The World Has Changed Drastically Since Last Week

The world as we all know it has changed drastically since last week. 
 
COVID19, better known in the vernacular as the Corona Virus has literally taken over our every move, our being, our lives.     From information from a scared doctor in China, to a warning, to the infestation and unbelievable quarantine of my beautiful Italy, to now, the United States. Corona is now our  very complicated reality.   It’s no longer a perception of what could be.   It’s living here.
 
We wait in anticipation of every word from our government, which now guides everything from Church to school.   All dictated by this plague similar to a prediction from George Orwell’s 1984.    And here’s the kicker…we cannot change any of it.    But we can learn. We can adapt.  We can accept.  We can laugh.  We can smile.
 
I do have to give yet another disclaimer that I am fully aware, with now six children being homeschooled that the  situation  is extremely serious and bounding every day.     
But if we break down and cry, so will our bodies, and most importantly, our minds.   We need to have a sense of humor and embrace silver linings.    Without humor and love, we will decline under any circumstance…even the most healthy of them.
 
WHAT I HAVE LEARNED FROM CORONA:
 
HYGIENE: People’s hygiene really sucked before the outbreak.  There has been a discovery of toilet paper that is beyond the human imagination.  WTF, people?  Didn’t you wipe prior to this outbreak?  And, for those of you who are uninformed, this is NOT a GI disease.   It’s upper respiratory.  You do not need more toilet paper than you did three weeks ago.  Or, maybe now you decided to use it.  Not really sure.
 
Hand washing seems to be very fashionable right now as well.   Hand soap was purchased by the same pigs who are purchasing toilet paper for the first time along with Purell and wipes.    Thirst seems to be an utmost worry as well, which may have something to do with the toilet paper and hand sanitizer.  I am trying to put it together.  Stay tuned.
 
I have heard of college students who binge steal from public bathrooms, so they don’t have to buy any toilet paper.   This goes beyond.    There were other diseases you were exposed to prior to Corona.  Maybe you just didn’t know?
 
FOOD: Did you eat prior to the outbreak?   I get it, just like a snowstorm, milk and bread in a stockpile for a month’s worth of French Toast.     Because my home is infested with little germies, I tend to buy paper towels and food at a predictable rate, so we don’t run out.   But, my Lord, I thought there was an apparition of the Blessed Mother near the fresh mozzarella at Uncle Giuseppe’s today.    I get it, and with the kids home it’s so tempting…but food stores probably won’t close…as a matter of fact food and pharmaceutical are the stocks to buy right now.  Making money every second because we are in a panic, and no competition…no distraction.  Food shopping, as I discovered this morning ( because I Instacart everything) is a substitute for entertainment.    Can’t go to the gym…Uncle Giuseppe’s.    Can’t drop the kids at school…Wegman’s…can’t get your ped anymore…Shop Rite.  They can now take advantage of boredom…as is usually the case when we have to hunker down for anything.  And, we eat.    Well, admittedly I did overbuy on the scamorza today, but cooking is my hobby anyway.   But, I am not making anything with scamorza, so I fell victim as well to fantasy eating. 
 
DRIVING: The worst “you should never have gotten a license in the United States” drivers seem to be infesting the area.    I have never in my life been behind, next to or near worse drivers.     I always questioned whether certain makes of vehicles even had gas pedals.   Now I am questioning if they have steering wheels or drivers.     Maybe they are taking advantage of no one being on the road and trying it out for the first time.   I feel like I am on the Tomorrowland Speedway in the Magic Kingdom.    You can’t go over 20, you can’t pass them because they swerve in and out.   
I passed some jerk yesterday, albeit it on a double line, and he followed me to the nail salon because they would be closing for weeks.  
If I had an extra loaf of bread and toilet paper in my car, I would have just given it to him and said, “have a nice day.”    
 
SCHOOL:   Amazingly, this has been quite a delight!   Ok, I’m only into day three, but now I get why homeschooling is becoming the mode du jour.     I’m in my workout gear.   Kids are in their pjs.    Dirty underwear…no one knows.  Haven’t brushed your teeth yet?  Who cares?  Scrambled eggs during math?  No problem.   Feel like some chips and salsa during social studies…go right ahead.   Tic Toc for gym…great athletic challenges and ramped up cardio.   Gianmarco’s only complaint is that he dropped a piece of cheese on his fact family.   If that’s the worst complaint I hear all day, wow…let’s do this again!   No administration…no one complaining about teachers, no choking down toast while trying to tie your shoe…no obligation to be dressed and ready.   Their only classmates are their siblings and they bitch about them as a daily routine anyway.    It’s all  about an 8:00 log in with messy hair.     Lunch time?   It’s like a bunch of refugees on the shore awaiting a care package.   But, I gotta tell you,  so far, so good.    My little ones have their work done fast, they can be creative, play, and be kids.       The wave of the future, maybe?
 
EXTRA CURRICULARS:  Yippee kay ay!!!   No driving from school to dance, to basketball, to dance, to voice, to track to home .. .ahhhhhh.    Admittedly, the worst part of a parent’s day is the after-hours driving.   Yes, the ECs are important to a child’s future (I am all about that), but I am so excited to not have them until further notice.    This doesn’t mean sitting around getting fat munching on Samoas…it means a run in the park, basketball OUTSIDE, a board game fiesta.  
Whatever your little creative heart desires…now is the time to explore.  Now is the time to do.   Now is the time to talk to each other…talk more to your kids.   We have had the best laughs and conversations because nobody had to get dressed or be anywhere…no obligation.   Family meals are family meals. It has been a spa for the soul…and  I see it in all of them.    It’s La Dolce Vita right here in NJ.
 
HUMANITY:  On a more serious note, I have seen and heard many stories about the good people are doing for each other.   The time we used to spend on ourselves, going to the gym, shopping, driving, etc., has disappeared.       It kind of forces the down time and expands our mind to help those who might really be confined and need a meal or a hand.   There is no excuse to say no, or I’m busy…doing what?  
 
God has forced us to become more aware of family, of the time we didn’t spend before because we were too busy running to hockey or softball to do a puzzle or Legos.   Last night, at some wee hour, (wee hour to me is 9pm ), I heard my husband downstairs with all my kids doing Friends trivia and then Legos he promised to build…from Christmas.   If we can stay healthy and aware, this time is a gift to make us more cognizant of time we were not giving and become selfless.  The world has come to a complete halt as we know it, and maybe that is something we all have wished for at one time or another.   Be careful what you wish for…and when you get it,  utilize it for the reasons you wished for it. 

Coping w Corona through prayer and a sense of humor. #embracingthechange

Zazzali children before they were homeschooled #COVID19