Week 6 of Quarantine

Quarantine Week 6 is rolling. Will we get used to this as a permanent thing?

Other moms are complaining about how they are overwhelmed by school work help they have to provide their kids. From what I hear, the struggle is more for parents of elementary school. They never had a online learning concept or system in place. So it is a major struggle to devise such methods now.

My boys are thankfully older and more independent. I cannot complain much about them troubling me with help for zoom calls or  school assignments. I wonder if what I am doing is good enough as a good mom.

I start off the day with breakfast and shower and the morning office calls. In between hours of work, if I were in the office, I would have stopped by a colleague's desk for a chit-chat. On the way to the restroom or back, I would have exchanged some small talk with someone, complimented them for their outfit or shoes and or made some ad-hoc lunch plans. Not any more.

Tired of sitting at my desk and typing, I walk around craving for a chat. I enter the room of my 8th grader teenager and he says - "mom, can you go out, I am in a zone with my home work. Don't distract me".

I open the door of freshman-in-college room and he is obviously in a zoom call. I flee from there hoping to chat a little with my husband if he is not on an office call. He too seems to be on a call and I wave at him and walk away,

Before it is too late in the night for my dad in India, I call him. These talks give me the confidence that he is doing good and can comment about movies, whatsapp jokes that are relevant to current situation. This gives me peace that I can go about my rest of the day and night. There is always a fear and worry in the back of the mind still.

It is all about food prep and food to make. When there is time at hand, we head to the kitchen to make something. It has been a good opportunity to try out dishes we never had the time to make. Lot more time at hand for preparing ingredients that will come in handy for cooking,

Here too, I cannot complain that I am the sole chef at home. There is a partnership in place, my husband cooks too,  and the boys have all been very co-operative.

• Apart from emptying dishwasher which they used to after we nag, now we have them help us furthermore in the kitchen. Like cleanup after dinner or lunch. Putting dirty dishes away (yuck...) and loading dishwasher or wiping clean dishes. 

• They like to jump in to the kitchen and bake occasionally. Both boys worked together (argued and fought too in the process) and made their first ever pound cake from scratch and converted it to a pineapple upside down cake. I am impressed.

• Boy 2 helped peel  a whole stalk of garlic in exchange for a fast food meal he has been craving for 5 weeks. And I caved ..!

• We have been playing carroms and it is a series of tournaments going on. We all have improved the skills a lot. First time in my life, I impressed my Boy2 with any kid of game/sports skills. I am so happy for that.

Still, there is a certain thing about routine that needs to be broken. It makes us stick to the same things every day - and there are areas of focus needed around cleaning/organizing closets etc which don't fall into this routine.

So far so good.

Week 4 of Quarantine

Today is Apr 8, 2020. We are living in an era where somethings never imagined are happening. Like me blogging again :-)

Three and a half weeks of quarantine period have passed by. 

Only thing that can guarantee to put a smile on our faces is nature. Sunshine during the day as opposed to gloomy clouds are THE ONLY thing that will make me happy. That means, I can step out for a walk. Gone are the days when I would ask to go out for a dinner with the family or dream of going on a long drive. All I ask for is a sunny day so I can walk. Even while walking, I think of those friends who have not stepped outside home to avoid the risk of contacting the virus from the air. I wonder if I am safe by doing this.

This walk is so very needed after the hours of sitting on the desk and typing. The stiff neck longs for some movement and what is better than a nice walk outside.

We have been blessed with some better weather days. Morning times, the bird sounds come as a realization that some other system is going on as usual even though human lives have come to a standstill. Added to the sunny surprise, is the view of the spring blooms on the trees. Some are waiting to bloom and these buds promise a better tomorrow. It is good to see nature going on its planned course as we transition from winter into spring. This gives us hope for some day soon, summer will be here. There is also the hope that summer temperatures may help curbing the spread of COVID-19. 

P.S. After typing this positive post, later in the evening, I heard about the 21 year old Malayali boy who passed away suddenly due to COVID-19 and I was terribly moved and affected. At this point, I could not smile even with the sunshine and spring blooms.