This Is Quarantine: Day 7 *addendum

7 days already.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but time has flown.

I haven't been at work for a week.

The girls have been home for a week.

I haven't worn makeup for a week.

I haven't met up with a friend, hosted a playdate, eaten a restaurant, gone through a drive-thru, watched martial arts, or been inside a grocery store for a week.

I have slept less, I have been glued to my phone and my computer more, I have rushed less, I have reached out more.

I have written a ton more.

I haven't gotten as much done around the house as I had envisioned.

I have planned out and prepared meals better than I had hoped.

I am both proud of my homeschooling efforts and excited about the things we haven't tackled yet.

I am still craving that child-free time at the end of the day, but no more this week than any other.

I have mostly managed to stay calm.

I have pleaded with my family to speak to me One. At. A. Time.

And yet, here I sit, contemplating how a week could possibly have gone by already.

But then again, things have been moving quickly.

This time last week, on Wednesday morning, Jeff first suggested that I stop working and keep the girls home. It seemed so overly cautious. I laughed it off.

Thursday I stopped working and the girls stayed home. I felt ridiculous telling my clinic and the girls' camps that we wouldn't be in. Everything was still so normal.

On Friday the message to stay home started circulating. I felt relieved that it wasn't just us hiding out while everyone else continued on as if nothing was wrong.

In 48 hours, things went from totally fine to totally different.

And since then, every day has seen more restrictions, more things shutting down, more evidence that this isn't just going to blow over.

And there is so much information. We are positively consumed by information and warnings and advice and instructions and threats and so many questions and not enough answers, but oh my god enough opinions to sink the Titanic.

You have to be careful. You have to be so careful to make sure to listen to that tiny little voice inside of you that is most certainly being drowned out in the noise right now. Several times a day I have to stop and really strain to hear it:

Just do your best, do what feels right, and it will be okay.

There will be people telling you that you're worrying too much (panicking, freaking out...so many unhelpful words). There will be people telling you you're not worrying enough (in denial, naive, ignorant). They will tell you that you should make better use of your time, that you should spend more time teaching and less time with screens, more time hugging and less time teaching, more time preparing and less time reading the news, more time staying up to date on the latest developments and less time scrolling FB, more time getting fresh air and less time inside, more time checking on others and less time interacting with others...

My wholly unsolicited advice? Try to spend more time listening to that tiny voice and less time listening to all the other loud, judgemental, scary and confusing voices. 

Also?

Allow others to listen to their own tiny voices.

Try to be supportive, with words of encouragement and validation. 

Try to know when to stay quiet, to offer support by allowing others to go inward for advice. 

There are more than 7 billion ways to navigate this, and not one of us is holding the manual.

Just do your best, do what feels right, and it will be okay.

And please stay home.

💛