Brandon and I spent last week in Mexico. Each year we go to have some couple time, to relax and refresh. Only the Lord knew how our country would change during the week we were gone. When we flew out there were about 300 cases in the US and we returned to over 3000. We did hear reports of MANY things closing while we were in Mexico. It was hard to not have thoughts consumed with what was happening back home. At the same time it was still business as usual in Mexico with all the relaxation and fun of the previous years. We learned last Friday that the kids were going to be out of school for the next four weeks (understanding deep inside that that could be just the beginning).
Yesterday (March 15th) we flew home and realized first hand that America changed while we vacationed. We entered the US at O'Hare airport in Chicago. When we arrived to the International terminal we saw huge planes next to us at the nearby gates. We had heard of painfully long lines (5 hours) the previous day and we saw pictures of the craziness.
We were at the back of the plane so we were nervous, but when we were able to walk down the first set of stairs not in a line we counted ourselves very blessed. We knew we only had 2.5 hours between flights. Normally that would be plenty of time, but in this era would it be enough? The lines were long but not horrible. Then suddenly a sea of people started coming in. So many people arriving from all over the world. I didn't know there were so many different kinds of face masks. To not see someone's smile is a sad thing. Somehow we managed to get through the lines in only about an hour, but the people behind us probably waited much longer.
It was a strange feeling to be in this big room with people who have traveled all around the world. Normally this is a thrilling thing for me. I love to be surrounded with people from around the world. Because of the number of people there and because of all the people who passed through there within the last 24 hours and the fact that we all are forced to touch the same touch screens we know that we were exposed to Coronavirus. The customs officer was very nice and didn't give us any guidelines about isolation once home.
Brandon and I decided today that we are going to self isolate for the next two weeks. He will work from home and the kids and I will school and live and play and eat here. Thankfully I will still take my early morning walks so I can be outside the house. If weather permits we will all get out to the neighborhood park or on a walk as long as we are not around others.
Because today is Brandon's day off (although he did work for several hours) we will really start to feel the new normal tomorrow. Today was spent canceling things... I feel like I spent hours today canceling therapies and meetings and events. Our kids have 7 therapy type things a week and had some other upcoming things scheduled for this week and there were so many pressing needs.
I did much praying and planning in Mexico to try to make this season with the kids as enjoyable and fruitful and honestly tolerable as possible. My wonderful kids are tricky and they struggle being together most of the time. This month could go may ways. I will be breathing in prayers like never before and leaning on God in new ways too. I am excited about this. I made three schedules so we can rotate between A, B, and C schedules. This will allow our days to be different and hopefully provide some much needed structure. I am sure I will do a lot of tweaking to the schedule, but it will give us a start. The kids will have some school work to do each day which will be another new thing for us to adjust to. Every parent in America has become a home school parent overnight. We are so thankful for the ways the school has come along side families and will guide us through this crazy stuff together. I am praying that the kids will not be home the rest of the year and will get to finish the year with their classmates and teachers. This is M's last year in elementary school and it would be such a tough way to end his year. We have not even mentioned this to him and hope we don't have to.
I would like the kids to journal every day during their time at home. I have told this that this season will be mentioned in the next generations history books. M finds that fascinating. I told them to write so they could remember stories when their grandkids ask about this time. I will try to be consistent on the blog as well, both with real time posts and with rewind posts about all we have been up to during the last several months. Ironically, I was very excited to come home from Mexico and blog. I thought this would be my blogging season. As it turns out God had other plans and as always, I am just along for the ride.
Check back in and hear the stories of our time in isolation. I am not going to promise to post every day, but I will try to post frequently. Writing is greatly therapeutic for me, and in the weeks to come I think it could be a great way to unwind at the end of the day.
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