“He thrives on a schedule,” my sister said about my nephew, as the two of us sat and divvied up childcare for the foreseeable future.
And the same could be said for us all. May marked the second full month I spent quarantining with my family in LA. In an effort to combat the sense of malaise that ran like an undercurrent beneath our day-to-day, we set a schedule that ultimately gave time and energy back to all of us. With a routine firmly in place, it was a departure from the first few “anything goes” weeks during which we all just tried to end each day with our sanity intact. As a result, I think we all felt less frazzled, and a bit more productive and in control.
Don’t get me wrong, “anything goes” didn’t exactly go anywhere. Namely, our days were still steeped in sugar and screen time. But the routine provided a nice structure for when we’d do that each day. Kidding! Obviously Meeks and I mastered the art of justifying the need for sugar all day, every day. I thought I’d write out the schedule that worked most effectively for me, for posterity’s sake.
5:45 / rise and shine, on the best days. Roger, one of my sister’s cats, will come join me for…
6:00 / morning yoga. My studio back at home, Ritual Hot Yoga, pivoted to virtual classes which has provided me with a healthy dose of familiarity. When I make myself wake up and flow it out (I’d say there’s a 75% success rate), I run on so much more energy for the rest of the morning which is *prayer emoji* you know?
7 – 8:30 / I’ll head into the kitchen to find my dad and baby niece hanging out. My dad and I will switch off entertaining the baby – she’s at her giggliest around now – and making coffee/breakfast. I’ll stash away one cup of coffee for later, and then sneak away with another to respond to emails, write some blog posts, and settle into the day. Meeks will also wake up around this time and will groggily play with his cars and eat his breakfast with his parents while I’m having my me time.
8:30 – 9:30 / aunt-nannying begins! I try and start the day with movement of some sort, whether it’s Cosmic Kids Yoga, action-based dance videos, or an obstacle course that we’ll built together. More often than not though, Meeks will persuade me to play with “cars, cars, cars” some more.
9:30 – 11 / I pull out all the tricks in the book to convince him to play in the backyard, where he never wants to go but ends up never wanting to leave once he’s there. Our favorite backyard activities include scavenger hunts, chase, playing with the trampoline, ball pit, and slide that we’ve since acquired since quarantining, and simply “snuggling in the grass.” Lulu will also wake up from her morning nap and come join us. Trash pick-up is on Thursdays, so obviously 10am on the dot we’re waiting by the window to watch the trucks swing by.
11 – 11:30 / Meeks has his pre-school Zoom class, which I’ll sit in every so often. Usually, my sister takes over though and I’ll sneak away with a second cup of coffee to play with Lulu, practice my Spanish on Duolingo, read a book, or do some crosswords.
11:30 – 1 / lunch. My mom, bless her heart, will usually have something delicious prepared for all of us – noodles or wontons, typically. We’re so spoiled. After lunch, we’ll all hang out in the living room together for a bit.
1 – 3 / the grandparents take over for nap-time. My dad takes Lulu, my mom takes Meeks, and my sister and I use this time to get some more work done and take calls (backyard FaceTimes are the best). I started doing some phone interviews in the car which would be blessedly quiet but REALLY FREAKING HOT. C’est la vie. If I’m feeling really indulgent, I’ll go snuggle up and nap with Lulu.
3 – 5:30 / my sister will take Meeks to the backyard to play with his splash pad and kiddie pool, or to run around some more. I’ll either take Lulu and join them or get some more work done, or hide away with a book.
5:30 – 7 / family dinner, and then the kids play with their dad after he’s done with work. My mom cooks stir-fries, roasts, or noodles on the weekdays, and then my sister and brother-in-law will grill and make pasta on the weekends. Or, we’ll do take-out or pizza! I cooked a grand total of one time, but I made Chrissy Teigen’s Spicy Miso pasta which was so so good.
7 – 8 / baths & showers. I get some snuggles in with a delicious, giggly, sleepy Lulu and it’s the absolute sweetest.
8 – 11 / I’ll retreat to my room to watch TV and read blogs. On the weekends, my sister and brother-in-law and I will try to stay awake for a movie and a late-night snack.
Though we didn’t strictly follow the schedule on weekends, they didn’t end up looking too different. We were liberal with treats even more on the weekends, and tried to be in the backyard as much as possible. Picnic lunches and dinners, donuts, Sunday boba runs to Cha Bei Bei (I left the house one time in two months, and it was to walk to get boba).
Mother’s Day weekend was very special. I ordered Jeni’s for pick-up, baked brownies and these wonderful coconut mochi butter muffins, and then we introduced Meeks to backyard camping, s’mores included. (Like I said, liberal with the treats.) All in all, the weekdays were quite lovely, and the weekends even more so.
I don’t think I’ll ever quite have the words to explain how much the last two months have meant to me. Never in a million years would I have counted on having so much time with family, so much time to absorb the quiet magic of watching my parents play tickle war with their grandchildren, to read and eat ice cream with my sister, to watch my niece and nephew bond and learn and grow.
Through the most terrible of times, I found some of the brightest moments too. I’ll never forget that.
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