It's October. Pretty much everybody is back to school, but life definitely isn't normal. Pandemic living keeps changing, even though every day feels exactly the same. What are you struggling with lately? We can talk about food, or we can treat this as an all-around bitch session.
Here's mine: my kid eats all. Day. Long. He's 14 so I guess that's to be expected, but having him here all the time means I can't keep enough food on hand, no matter how often I shop.
Doh! I just noticed that the new menu actually includes one night with multiple pans: Friday's chicken pot pies. For easier cleanup, you can always bake one big one instead of all the littles.
My kiddos are home for school "virtual" probably indefinitely this year. I can't stand the "snacks"! We eat 3 nutritious meals, why ALL the snacks? I'm able to deflect most b/c its asking out of boredom, but no wonder they don't want to eat "some" parts of dinners. Thankful you are still making weekly meal plans during this crazy time! Cases are climbing here and the grocery store is starting to be out of a lot of items again, so frustrating!
Oh no, I'm so distressed to hear about places where cases are climbing. Why can't everyone just stay home for a few weeks? This piecemeal approach means we'll never get over it. Grr.
I am just TIRED! I seem to lack the ability to go to bed at a normal hour, yet it's best for me to get some exercise before school starts for the day. (luckily we're now in-person on Thursdays/Fridays)
Quarantine exhaustion is so real. I don't think I've had a good night's sleep since March. And I have yet to figure out a way to exercise regularly that I'll actually do. It's so much easier to just sit here like a lump.
Until this week it has been two things- 1. dishes- so many dishes, pots, pans, tupperware- it never ends! 2. cooking every single noon/night- even when making fun foods- has become monotonous, and exacerbated by a month of Jewish holidays with cooking in advance for entire weekends of holiday foods. This week, my kids go back to in-person school, and suddenly I want to cry because I have to pack them lunches. Its all just too much
You are very sweet. I'm doing home made pizza tonight (store bought crust). Ordering in tomorrow to celebrate back to the building/reward for my kid who doesn't want to go. I'm not sure what to put in the lunches tomorrow. sigh. (we are overdue for a shopping, running low on fresh stuff- b/c trying to spread out supermarket runs.) Any easy, vegetarian, non-sandwich lunches you can recommend?
hummus with veggies is a good idea :). would do muffin tin fritter, but low on eggs. can do cheese and crackers., though might send that for snack. will piece together something.
Per kid request, we ended up sending canned baked beans (heated in a Thermos), pita chips, carrot sticks, apple sauce, and the requisite snacks. not too bad with "no food" in the house :)
Everything feels so relentless. I made my first grocery store trip since March last night. I hated it, but my husband (who has a very different risk threshold than I do) really wanted us to do it. So we did. I miss casual takeout just because we don't feel like cooking. I feel like that easy out is just gone now. We have 4 people home all day every day and it's just exhausting you know?
On the upside, the new fridge is great, I cleared enough room in the basement for us to move the temporary replacement fridge down to the storage room and out of the dining room, which will be great.
I also am SO TIRED of rates going back up (are you in one of those affected zones Debbie? I saw quite a few Queens on the list). My In-laws are in RI and their county has practically no cases, but my state has put RI on their warning list so a visit to them would require a 14 day quarantine upon return. It's just exhausting.
Oh Carrie, that all feels so hard! Maybe you should plan for takeout once a week, so you'll know you have one night off.
The increased rates here in NYC aren't near me, thank goodness. I suspect it's because my area got hit SO HARD at the beginning. Nobody I know has really put down their guard yet.
/gestures vaguely at everything at large/ I'm doing okay mostly. Echoing dishes - our dishwasher is broken and new has been "on the way" for a month. Easy clean up meals have been great lately. If you could get my children to like the same food day-to-day, that would be lovely. Lots of "Eat it or don't" said during dinner.
Dude. My guy is 14 and still can't make up his mind about things he'll eat consistently. He's just coming off a pastrami kick, of all things. I threw out the last package untouched, grrrr.
Dishes, so so so many dishes. And school questions as our district wants to reopen so my staying home kids (immunocompromised late 70s grandpa we'd like to see before summer) will probably be given all be teachers and classes, despite being 6 weeks into the online program everyone started with already.
One benefit of the broken wrist: I can't do dishes! My husband and son are doing it all--normally we have an agreement that we each do one sinkful a day, and usually my husband ends up doing one last round before he goes to bed.
YES. All-day eating from the 14 year old and the 10 year old (I'm avoiding it for the most part myself). I've been struggling to get the kids to eat something substantial during the day, an actual meal or sandwich or something, without me having to prepare it. We just started packaging up leftovers in individual servings instead of a larger container that you serve out of, and it has been a huge help - the kids are far more willing to take a single-serving container out of the fridge and heat it ups than they were to get a bowl, scoop some in out of a container, and then heat up. It feels dumb, and it's an extra step putting dinner away, but the kids are eating more and are (mostly) less grumpy from lack of food.
That's really smart! We've actually started working with a dietitian for my son since it's so out of control. She's trying to winnow him down to three meals and three snacks a day, but it's not working--yet. Making it easier for him definitely helps.
well - #1 is I forgot how much I hated packing lunches even for the 1 day of remote school the kids are attending. #2 Dishes. My god. How many dishes can be used during the day? Answer, All. Of. Them. Especially Bowls. Why so many bowls?!?!?!?! It is requiring a full kitchen clean and often a dishwasher load BEFORE dinner prep and most days that feels like a lot. Maybe too much. #3 The house is just generally taking a lot of wear and tear since it is now serving as home, office, movie theatre, dance studio, gym, classroom, craft center, 24 hr diner...it means that things never feel really refreshed or straightened up the way they did when everyone was out all day and would come home in the evening. I'm thinking I need to take it up a notch - more plants? fresh flowers? candles?
Bright spots though - #1 my 11 year-old did his own laundry yesterday and then folded it. (Pinch me.) #2 I finally found a tiny desk to make the workspace in our bedroom a little less make-shift, and #3 I've started going to an exercise class in our local park finally overcoming my general dislike of group exercise in public. #4 Family Plan dinner inspiration remains a highlight of the week.
I hear you on the never feeling like home is clean. We've got cats and the furballs just roll around like tumbleweeds. And I LOVE your bright spots (esp #4 😉). I need to come up with my own list.
I work outside the home, and my job has continued throughout the pandemic. And as my husband is retired, he has been home to help our son with school/summer break. I've been feeling like things are pretty normal, or even a bit easier for me, because I don't have to worry about dropping off or picking up our son from school/summer camp, etc. It hasn't been until recently that I've become aware of how messy (and if I'm truthful, dirty) our house is. I used to spend time cleaning on the days during the week when I was off work and our son was at school. Now that he is always here and doing his distance learning at the bar between the kitchen and dining room, I can't clean or make too much noise anywhere in our open-floor-plan house. *and I think this is becoming more of a frustration lately because of outside stressors/events over which I have little to no control.
It's the juggle and it's still stressful. My kids are in a pod school (please don't hate on me -- we opted out of school and are paying for a private teacher, and we have REAL medical reasons for doing so) so it's easier now that they are out of the house for about 5 hours, but my work-from-home has ramped up too. I feel like I am juggling just like I did pre-COVID, but with the added stress of taking all of the COVID precautions. I'm tired and I want it all to end, but know that we need to persevere to keep everyone as safe as can be. And thank goodness for your meal plans!
No hate for the pod! Especially if it's medically-driven. I work from home all the time anyway, so yes, the extra stress is REALLY not helpful. Sometimes I wonder if we'll even be able to get back the "normal" once this is over. I forget what it's like to just live.
Doh! I just noticed that the new menu actually includes one night with multiple pans: Friday's chicken pot pies. For easier cleanup, you can always bake one big one instead of all the littles.
My kiddos are home for school "virtual" probably indefinitely this year. I can't stand the "snacks"! We eat 3 nutritious meals, why ALL the snacks? I'm able to deflect most b/c its asking out of boredom, but no wonder they don't want to eat "some" parts of dinners. Thankful you are still making weekly meal plans during this crazy time! Cases are climbing here and the grocery store is starting to be out of a lot of items again, so frustrating!
Oh no, I'm so distressed to hear about places where cases are climbing. Why can't everyone just stay home for a few weeks? This piecemeal approach means we'll never get over it. Grr.
Oh yes! All the snacks. I feel a bit like a short order cook when I think about all the meal and snack requests. 😂
I am just TIRED! I seem to lack the ability to go to bed at a normal hour, yet it's best for me to get some exercise before school starts for the day. (luckily we're now in-person on Thursdays/Fridays)
Quarantine exhaustion is so real. I don't think I've had a good night's sleep since March. And I have yet to figure out a way to exercise regularly that I'll actually do. It's so much easier to just sit here like a lump.
Until this week it has been two things- 1. dishes- so many dishes, pots, pans, tupperware- it never ends! 2. cooking every single noon/night- even when making fun foods- has become monotonous, and exacerbated by a month of Jewish holidays with cooking in advance for entire weekends of holiday foods. This week, my kids go back to in-person school, and suddenly I want to cry because I have to pack them lunches. Its all just too much
It really is too much. I know that wanting-to-cry feeling all too well. What might help you?
You are very sweet. I'm doing home made pizza tonight (store bought crust). Ordering in tomorrow to celebrate back to the building/reward for my kid who doesn't want to go. I'm not sure what to put in the lunches tomorrow. sigh. (we are overdue for a shopping, running low on fresh stuff- b/c trying to spread out supermarket runs.) Any easy, vegetarian, non-sandwich lunches you can recommend?
Do your kids eat hummus? PB & apples? (or other dippy things, obvs) Pasta salad? Yogurt! Cheese & crackers! Muffin tin frittata?
hummus with veggies is a good idea :). would do muffin tin fritter, but low on eggs. can do cheese and crackers., though might send that for snack. will piece together something.
You got this! I know it doesn't feel that way, but the kids will not go hungry.
Per kid request, we ended up sending canned baked beans (heated in a Thermos), pita chips, carrot sticks, apple sauce, and the requisite snacks. not too bad with "no food" in the house :)
Everything feels so relentless. I made my first grocery store trip since March last night. I hated it, but my husband (who has a very different risk threshold than I do) really wanted us to do it. So we did. I miss casual takeout just because we don't feel like cooking. I feel like that easy out is just gone now. We have 4 people home all day every day and it's just exhausting you know?
On the upside, the new fridge is great, I cleared enough room in the basement for us to move the temporary replacement fridge down to the storage room and out of the dining room, which will be great.
I also am SO TIRED of rates going back up (are you in one of those affected zones Debbie? I saw quite a few Queens on the list). My In-laws are in RI and their county has practically no cases, but my state has put RI on their warning list so a visit to them would require a 14 day quarantine upon return. It's just exhausting.
Oh Carrie, that all feels so hard! Maybe you should plan for takeout once a week, so you'll know you have one night off.
The increased rates here in NYC aren't near me, thank goodness. I suspect it's because my area got hit SO HARD at the beginning. Nobody I know has really put down their guard yet.
/gestures vaguely at everything at large/ I'm doing okay mostly. Echoing dishes - our dishwasher is broken and new has been "on the way" for a month. Easy clean up meals have been great lately. If you could get my children to like the same food day-to-day, that would be lovely. Lots of "Eat it or don't" said during dinner.
Dude. My guy is 14 and still can't make up his mind about things he'll eat consistently. He's just coming off a pastrami kick, of all things. I threw out the last package untouched, grrrr.
Dishes, so so so many dishes. And school questions as our district wants to reopen so my staying home kids (immunocompromised late 70s grandpa we'd like to see before summer) will probably be given all be teachers and classes, despite being 6 weeks into the online program everyone started with already.
One benefit of the broken wrist: I can't do dishes! My husband and son are doing it all--normally we have an agreement that we each do one sinkful a day, and usually my husband ends up doing one last round before he goes to bed.
Like the one benefit, right?
YES. All-day eating from the 14 year old and the 10 year old (I'm avoiding it for the most part myself). I've been struggling to get the kids to eat something substantial during the day, an actual meal or sandwich or something, without me having to prepare it. We just started packaging up leftovers in individual servings instead of a larger container that you serve out of, and it has been a huge help - the kids are far more willing to take a single-serving container out of the fridge and heat it ups than they were to get a bowl, scoop some in out of a container, and then heat up. It feels dumb, and it's an extra step putting dinner away, but the kids are eating more and are (mostly) less grumpy from lack of food.
That's really smart! We've actually started working with a dietitian for my son since it's so out of control. She's trying to winnow him down to three meals and three snacks a day, but it's not working--yet. Making it easier for him definitely helps.
well - #1 is I forgot how much I hated packing lunches even for the 1 day of remote school the kids are attending. #2 Dishes. My god. How many dishes can be used during the day? Answer, All. Of. Them. Especially Bowls. Why so many bowls?!?!?!?! It is requiring a full kitchen clean and often a dishwasher load BEFORE dinner prep and most days that feels like a lot. Maybe too much. #3 The house is just generally taking a lot of wear and tear since it is now serving as home, office, movie theatre, dance studio, gym, classroom, craft center, 24 hr diner...it means that things never feel really refreshed or straightened up the way they did when everyone was out all day and would come home in the evening. I'm thinking I need to take it up a notch - more plants? fresh flowers? candles?
Bright spots though - #1 my 11 year-old did his own laundry yesterday and then folded it. (Pinch me.) #2 I finally found a tiny desk to make the workspace in our bedroom a little less make-shift, and #3 I've started going to an exercise class in our local park finally overcoming my general dislike of group exercise in public. #4 Family Plan dinner inspiration remains a highlight of the week.
I hear you on the never feeling like home is clean. We've got cats and the furballs just roll around like tumbleweeds. And I LOVE your bright spots (esp #4 😉). I need to come up with my own list.
I work outside the home, and my job has continued throughout the pandemic. And as my husband is retired, he has been home to help our son with school/summer break. I've been feeling like things are pretty normal, or even a bit easier for me, because I don't have to worry about dropping off or picking up our son from school/summer camp, etc. It hasn't been until recently that I've become aware of how messy (and if I'm truthful, dirty) our house is. I used to spend time cleaning on the days during the week when I was off work and our son was at school. Now that he is always here and doing his distance learning at the bar between the kitchen and dining room, I can't clean or make too much noise anywhere in our open-floor-plan house. *and I think this is becoming more of a frustration lately because of outside stressors/events over which I have little to no control.
Ugh that sounds frustrating, Catherine. How's your husband do with cleaning?
He’s actually doing great at it! Dishes, laundry, yard and car work. He doesn’t vacuum. Or de-clutter.
It's the juggle and it's still stressful. My kids are in a pod school (please don't hate on me -- we opted out of school and are paying for a private teacher, and we have REAL medical reasons for doing so) so it's easier now that they are out of the house for about 5 hours, but my work-from-home has ramped up too. I feel like I am juggling just like I did pre-COVID, but with the added stress of taking all of the COVID precautions. I'm tired and I want it all to end, but know that we need to persevere to keep everyone as safe as can be. And thank goodness for your meal plans!
No hate for the pod! Especially if it's medically-driven. I work from home all the time anyway, so yes, the extra stress is REALLY not helpful. Sometimes I wonder if we'll even be able to get back the "normal" once this is over. I forget what it's like to just live.