If you’re on Facebook, are you noticing a shift in the tone of the posts? A week or so ago it seemed like I was seeing a lot of shared posts about “Idiots panicking/hoarding for no reason!” and “More people have died from the flu so far this year and no one is freaking out about THAT!,” and now I’m seeing…much, much less of that. I’m seeing more photos of families putting together puzzles and cooking/baking and attending virtual church in sweatpants and so forth, and more shared posts about what social distancing means and about what the government should/could be doing to alleviate the crisis.
Yesterday’s cleaning tasks: wiped the tops of the washer and dryer; spritzed and wiped the kitchen sink/faucet; put the toothbrush jars through the dishwasher; wiped bathroom mirrors but not very thoroughly because I was acting on a cleaning impulse and I didn’t want to go find the Windex.
In an effort to reduce the number of times we go to the store, and also to reduce our own consumption of some of the things grocery stores are having trouble keeping in stock right now, we have been experimenting with using starches to stretch the more-limited items. For example, we added a bunch of rice to the seasoned taco meat, and no one could even really tell the difference. Another night, I made less than half the usual quantity of chicken nuggets, then chopped them up and added them to a big pan of rice along with two finely-scrambled eggs and some cooked corn (and kind of a lot of salt), and I expected everyone to reject it but even my picky eaters ate all of it. (I really feel that the key was leaning hard into the salt.)
We’re aiming for a family walk each day. Yesterday we went on a nice hiking trail near our house. There was a little argument at one point about which direction to go, and I pointed out that we were going to have PLENTY OF DAYS to try EVERY SINGLE POSSIBLE DIRECTION, so let’s go my way this time.
I’m so glad I bought Easter candy when we were still feeling like it was normal to be shopping in stores and paranoid to be buying Easter candy so far in advance. Because now I have Easter candy. I was sorry I didn’t buy more Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs, and I found them available at Target.com—and several hours later, before I’d gotten around to ordering (because I felt secure in my findings and so I was not panicking), they were no longer available for shipping. But it is okay. I can survive this era of deprivation. Some people have NO PEANUT BUTTER EGGS WHATSOEVER. (And I do think there will be plenty of chances to buy more. My gladness to have bought ahead is in the “because otherwise I would be pointlessly worrying about it” sense, not in the “because otherwise WE WOULD HAVE NONE AND EASTER WOULD BE RUINED!!” sense.) [I checked again just now, hours after posting this, and the Reese’s eggs are once again listed as available for shipping, along with a lot of other candy.]
Things I did order from Target, additionally motivated by the change in availability of the Reese’s eggs:
• Flonase Sensimist – Edward (who had a terrible sinus infection that required two hospital stays and two surgeries) uses this on the advice of his ENT surgeon, and he ran out of it last night. Henry, whose allergy shots have not led to the hoped-for improvement and WHOSE SNIFFING WILL DRIVE ME MAD! MAD! MAD, I TELL YOU!, also uses this, and he started his container shortly after Edward started his, so I’d say that qualifies as an emergency.
• Socks and underwear. Let me assure you that when Rob went back to college in January after winter break, I URGED him to tell me about ANYTHING he needed more of—and I SPECIFICALLY MENTIONED socks and underwear. And yet it is now, one week into A PANDEMIC QUARANTINE, that he says “Oh, by the way, Mom—I need more socks and underwear.”
• Snack cakes. When last we talked on this topic, I was feeling like it wasn’t worth it to burden/reward the online system by ordering snack cakes–especially since the lack of snack cakes was inspiring the children to bake. I have since had a change in heart, prompted in part by my temporary inability to order them, and in part by the children baking and eating two full batches of cookies in four days, and so I ordered Hostess Birthday cupcakes and Little Debbie Cosmic Brownies and Hostess chocolate cupcakes and Little Debbie Swiss Cake Rolls. They were available when I ordered them—but then when I regretted ordering so few and tried to order more, they were once again unavailable. So if you look and they are not available, try again later. Things seem to be shifting wildly in online stores right now, understandably. (Amazon Prime is estimating deliveries in late April, which seems…well, let’s just see if those end up actually being the real delivery dates.)
Serious question, not snark. Do you think it’s okay to keep ordering online? I always order A LOT of stuff online, being a huge introvert and practically a hermit in the best of times. But I worry that by us sitting at home ordering right now, we are forcing people to go work in warehouses that probably aren’t able to be 6 ft apart etc. At the same time, they are getting a paycheck instead of having no pay. Does that make sense? Any thoughts? (I understand groceries online if you can find them since the stores are crazy as hell but I wonder about things like books or crafts on amazon, etc)
I don’t know either. I feel like this is one of those giant, complicated, impossible-to-know-the-answer topics that can lead to useless fret-cycling—because we really DON’T know what is best, and there are SO many elements/layers to the whole thing. I am giving the culture some time to work out an answer to this one.
And then there’s the question of where to order online, because certain companies are known for the terrible conditions their employees work under, and other companies — I mean how do we know they’re not just as bad? Or worse? And also a certain terrible company does fulfillment for websites that don’t tell you they’re using that company for fulfillment, so . . . .
Wherever we are in a process, I can always provide the fretting.
I am also fretting about this question of whether to order online or not. I’ve mostly solved it by putting things in my cart and dilly-dallying (or being distracted by kids) and then they aren’t available when I go to order. So then I go back to fretting.
A week ago, DHL delivered a small package of something that I had actually ordered about four weeks ago when there was nothing going on yet (that felt like it was close). The box said “perfumedreams” on its side in large letters.
The delivery guy handed it to me with his arm stretched as long as he could, then turned away without making me sign on his little gadget, but not before looking at me like I just kicked a small kitten in his presence.
Yes, I did feel judged a little.
My college student came home thinking it was for a week when it was for the rest of the semester, so all his warm weather clothes (shorts, t-shirts, etc) are at at school. We bought him a small supply to last him until May when we’re allowed back in his dorm to clean out his room.
I am so comforted by your return to blogging. Today is our first full weekday at home with everyone, and I’m between trying to get work done myself and making sure that my husband doesn’t lose his mind as the caretaker of the kids. We’re leaning heavily on the lovely people reading stories and doing music/movement classes on Facebook. Hopefully it will warm up a bit after lunch so they can take a nice long walk.
I only bought a little Easter candy before the panic and it was gone pretty fast. And I’m wishing I had bought Easter baskets farther in advance as I’m not liking the options I’m finding online.
Also, I say this with all the love, as a long-time reader: you are not responsible for your adult children’s sock and underwear supply. They’ll figure it out, even during a pandemic.
I noticed my 2nd son was wearing nice pants most days since he has been home from school. I asked him if perhaps it was time to do some laundry. Eddie: nope. Me: why are you always wearing khakis? Eddie: I asked for workout pants for Christmas and you only got me one pair and I shrunk them big time, so I don’t have anything else to wear. Me: Oh brother.
I think I was basically done shopping by the time that request came in. He is tough to fit because he is 6 foot 3 and very trim. I like him to try stuff on, but I might have to resort to getting some sweats for him on Amazon.
I cannot get rice at the stores. All out! I have some balsamic chicken and peppers that I made and froze and intended to feed the family while I was busy with my online writing class, but I need rice to serve it with. Of course all of my frozen meals will not go quite as far since I have two college boys home who eat more than anyone else in the house. I buy candy for Halloween and Easter at the last minute because Tank can find hidden food even when packaged. It is a gift, I guess. So, we have no Easter candy.
If you are near an Asian grocery store (like Lotte Plaza or Global foods), they totally have rice. Also terrific spices.
Also, Spanish stores have rice.
Regarding the shift in attitude, when I spoke to my 77-year old dad on Saturday and begged him to stay home and not go to Home Depot or the grocery store and to get his prescriptions from the drive thru cvs he literally said, “Life goes on, Kate. If I need to go to Home Depot I’m going to go.” Today he called me in an outrage saying, “What’s wrong with people? Why won’t they just STAY HOME?”
So, I don’t know, did someone on Fox News tell people to take this seriously? I can’t account for it otherwise.
Ha! This made me laugh out loud. Same story in my family.
Yes, Fox “News” did change its tune; there’s a funny/infuriating video out there showing before and after.
But also, it’s changing fast for all of us, I think. I was comfortable meeting a friend for breakfast on Saturday (not this past one, the one before) morning and furious at neighbors not social distancing on Saturday afternoon, so thanks to all the people with all the charts, I guess?