Our governor ordered all schools to remain closed until at least May 15 so we’re slowly adjusting to our new normal. Every day I feel like I’m increasingly aware that I have things a million times easier with two young kids at home and a flexible job and I’m not losing sight of that for one second during these crazy times. Even though it truly feels like non-stop chaos over here, I feel so much for those who are struggling to juggle legitimate home schooling schedules with older children right now. And put work on top if it or the stress that comes with not working and it’s a lot. Every day I feel like I become more and more aware of just how many layers there are to the COVID-19 pandemic. I hope you’re all doing okay.
I’ve had more than a few of you leave me really encouraging comments asking me to continue on with my usual blogging and though it admittedly feels almost silly to share day-in-the-life content here right now, it’s something that helps me feel a sense of normalcy and I hope it does the same for you.
Morning
My Tuesday morning began with coffee, my devotional and a little work on the computer as I ate a sweet potato muffin. I then headed into the garage to join Ryan for a workout.
In terms of my at home workouts, I’ve been doing a combination of my own circuit-style workouts (this post has a bunch of my favs in one place) and strength workouts from the Tone It Up app (currently free for 30 days!) and it’s working well so far. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss the group exercise environment like crazy (and a little 45 minute break in the day of “me time”) but squeezing in a quick 30 minutes of exercise in the morning or at some point during the day is working well for me so far. The key is keeping things short and having a plan going into my garage workout sessions! I’ve also heard that LES MILLS is offering free on-demand workouts and since I’m a huge fan of their workouts (hellooo BodyPump), I’m planning to check that out as an option as well.
After my garage leg workout, I took a quick shower and went immediately into the boys’ rooms since they were both up and ready for the day to begin. They said hi to Ryan — he currently has his work-from-home office set up in our bedroom — and then we made our way downstairs for pancakes.
Once breakfast was done, we moved onto some random activities. The past two days were chilly and rainy in Charlotte so we’ve been limited to indoor fun. Thankfully some of the simple ideas I’ve seen on the @busytoddler Instagram page have worked well for our boys, including this pom pom drop!
I just taped some toilet paper rolls (and a random small food packaging box) to the window with painter’s tape and the boys were all about it. Chase actually came up with a bunch of ways to expand the activity (he had the pom poms drop into a dump truck, a delivery truck, etc. and did a lot of random imagination games with them) and we loved this simple idea!
Chase then had a Zoom meeting with his preschool class at 10 a.m. and it was so, so cute to see all of the kids light up when they saw each other.
His teacher led the meeting and we’re hoping to make it a weekly thing while they’re all out of school.
Then we all had a snack while I set up another new-to-us activity. I sprayed some shaving cream on small cookie sheets for the boys so Chase could play and use his fingers to practice his letters and numbers while Ryder made as big of a mess as possible.
I had to laugh when I looked over at Chase spreading the shaving cream all over his arms and he told me he was trying to make himself look like a snowman. I said, “Oh! Like Olaf?” His reply? “No. The Abominable.” Okayyy then!
The rest of the morning passed by in a blur of indoor bounce house shenanigans, puzzles and more kid chaos.
Afternoon
When lunchtime rolled around, I made grilled cheese for everyone and paired it with orange slices, cucumber slices and carrots for the boys and leftover butternut squash soup topped with a sprinkle of feta cheese for me and Ryan.
I then settled Ryder down for his nap, read a few books with Chase and then set him up in his room with an audio book for quiet time while I managed to squeeze in a little work on the computer.
Once Chase was over his quiet time, we tackled the school assignment his teacher sent our way and by the time we were done, Ryder was up and ready for action. Chase requested another romp in the bounce house (surprise, surprise) and without the ability to head outside to get their energy out, I was once again very grateful for that inflatable monstrosity!
Evening
Eventually Ryan wrapped up his work day and joined us! He took over bath time for the boys while I headed back downstairs to quickly throw together our dinner which looked like chicken and broccoli in the Instant Pot (I told you guys I make this recipe on repeat!) and paired it with a combination of brown rice and quinoa.
Since I’ve had a few of you ask what the boys’ dinners look like compared to what we eat, for this particular meal, both boys liked the broccoli, rice and quinoa but neither were into the chicken.
After dinner it was time to unwind and we read books with the boys and did their whole bed time routine before watching another episode of Jack Ryan. You guys, I am LOVING this show! Ryan and I aren’t huge TV people (we usually just read at the end of the day) but whenever we have a show to watch that we both enjoy, I think it’s so fun and this is one we’re both all about right now! We’re still on season one and after talking with some friends it sounds like season one is much better than season two so we’ll just continue loving it while it’s still great.
And now I’m hoping to get a jump start on Friday’s blog post before the boys are up this morning and another day of social distancing begins. I hope you’re all doing okay with everything right now and really appreciate you making PBF a part of your day.
Questions of the Day
How are YOU doing?
Do you have any simple kid-friendly activities you’ve been doing with little ones that you’d recommend we try while we’re all at home 24/7?
Any must-make recipes you’ve been loving right now?
The post Food, Clean Up, Activity, Clean Up… and Repeat appeared first on Peanut Butter Fingers.
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