This post is the last installment of a weeklong series we’re doing here to document a typical day in the life of local moms during the COVID-19 pandemic and under California’s stay-at-home orders. It was written by our Guest Contributor Heather Bailey, who has documented her sons’ love of trash day here before!
I’m finding quarantine life to be just as busy as our regular non stay-at-home lives. We have had little down time and no problems finding things to do. But condensing everything under one roof has proved itself humorous and challenging. Lucky for me, my children have always been homebodies and could play with their garbage trucks all day (which they do) and be happy. That said, I miss going to my pilates and fitness classes, and seeing all my mom friends at school, parties, and activities.
What my quarantine lacks is “me time.” I am desperately yearning for the alone time that my unmarried and childless friends have. I have yet to do one workout video, DIY project, or learn a new skill. My quarantine crew consists of my husband, two boys ages 3 and 5.5, and two dogs.
This is a day in my life and it’s trash day!
5:30am – Wake up to the cries of our new puppy Belle. I get up and out of bed, let her out, feed, and play with her. We decided to adopt a new puppy into our family to add to the quarantine crazy. I forgot what it was like to have a newborn again and a new puppy reminded me of that.
6:00am – My kids wake up and immediately start playing with their toys. They set up garbage cans and start doing a garbage pick-up in the playroom. Loud high pitch siren, beeping, and truck noises begin. I start a load of laundry, make coffee, browse social media, and start my household chores.
7:00am – Like I said above, it’s trash day, which is a Very Big Deal in my house. The first garbage truck comes by and it is the general trash truck. We hear it from the house and run outside and watch him drive by. No one is wearing shoes and I’m braless so we just watch this one from the driveway.
7:30am – Breakfast, TV, begin breaking up fights, and check work emails.
8:00am – My husband gets up and locks himself into his downstairs temporary home office.
8:15am – The second garbage truck come to collect the organics bin. The organics bin in our neighborhood used to be the green/yard waste trash bins. They have recently been rebranded much to the confusion and delight to my children.
9:00am – We try and start homeschooling assignments and activities. We login to our learning portals and navigate my son’s end-of-the-year Kindergarten education. We are met with many distractions, excuses, sudden ailments, and never-ending hunger for snacks by both myself and my homeschool student. We are just trying to do the best we can.
10:00am – The kids move all of their garbage cans somewhere outside and simulate a neighborhood pickup with 50+ pretend cans and all 4 garbage trucks (trash, recycle, organics, and bulky item). This buys me a little time to get some work done and progress my never-ending household chores.
11:00am – Online video chat and lesson with my son’s Kindergarten class. This is pretty much the only scheduled thing we have to remember to do during the week. My son loves seeing his classmates and teachers. I find these interactions humorous to watch and relatively productive but it does remind him that we still are in school even though we are home.
12:00pm – Make lunch that no one eats.
Trash Day Is Not Yet Over
1:00pm – Play out front and wait for the final garbage truck to arrive to our house. Wave to the neighbors and cringe when someone rides and walks past our house as my kids eagerly approach them.
2:00pm – Grab the stroller for the little guy and Mason gets on his bike to follow the garbage truck around the neighborhood. This is a well-honored tradition that has been taking place since my oldest was born. We follow the truck around and watch it pick up all of the neighborhood trash cans. This time it’s the recycling truck which in my opinion is the least stinky of the trucks to follow.
3:30pm – Kids get iPads for “digital learning”/Youtube and I get a chance to catch up on emails and work-related items. I own a spa and our business is currently closed. My workload has lessened and changed. It’s been an interesting and troubling transition, but I have tried to remain positive throughout the whole situation and hope to resume business soon.
4:00pm – The kids want to play a game. Today we played Zingo and my 5 and 3–year-old can both play which is nice. It’s been fun to watch them learn to play better together and I’m thankful they have each other. It does end with my 3-year-old getting mad that he lost and Zingo titles flying everywhere. Better luck next time!
5:00pm – Cocktail! Time to crack open a Truly. Husband magically appears into the kitchen from home office quarantine when he hears the sound of a beverage opening.
5:15pm – Going on a family walk. We are lucky to live within walking distance of some great local trails and we have loved exploring what is in our own neighborhood hills. Being home has forced us outside more, which has been nice to keep us active and moving as a family.
6:00pm – Dinner Time. Tonight we are having pulled pork sliders and salad. We grew a nice winter garden that has flourished at the right time. I can pick lettuces from the backyard and it forces me to eat salad.
7:00pm – Shower up, read books, and final night time garbage pick up.
8:00pm – Attempt bedtime. Threaten to take away every toy garbage can and truck if the kids don’t settle and stop making the high pitch siren noises.
9:00pm – Lock myself in my room and hope everyone just eventually falls asleep. Currently watching Schitt’s Creek, The Bachelor: Listen to Your Heart, and The Masked Singer. Not taking myself to seriously over here when it comes to my TV programming.
10:00pm – Get up and take puppy out one more time and hope for the best for her to sleep all night. Carry the kids to their beds and try not to wake them while silently screaming on the LEGO pieces piercing my bare feet. Take my CBD + Melatonin and drift to sleep to do it all over again tomorrow.
