Summer Self Care While Helping To Stop The Spread Of A Virus

The lazy days of summer are even lazier

I received samples from Childlife to facilitate this post.

    Summer for me is usually a time to slow down and this summer seems to be a way too slow for me. I usually like summer but I am not sure about my feelings for summer this year due to the C virus pandemic. I am sure that my kids are thinking the same thing about their summer experience too. 

Our second summer this year

My kids have been out of school for more than 2 months as the online school thing was not really a school for them. The online school time that my boys had was already like their summer break as the weather here in Albuquerque was already warm. My boys only had about an hour of school the past couple of months and it was way too easy for them. So school online was more like their fun computer time. So now that their school is officially over for the year, the boys are even more bored and want to go back to school but this ugly lung virus outbreak is making that impossible for a while. I am worried that my boys might catch the Covid Slide. It has been hard for me to do the things that I need to do to prevent the Covid Slide in my kids.

Stuck at home is boring

  Being stuck at home is boring for the whole family but we realize that we have to do our part to stop the spread of this lung virus. Our day starts with my youngest son and myself going running and then the boredom sets in for the boys. The boys can't do their typical summer activities like playing with their friends, playing at the park, or swimming at the pool. We did buy a hot tub for summer fun but it has not been delivered yet. 

We are running out of books

My boys were happy when the library opened back up last week as they had no more books to read. For now, the boys can only check out books as the library wants people to be quick with their visit. The library even took out the chairs so people would not linger. The library was the boy's first time having to wear a face mask but they did it for some books to read. I have never seen two boys so happy to have books to read! The boys have been reading all day and have not even asked for computer time. I think the boys are even bored with playing games on the computer. They want to go back to school. My kids never thought that they would be saying they want to go back to school.

Lunch is the highlight of the day

The highlight of my boy's day is lunchtime. The city and schools are providing free lunch for kids, 5 days a week. So every day we drive to the school or park to pick up a free lunch. The free lunch is not a new thing for my boys but having to take them to go is. My city, in the past, has had a free lunchtime at the park but in the past, you had to eat the free lunch at the park. With the new rules, the city does not want anyone to stay at the park so that means not being able to play with their friends. So the boys bring their lunch home and join me at the table with my vegan tuna.

Even mom is bored

I never thought that I would be saying that I was bored but I am. Just don't tell my kids. It might be the heat that is making me bored as I don't feel like doing anything. I really wish that I had a pool or hot tub to cool off in. Living in the desert makes me super jealous of people who have water to swim in. I even looked up on Airbnb a house to rent that has a pool but there was only one and it was $800 a night! I am missing my trips to hotels with pools. The pools and hotel pools are not scheduled to open yet and pool operators are getting anxious for answers as I hear my husband, one of the cities pool inspectors, repeating the same thing day after day. I think I have memorized my husband's answer that he gives to pool operators.

A bucket of water for self-care

So my summer self-care has been happening with a bucket of water. My bucket is really an empty flower pot as the stores are sold out of kiddie pools. So my flower pot bucket of water is how I cool myself off on a hot day and pamper my feet at the same time. I even toss some bath salts into my foot soaking bucket. That way my dry feet are getting some much-needed self-care.

The dry heat of the desert does wonders for my feet. In the summer my feet are always dried and cracked. So I soak my dry feet daily and then use my foot buffer or foot sander as my husband likes to call it, to sand off the dry skin off my feet. Yes, I am so bored that I am daily buffing my feet.

I am not going to show you a picture of the heels on my feet as they are pretty ugly. My boys used to be fascinated with my dry feet but even that does not entertain them during this boring summer. 

Self-care for the boys

  Even the boys are getting some self-care in with a delicious non-gummy gummie vitamin. ChildLife sent us samples of their newest ChildLife Essentials® Multi-Vitamin SoftMelts™ and Healthy Vision SoftMelts™. These delicious soft orange-flavored and berry flavored vitamins are naturally sweetened and are free from the sugar found in many gummy supplements. My boys love the taste of the SoftMelts and the gummies did not stick to their braces. 

 So the boys are getting some added nutrition to their diet which is always a good thing during a virus outbreak. This multi-vitamin is filling in the gaps in my boy's diet as so many of their favorite foods are still hard to find at the grocery store. First, it was eggs and now it is pasta and frozen mangos. Grocery shopping sure has been a challenge lately.

Are you tired of baking bread?

   I think that I am even tired of baking bread. I am not tired of eating bread though. Maybe it is the 97-degree weather that is making me tired of baking 60-minute white bread. The boys are not even asking me to bake frog bread. I might be able to convince the boys to make focaccia flower bread.

  For now, we are only making sweets that don't require baking. So we have been making no-bake peanut butter granola bars and dairy-free salted caramels. Summer meals have been pressure cooker meals with beans and rice. The hot summer days call for endless pitchers of Fruit-Infused Cold Brew Ice Tea and tall glasses of cold brew coffee. Cold brew coffee is so easy to make so head here for an easy recipe for cold brew coffee.

How are you spending your summer?

Things I learned While In Self Isolation During the Respiratory Virus Outbreak

The past four weeks have been quite different with having to stay at home during the virus Pandemic

 I don't think anyone will forget the year 2020 as it will be a year that will leave many memories both good and bad. Who would have predicted that when we welcomed in the year 2020 that it was going to be a year that was to change so many people's lives. Who knew that a virus called the Corona would change the world in so many ways. I know I never thought in a million years that I would be writing this article while sitting on a bean bag chair in my master bathroom. My family is having to shelter in place and can't leave the house unless we have to work, get food or medical supplies. We can also leave the house to exercise outside but have to follow social distancing rules like we do if we go to the store. My town has set these guidelines to help stop the spread of the respiratory virus disease and we may have another month before we can leave the house again. At this time we don't really know about how long we have to practice the rule of staying 6 feet away from people and staying home. If it will help people from getting sick and dying, then I will do my part and stay home.


Staying home means I am safe

 I am thankful that my master bathroom is the size of a small bathroom and my master bathroom was remodeled 2 years ago so it is a pleasant place to work in for several hours. My bathroom has become my temporary office while other family members are in other rooms of the house doing online school or working from home. My husband is no longer leaving to go to work as he is working from home. My kid's schools, including the college kid, has shut down for the school year. All in the hopes that people staying home will stop the spread of this awful 2019 virus and flatten the curve. I am glad that my house is big enough so my husband can sit in the living room making phone calls all day in his new office and my college kid can sit in his bedroom to participate in online college classes. The middle school kids are in the dining room playing with Legos as their school has not provided any instruction at this time. I am not able to home school them as the stress to both of us is not a good thing at this time.

 Working from home has its challenges right now and my work has not slowed down but I am learning to take the job that I used to do while the kids were at school and spread it out throughout the day so I can also be a parent, wife, cook, cleaner, etc. That 8 hours that used to leave me with a quiet house is gone as everyone is home all the time now. Not being able to leave the house except for 1 hour of exercise in the morning has made life different. My new normal is very different. I am learning to be creative in the kitchen and thankful for the food that I stockpiled over the years in my two deep freezers. Who knew that I would get excited about a bag of frozen apple slices and overcooked pinto beans. I just wish that I could get the food my kids enjoy like eggs and bananas but I am staying away from stores that have little on their shelves, to avoid catching the awful virus. We did try getting groceries delivered but many of the things we wanted we not available and ended up paying $6 for a dozen eggs.

It is the little things that make me smile

 I am discovering that the little things can make me happy or annoy me. The little things that are making me happy right now are toilet paper, flour, and running. I normally buy 30 rolls of toilet paper as it is a better deal so when I went to put it away in the closet, I discovered 20 more rolls so now I can share with my adult children who are running low. Never would I have imagined that there would be a toilet paper shortage. Never would I imagine that people would hoard food like flour and eggs. The trucks and factories can't keep up with the demand for many things like medical supplies, food, and cleaning supplies. Never would I imagine that I could not buy garbanzo beans to make my vegan tuna salad recipe. I am thankful for the pinto beans that I had in my stockpile so I can make plenty of meatless meals.

 It is a nightly cup of tea with my boys that brings a smile to my face as I am glad that they are all safe and I am glad that we have plenty of Manuka Honey to sweeten our tea with and strengthen our immune system. I am glad that we are all healthy and no one needs any cold and flu tea to soothe a sore throat. I am thankful that I connect with family on the internet and search for a recipe for cookies that don't require eggs so we can celebrate my son's birthday. I am thankful for a friend who blessed me with several bags of flour so I can make homemade wheat bread for sandwiches.


I learned that fitness with the family is awesome

 I dreaded the closer of the gym near my house as that meant that I would not be able to lift weights but I also discovered that my family is helping me stay fit and strong. My younger son started joining me on my morning runs so I have been enjoying his companionship and have become each other's fitness trainers. On the days that my son bikes he motivates me to run faster and on the days that my son chooses to run, I am coaching him how to run with asthma. So my son is also able to manage his asthma naturally without an inhaler. My older son has been inspiring me with his creative at-home weight lifting routine that uses no weights and has been showing me how to keep my muscles strong with fitness bands.

 My son showed me different strength exercised to do so I could tone my arms and abs better. I think my at-home weight lifting routine is harder than what I was doing at the gym. I am glad that I discovered a CBD maximum relief balm for my sore muscles from the extra exercise that I have been doing with my kids.

I learned that pulling weeds in the spring is easier

Now that I had more time on my hands since we had to practice self-isolation at home, I was determined to get the yard work done so I could enjoy it once the weather was warmer. So I decided to pull the weeds as I could not spay them with my All Natural Homemade Weed Killer Spray That Works In A Day as stores had no vinegar since people were hoarding that too thinking that it would kill the germs from the virus outbreak. So while the boys played outside I pulled weeds. I discovered that spring weeds are easier to pull as their roots were not as long as they were when I waited to pull them in the summer. I also like the cooler temperatures when I pulled weeds so I could wear long sleeves and pants to prevent my body from breaking out in hives from the weeds. So maybe next year I will find the time in the spring to pull my weeds.

I learned that I don't like my family home all the time

 The little things that annoy me are the never-ending piles of dirty dishes and dirty clothes. It seems that these kids are eating all day and the dishwasher is always full. You would think that staying at home would require fewer clothes but with the increase of handwashing and a college kid who exercises twice a day has the washing machine working overtime. So I am glad that I have plenty of environmentally-friendly detergent on hand to keep my family in clean clothes.

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 My boys can also get on each other's nerves and fight with each other. These same boys can also be loud when they are having fun. Then there is the never-ending snacking that seems to go on all day. I am just glad that we have plenty of food in the house. My boys also like to make body noises that at times has me either laughing or saying to myself, "why me!" The other day the youngest let out a belch that was very loud and his brother said: "that was cool!" There is never a dull moment here with my three boys.

I have learned how to bake bread with whole wheat flour

 Certain food items have been hard to find online and in grocery stores so it has been a challenge to bake bread. While I am one of the lucky ones who have plenty of yeast for bread making, I don't have any white flour. I was thankful for a friend who gave me plenty of whole wheat flour but I have been discovering that bread made with wheat flour does not rise that well. So I discovered 6 ingredients to help bread rise higher and it has been helping with my bread baking. I also discovered how to bake bread without yeast so I am prepared when my yeast runs out.

I have been spending more time in prayer

 I have been learning that I need to pray more and expand who I pray for. I am learning to take my fears and concerns to God more. My prayer time has been more frequent and I have started to pray while I run in the morning. My night time prayers have been longer as I am praying for more people that are outside of my friends and family. I am finding that prayer helps when I am afraid of this ugly virus. Prayer is calming me when my husband has to visit places that he may be exposed to the virus. I am still being cautious and doing smart things like washing my hands and choosing to stay at home instead of going to the grocery store but for things out of my control, like my son having to work, I am giving it to God. Soon this time of self-isolation will be over and we can reconnect with friends again.

What have you learned while in self-isolation?