Friends, I’m here to wish you a happy Monday. I hope you had an Easter weekend filled with sunshine. It was sunny here, but also very windy and cold! We spent a lot of time outside, but in small chunks with plenty of time to warm up inside.
Easter was lovely – the kids enjoyed waking up to their baskets, which kept them busy while my husband and I put together a big breakfast. It was a day full of feasting, that’s for sure.
Last week was a success! Not only did we have a great week with remote learning, but I got a lot of stuff done on my own to-do list. It felt great to finally find some sort of system that allows for schoolwork, three kids, and time to pick up and clean. It makes me feel so hopeful about the weeks to come!
Most exciting was a return to morning pages. I started again on Monday after nearly 3 weeks of missing it and managed to write all seven days last week! Let’s see how long I can keep it up.
Even with all of the successes we had last week, it was still pretty hard in a lot of ways. I found that I had a really short fuse and was grumpy about almost everything. I find solace in knowing that nearly every other human being is having some of the same feelings right now. I have to remember that there are some things I can control and some I cannot (thanks Honoré!), and the most important right now is how I treat my children and husband.
And I have to remember to ask for help – to ask my husband to keep an eye on the kids while I duck into our room to fold and put away laundry, instead of letting it pile up for over a week and become totally overwhelmed; ask for a few minutes to sit alone on the porch with a cup of coffee and the sunshine; ask for help anytime I’m feeling drained, overwhelmed, or begrudged. I have to remember to ask – that’s all.
Week 16 is fresh and and ready to be lived! We’re starting Week 5 of remote learning. The school has lightened the load a bit – we’re doing 4 days of “new” work and using Friday to catch up or play games. We’re still waiting to hear about April vacation – will we work through it or take the week off? This is when it would be so beneficial to have been a homeschooler all along. Other than field trips and library visits, nothing would have really changed! But this so unprecedented, and Big Bear’s teacher and school have been so wonderful through it all, so I’m definitely not complaining. Just unsure. I like to have a little idea about what to expect!
How is stay-at-home life going for you? Do you find that you’re feeling a little short-tempered? Can you share some ways that you help keep those feelings in check?
I hope your week starts out well and you find something that brings you great joy today!
The Cozy Burrow 
Glad you’re finding a rhythm for this time. As for those feelings of frustration, I find that a bit of your advice has helped me a lot — that word ‘pause.’ And two words that I also try to keep in mind — ‘good will.’ My knee-jerk response isn’t always up to snuff, but if a pause and think ‘good will’ — meaning we are ALL doing our best — it really helps me. Do I always remember? No — so I need to bring that good will to myself, too. Wishing you a good Monday and good week! 😉
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What a great reminder. Thank you! I have to remember good will!!
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Thank you for reminding me that I need to ask for help when I need it. My husband, though he’s a lot busier than I am with work in general, is always happy to help when he can. I have a tendency to just assume that he’ll know to do something and he usually doesn’t (like this morning, when I left the kitchen before he did, I assumed he’d know to clean up our daughter’s breakfast dishes, but of course he didn’t). This time is tough for all of us in one way or another, so we need to be just as ready to ask for help as we are to give it.
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Exactly! My husband is the same way. He’s always willing to help, but he can’t look at a room and just tell what needs to be done. I get frustrated with him a lot of the time, but I always try to remember to be clear and concrete with him. I can’t say, “will you clean the bathrooms?” I need to say, “please wipe down the counters and toilet, use windex on the mirror, etc.” We’re both much happier when that happens!
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Yay you for getting back on track… that can be such a daunting thing to do!
Short fuses are a “hot topic” here as well. I found that weeding to be an excellent thing to turn my frustration loose on! But, boy… it is sure to be an ongoing issue as stay at home continues.
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Weeding is a great activity! My husband makes fun of me for all of the weeding I do — we have totally different philosophies about vegetable and flower gardens! He’s like, if there are weeds in the garden then there’s nutrients in the soil. And I say, TIDY! Gardens should be tidy! Ha!
But you’re right – short fuses are such a challenge right now and only going to get worse, I’m sure!
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So glad you are finding time to write!
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Thanks Laila! It feels nice to get back to my morning pages 🙂
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