Welp, turns out I have more thoughts to share. No one is surprised.
First of all, something I meant to mention in my last post:
One of the things that makes me most sad about this whole
pandemic situation is all the life events accompanied by large gatherings that
have been put on hold or cancelled, all together. Whether a large wedding, a milestone birthday
party, a funeral, a months-have-gone-into-planning-this work event, a
graduation – there are countless things that have had to be permanently crossed
off calendars or postponed till who-knows-when.
As an Enneagram 2, I tend to feel other people’s feelings, and the disappointment/sadness/grief
surrounding all these cancelled/postponed/changed life events can be a little
overwhelming. I so admire those who are
making the best of these situations, whether it be a tiny wedding ceremony, a
virtual birthday party, a drive-by retirement celebration, etc., etc. Doesn't mean they can't be sad for what they're missing, though...and if they're not, I'm probably sad enough for us both - haha.
Moving on…
Thank goodness for Pinterest and smart/creative friends who share
ideas. Here are some of the ways we’ve
been spending our days (or at least a few moments of them):
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| Starting our garden inside this year! (But with old seeds, so we'll see how it goes.) |
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| He really liked this activity ("painting" cardboard with water), but was very surprised to see his artwork had disappeared. Not to worry - he was happy to draw it all over again. |
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| Tried out Kinetic Sand for the first time, and it was a hit! |
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| Thanks to a "hot tip" from a friend, I found this gem (sans accessories - we had all those, already) for free at the end of a driveway. We were soooo glad for a couple warm days to try it out and are looking forward to more. He was soaked, but was happily occupied for the better part of an hour! The first day, I pulled weeds and did yard work in the general vicinity. The second, I sat in the sun and leafed through a magazine in it's entirety - a small miracle! |
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| Modified this Pinterest hunt, since the green leaves weren't on, yet, and the bugs were sparse. A success, all the same! |
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| A friend turned us on to Cosmic Kids Yoga, and it's been really fun. Jacob now requests "kids yoga," and though he usually watches more than participates, unless I do the whole thing with him, he's getting more involved (and involving more "friends") every time. |
I know this is hard for everyone in different ways – some we can pinpoint and acknowledge and some we are unaware of. My smart, sweet husband sent me out of the house to drive around while he was off work the other day, so I wrote some of this from my car in a sunny parking lot. The peace and quiet did exactly what he knew I needed it to, though I can’t put into words exactly what that was.
I understand a lot of what I’m feeling stems from various
forms of grief. Our current life situation is not something any
of us have schema for or previous experience with, so our brains and hearts are
figuring it all out in real time. Paired
with all the physical/tangible changes we’re also navigating, it makes for
some truly exhausting moments/hours/days/times.
Easter was an especially weird day for me – I don’t have any
other word to describe it. There were
ups and downs, though no real high highs or low lows. For one thing, it was dark and stormy, but
with glimpses of sunshine – a true metaphor for my emotions.
We had stretched out our Easter celebration,
because Bryant worked the weekend (his work schedule has changed as a result of COVID-19 - 12-hr. shifts on a rotating basis...while the days get long, it is nice to have him more full days). It was strange to not have him with us. Of course, the no “in person” church thing added to the
weirdness. Jacob was sent to his room in
the middle of the sermon, because he wasn’t happy with me for asking him to
find something to do on his own if he wasn’t going to play nicely in the room
where we were listening to the message. Disciplining my child in the middle of an Easter sermon was weird for me. Not meeting for church also meant not being part of the musical worship setting –
something I’ve done in various ways for as long as I can remember. Thank goodness for my hymnal and piano in the
basement…it did my heart good to play/hear “Jesus Christ is Risen Today.”
All that said, here are some Easter-time highlights:
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| This was the most festive our food game got. Turns out, Jacob loves these nearly as much as his dad does. |
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| The extent of our Easter morning photos. Nanny Byers makes the coolest shirts! |
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| Sweet "secret Easter bunny" friends hid eggs in our front yard Easter morning. Jacob was so excited to go pick them up and see what was inside. It definitely made the morning more enjoyable for both of us. Since I didn't have to take time to fill/hide eggs, we had time for a walk afterward. Thank goodness for the somewhat-nice morning before the storms rolled in. (We'd also had a special delivery the day before that included several pre-filled eggs. We took turns hiding those around the house later in the afternoon. Such thoughtful people we know. ♥) |
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| A fun Easter craft (thanks to my Cricut). |
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| Jacob invited lots of "friends" to church on Easter Sunday. Like I said - Easter was a weird day for me. I was feeling guilty for not having made a special meal, so decided to make the meal special by having a living room picnic while watching the Veggie Tales Easter episode. It went over well. ☺ |
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| I've been missing Runzas, lately, so decided to make some of our own. Not quite the "real" thing, but still hit the spot...for everyone! |
Praise God for Jesus and the hope we have in Him. There is joy and comfort in that, no matter
the circumstances in which we find ourselves.
On a lighter note:
A friend has been putting together a video summary for each
day of the “stay home” order and asked for some “audience participation.” So, I added a skill (video-editing – ha) to
my resume, and put the following together: https://youtu.be/VuJa7rP4rHs.
I’m really glad to have been prompted to do this, because
while this may not be the “best of times,” it’s something worth remembering…and
really – there truly are parts of it that are “the best.” ☺ Hoping this will bring some humor to your day. ♥
Hanging in there and hoping the same for you,
Kensy
Favorites of the day:
all the creativity and content that's been emerging, lately
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| pre-Easter surprises from my husband (our designated shopper) |
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| Surprise Easter delivery from a sweet friend |
