Online I see the documentation of the stay-at-home activities of my childfree friends. They’re making sourdough starters and reveling in their new found sufficiency as bread bakers. Some are making cakes, drinking during the daytime, taking Zoom yoga and cardio classes, reading books, and picking up hobbies like finally playing the guitar in the corner, practicing a second language, or finishing once-abandoned knitting projects.
I know many of them are also busy working, or if not working, dealing with the extreme stress and uncertainty of navigating temporary or long-term unemployment. The current situation is no picnic for anyone. Although I did see a young couple (no children in sight) having a picnic today, popping cava at 10:30am.
We’re alternating work and childcare throughout the day on a schedule that begins around 7am and officially goes until 10pm. I don’t have to fill as many work hours as my spouse, nor are my hours billable, so at least the work pressure is not quite so extreme on both our ends, as I’m sure it is in some families. Jeff was up working until 2:30am last night, and I am in awe that he didn’t complain when we got up at 6:50am to start the day with our kiddo.
Today is my second day going back to the office to check mail and handle a few security access related issues. When I started my job a few months ago, I felt excited and a bit intimidated to be working in a skyscraper. It’s not the first place I’ve worked that had some location prestige (I used to work in a building that was directly across from 30 Rock and Radio City). But it was a major shift from working inside the home. I felt like I needed new clothing that would make me appear worthy of my professional environment. Not much time has passed, but the only attire that matters to me anymore is gloves and masks.
Part of me feels relieved to be needed outside the house, to have a change of scenery, though it is hard to move past the climate of paranoia that hangs over anywhere outside a private residence right now. I feel pressured to hurry when I’m out, but it’s more of a mental trick, as I have to admit there isn’t a real rush (except for that childcare/work switcharoo schedule at home).
How are you adjusting to whatever your new routine is?