our dog is so irrepressibly happy that we are home with her all day! She loves our dog walker (who we are still paying), but it's not the same as having all of her people home and available for attention 24/7.
I read a book yesterday that wasn't for work or school, and it was excellent. The nature of what I do means that I read a lot of novels, articles, and narrative non-fiction, but very little of it is new to me. Then I come home and I'm kind of burned out on long-form reading. Hopefully this break offers a lot more opportunities to just zone out with a good book since my lessons for the next three weeks have been planned and pushed out to students already.
Unrelated to the pandemic, my H received his discharge orders from the Army today. He's not officially released from the service until late May (our move is the first week of June, and I'm just praying that we can make it without interference) but after 22 years of service, 17 of which have included me along for the ride, this chapter of our lives is almost over. He has a great civilian job lined up, we're buying a wonderful house, and our kids are excited to live close to their grandparents for the first time in their lives.
I’ve posted so much on CEP lately that now I’m a “Senior Member.”
Also, my yard is going to be the neatest and cleanest it's ever been, at this rate. In the past 2 days I filled a whole yard waste trash can with just pinecones.