10 questions-One year of the pandemic

 HAPPY MONDAY!  

I hope you had a wonderful weekend! The Queen in Between shared some questions last week about the pandemic which made me want to join her in answering them today.  These came from a podcast from Laura Tremaine. 

Here are the questions! 

1. What was life like in early 2020? 

In early 2020, I was adjusting to being back at work after maternity leave.  Being a mom with a 2 year old and 5 month old was hard but we were figuring it out. We weren’t really going places because D was so little and our biggest worry was him getting sick with the flu. 

2. What was the biggest change?

The biggest change when Covid hit was adjusting to working from home with 2 small children.  D was 7 months at the time. 

3.  What were your coping mechanisms? 

I did not have the best coping mechanisms during this time. In fact, I began to have anxiety and couldn’t eat, wasn’t sleeping, and I was just overwhelmed a lot of the time. Work was demanding and trying to take care of kids at the same time was hard.  I was crying a lot, frustrated, sad, and mad.  I would call my mom and cry all the time.  I ended up calling my OB and asking for anxiety meds.  One day, I basically broke down and knew I needed help. This same breakdown caused B to call my mom to ask her to come stay with us until I was out for the summer because we needed help with the boys. 

4. What did connection in your relationships look like?

We were not seeing extended family or friends.  My relationship with B was a little strained at times because we were both so overwhelmed.  I was frustrated with the boys because all I could think about was work. The first few months of Covid felt very isolating but I knew everyone was dealing with the some of the same things. Life was hard!  

5. What will you remember most?

I think what I will remember most only because it was so crazy was the shortage of toilet paper, water bottles, and cleaning supplies.  The panic that everyone felt and what the grocery stores were like at the beginning of Covid.  

6. What was the biggest challenge? 

My biggest and hardest challenge was working from home with small children. B has a demanding job and needed me to care for the boys but I had a job too. 

I had to relearn how to do my job digitally and was expected to be working as usual during the day. We were only given one day as Professional Development and the next day we were expected to have lesson plans posted. It was overwhelming because it was “business as usual” and there was no time to consider that we were in the middle of a pandemic. I was basically caring for the boys while trying to keep up with work by phone.  I would start working the minute the boys went to bed until 1-2 in the morning. IT. WAS. BAD.  But, it was the only way I could keep up and the only time I could devote to my job.  I worked at night and most weekends until school was out for the summer.  I was able to get to bed by midnight once I was able to get ahead with lesson planning. I was a speech therapist so my caseload was about 50+ kids that I was responsible for, we were still having ARD meetings, providing speech therapy, and I was getting new speech kiddos during these months.   

7. What was a beautiful memory?

Covid gave me a chance to stay home with my boys.  I am going to hold onto our time at the park, walks, picnics, and how I was able to see them grow this year.I have tried to create memories for them.  

8. What do you believe now that you didn’t one year ago? 

We are more vulnerable than I thought and this virus is not like the flu or even swine flu. Wearing a mask, social distancing and frequent hand washing are the key factors to keep us safe. 

9. What would you do differently?

Ask for help a little sooner, we needed to have someone watch the boys while we worked. 

10. What will you carry forward?

 To continue to be adaptable, health is important (weight to reduce heart disease, diabetes, etc) and continue hand washing/ sanitizing (I’ve become a germophobe).

This was cathartic.  I know that my trials were small compared to what others have gone through. Covid changed our world and us.  

What will you remember most? Let me know!  

-A-

 I am linking up with The Other Side of the Road, My Glittery Heart, and The Sirois Family for: