Life

What To Say?

Sale PSA: The Longchamp Le Pliage Club tote, now 40% off (have you ever seen them this cheap? Here are the more neutral colors, but it’s only 25% off), a sexy sheath dress from Reformation (yes, I don’t know where we’ll wear this right now, but still), now 40% off, and simple espadrilles from Steven, now $78.

Also – for anyone looking for lounge (or any) gear – the entire Everlane site is 25% off right now.

What a crazy time, when the days feel both horrific and banal. I feel thankful to be healthy and frustrated to be stuck at home cooking and cleaning and child minding and working in between and late at night and what a stupid thing to complain about because if I were in the hospital I’m sure this would seem wonderful. And it’s a pitiful complaint compared to all the front line workers, medical professionals, grocery store workers, going out and doing their jobs each day. Thought about editing out this entire complaint but decided to leave it in because I’m sure many of you are dealing with similar frustrations. And it is OK! We are connected, we can get through this together. To that end, all I can do is try to maintain a balance of normalcy and CRAZY – I’m updating you all again on some little aspects of my life, and please tell me how you are doing!! I want to know!

First:

Shopping: I’ve been shopping a little less, but actually made some orders at some smaller businesses I want to support, including a few local bookstores. Note that Amazon isn’t even shipping a lot of books right now – are prioritizing “essential” orders. My local bookshop, Books Inc, is offering free shipping with no minimum, are so are a lot of other independent booksellers. Check yours!

Weather is getting a little warmer so I also bought two of these Uniqlo sets, so I can continue to lounge for the next month (at the very least…). Other favorites are these Gap modal joggers for $20, and I was thinking of wearing a nice chic pair of linen pants instead but they reminded me too much about nice days walking outside so I gave up. Maybe once warmer weather comes. To that end…

Food: I don’t think I’ve ever cooked so much in my life! Like many of you, I’m both struggling and getting better at it. For some reason I spend a LOT of my day thinking about food. All the usual suspects: ramen, sushi, but I also think a lot about PIZZA. We’ve been getting lots of takeaway pizza. And pho. Oh gosh, do I miss having pho at a restaurant.

For outings, we go once a week for groceries – usually my husband, sometimes me, and we are lucky that the other can stay home so kids don’t have to go. On that note…

Kids: Our preschool went to a reduced tuition model in exchange for about an hour a day of Zoom classes. I like seeing all my kid’s friends and hearing the teachers, but I will say it’s not a free hour for me to work, which I originally thought it’d be (ah, ignorance!). Instead I’m helping with art classes, settling fights between my two, etc. By the way, I’m hearing stories all over the map on preschools, and how they are charging tuition or not during this period. What are yours doing (if applicable)?

Also, I have bought all sorts of toys and books for the kids during this period but my most successful purchase BY FAR has been this trampoline. They are bouncing every afternoon and it gets out energy (which means better sleep). Worth every dollar.

Reading: Some new books, and also re-reading some favorites. Will be posting some favorites when I get time but honestly I have very little time these days I feel….am always doing something, something to clean, something to do. Wish I was bored but also understand that it is its own torture under these circumstances.

To that end – running off. How are you doing?

PS – also sharing this wonderful post, written by a reader, a love letter she wrote to all the medical professionals out there. If any of you are out there on the front lines – thank you so much!

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15 Comments

  • Reply
    Anonymous
    March 30, 2020 at 8:45 am

    My preschool is prepaid in two installments, so in January we paid for the rest of the 2019-20 school year. To date, no mention of tuition refund whatsoever with closure starting March 18

  • Reply
    Lara
    March 30, 2020 at 11:08 am

    Thank you for the link to the bookstore! I just ordered a book I’ve been wanting to buy, but didn’t want to buy on amazon! My husband and I are both working from home with our 11 month old. I’m a teacher so my work load is not too bad – and this week is my spring break. We were supposed to be in Hawaii :-(. Daycare has been closed since March 16 and we had already paid for all of March. He goes to an in home daycare for children of teachers. I haven’t heard what we will be paying for April, but I’m sure we will pay something. It’s so overwhelming to be home all day entertaining a baby! We go for a daily walk and I’m scouring Pinterest for things to keep him busy.

  • Reply
    Liz | wannabeliz.com
    March 30, 2020 at 11:14 am

    I really want the Small Le Pliage club tote in orange and in navy. Unfortunately, I don’t rotate my bags enough to justify the purchase!
    I took vacation from work for a week. I allowed myself to process my Mother’s passing. I’m still devastated. My Mother always said there was always some housework to do. She had said she didn’t have time to be depressed or bored. She had 5 daughters! She was so cute!

  • Reply
    anonymous
    March 30, 2020 at 11:28 am

    We have three kids home and two of them are getting homeschooled through an online curriculum. The youngest is 2.5yrs old and needs things too, so we take turns working and taking care of the kids. Thank goodness the oldest can be almost 100% self-sufficient and driven in his learning so we don’t have to micromanage him (first grade) but the one in Kindergarten needs so much help and hands-on encouragement and help to stay on task, it is a lot to just juggle the younger two. Then we work for our designated 3-4 hours chunks and again at night to make up for lost time. It’s total mayhem but I am sure glad this is our reality in this pandemic right now, because it’s about as blessed as it can be. I have stopped shopping for myself altogether to be financially as frugal as I can be, but I still enjoy your posts Kathy :).

    Oh and for kids, I have spent hundreds of dollars on Lego and books as my older one reads about 2 books a day these days! I bought a few toys like hula hoops and jump ropes too! Highly recommend, though only for the Kindergartener and first-grader’s interest.

    • Reply
      Anonymous
      March 30, 2020 at 10:30 pm

      Don’t know how old your oldest is, but if you don’t want to keep spending tons of money on books, check out https://www.getepic.com. It has tons of children’s book and subscription is free until end of June due to corona. The monthly subscription fee is like $8 which is still a bargain.

  • Reply
    A V A
    March 30, 2020 at 12:04 pm

    Dear Kat,

    Aside from WFH and trying to wrangle adult family members with underlying conditions who should NOT be going out to sit and stay put – can you recommend a senior version of that trampoline for parents? Also, your blog keeps me and many of my close friends sane. Thank you!

    This is for you and your readers – I promise it’s great fun and will bring a smile during these times.
    https://www.boredpanda.com/dating-during-quarantine-jeremy-cohen/

    Enjoy!

    xx
    A

    • Reply
      Pret A Porter P
      March 30, 2020 at 12:39 pm

      Omg this is the best thing EVER. Really put a smile on my face. Thank you for sharing

  • Reply
    Anonymous
    March 30, 2020 at 2:37 pm

    Hi Kat – My son’s preschool will charge a reduce tuition in April, also in exchange for 1 hour/day in Zoom circle time. So far, he only enjoys the morning circle time and hasn’t wanted to join the afternoon session. We were actually planning to pull him out of school if they didn’t reduce tuition, as this could go on for months at this point. My daughter has remote learning in her public elementary school, and while it is quite good it requires a lot of parental oversight. My husband and I are working much harder between working remotely, cooking, “home schooling” and semi-supervising the kids. I am also now cleaning the house, which I haven’t done since having the kids. I had forgotten how to clean the bathroom floors–and initially my husband returned home with a tiny bottle of distilled white *wine* vinegar. 🙂

    • Reply
      Kat
      March 30, 2020 at 3:17 pm

      OMG, the CLEANING! I am cleaning all day now!

  • Reply
    Anonymous
    March 30, 2020 at 10:22 pm

    These teachers came back from spring break this week and have brought it on! I am sooooo exhausted from distance learning already. Not to make light of corona, but I quote one mom: “If we don’t die from corona virus, we’ll die from distance learning.” First week after school closure was quiet and last week was my kids spring break so I had created my own home school schedule for my kids during those weeks. It was really rewarding and meaningful since I created the curriculum. One of the things I did in the afternoon was teaching my kids to read and write in their home language, and the kids picked it up really fast! I got inspired by a blogging mom https://chalkacademy.com who is teaching her 2 young kids under 6 to be trilingual, and she is only fluent in English. As for shopping, I am so busy with my 3 young kids’ distance learning and housework that I have lost all interest in online shopping. Too exhausted! If there’s anything positive to say regarding corona, I have to say it’s reshifting my priorities and values and forcing me to develop better habits. Take care of the featherfamily and thanks for your post!

  • Reply
    Jaime
    April 1, 2020 at 3:34 pm

    My shopping appetite is rapidly shrinking. Who will see my beautiful new shoes, bags, jewelry? My husband and two cats!

  • Reply
    Anonymous
    April 1, 2020 at 5:40 pm

    Everlane workers were fired for attempting to unionize. I would not recommend buying from there right now unless you support union busting. Thanks!

  • Reply
    a
    April 2, 2020 at 8:15 am

    Thank you for the link to the physician’s love letter; it was outstanding and I’ve shared it with a young woman studying for her boards right now.

    And thank you for your wonderful blog!

  • Reply
    Rachel
    April 3, 2020 at 8:04 am

    It sounds like so many of us feel the same way, and yes we’re entitled to be frustrated with the situation even though we know our families health is obviously all that really matters.
    Our preschool closed March 19, we prepay at beginning of month. They normally require a 30 days notice to pull children out, but waived that so it seems from talking to friends that everyone pulled their kids out (including us) as they are closed until further notice. Latest in Seattle is May 4 extension of shelter in place so we’ll see!

  • Reply
    Petti
    April 5, 2020 at 11:13 pm

    Yes I cook way more than usual and have my fridge stocked . I rarely have that fully filled fridge before but now we want to minimize the frequency of grocery trip. Many of FB post about trying out new recipe but I am not that adventurous yet. I am working from home at the same time , plus being (kid eLearning) tech support, and kid event organizer ( make sure kid is not on iPad all the time but filled their time with other activities too), I have no energy to try out new bakery recipe I just want to order take out on the weekend. It’s rather exhausting at days but at the same time I can’t be more grateful to keep my job and stay healthy.

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