Life Update – August 2020

Sale PSA: A fun linen hat from Hat Attack, now $46 (love that name), a simple striped boatneck from J.Crew, now $25 with code SUMMER, an Airism bra top from Uniqlo (good for hot days), now under $20, and for those looking for more anniversary sale goodies, I ordered these Zella leggings, as well as a persimmon candle from Voluspa (very grouchy as squirrels have decimated my persimmon tree this year).

Hello! How was your weekend? If you’re in California, I hope you were able to get some fresh air and were not impacted too badly by the wildfires. It’s been pretty bad here – at multiple points Northern California had the worst air quality in the world (and we felt it). Some of that (and other stuff) in my monthly Covid life update.

Air: This wasn’t going to be a category but as I mentioned…though we are fortunate enough not to have to evacuate, our air quality has really been impacted. It isn’t healthy to go outside. The situation is difficult with kids especially, when you can’t go to other houses for playdates because of Covid, and also can’t go outside, and so just have to stay at home. We escaped over the weekend to some areas with better air but some of our favorites (Half Moon Bay, etc) we steered clear of to keep the road opens for emergency vehicles. It does feel pretty dystopian. I’ve bought two of these air filters as well as a heavier duty industrial one and reading about all the benefits of filters, especially as I have allergies, I wonder why I didn’t buy one earlier.

School: Kindergarten started for my son! It is kind of okay and also kind of a disaster. We have been stressed about the event but at the same time couldn’t prep too much because we just don’t have enough time – so for the first few days we were overwhelmed getting all the programs working (I have nightmares about Clever, SeeSaw, and the like). Actually, Clever still isn’t working on one of the iPads. I don’t know why. My daughter also has virtual preschool and so one (or both) of us is always running back and forth to their individual spaces, checking on work, getting art supplies, etc. And then there’s the lunch prep, snacks, etc. Does it sound like I’m whining? I am. But wanted to be honest about my experience in case other parents are feeling the pain too.

Shopping: I have been shopping some! Especially from the Nordstrom anniversary sale. I feel like in blogger land the N-sale has gone two ways – there’s all the usual standbys I used to read in which it kind of seems like they live in a world where Covid has not occurred and there are long long posts with tons of high heels, cocktail dresses, etc, interspersed with various lifestyle shots (no judgment seriously I often find these often very useful). And then there are the (sometimes) sanctimonious “ethical” bloggers who say the whole thing sucks and minimal living and etc. In the end I still love Nordstrom and want it to survive and so I’ve found some items I like and we have so little (safe, healthy) ways to seek joy right now, do we not? I’m looking forward to receiving my orders and will update how they are.

In other shopping, I’m basically turning our house into a preschool. I’ve started a system where I bring down a “new” building blocks set down every two days and assign my kids to play with it. We already had Magna-tiles (and their well priced potential knockoff, Picasso Tiles), as well as Magformers, a bunch of Duplo and Lego, and now I bought these Brain Flakes. They all promise that my kids will learn STEM through them though I don’t think that’s happening. They like them though.

Covid: We are continuing to social distance, and choosing to do virtual programs for our kid’s schools. There are a few families with similar protocols we see for regular playdates. I’ve started taking an occasional masked walk with a few friends. It’s hard and lonesome. Also because given all the increased parental load, even though I do want to socialize more, I often don’t have the time/energy. I know we are lucky to have the choice to work from home and keep our kids home. But it’s still draining. And on that note:

Mental health: This is hard! Especially with the wildfires, it has felt like we are basically trapped in our house. We’ve been DoorDashing a lot to stay sane but then felt bad having people deliver food if we don’t feel comfortable ourselves going outside so were living off of leftovers mostly this weekend. In response, I ate through several tubs of Marianne’s ice cream. I don’t know…it’s really hard not to feel as if we are in a dystopia right now, and I just hope we can make some lasting changes as a human race after this. That’s the most depressing part, the fear that we might go through all of this and we still won’t change. I hope we can, that’s the way that I can feel sane and optimistic. Okay. I think that’s all I can say right now.

How are you all doing?