Set aside the first week that I watched the girls and my time “away” from work and spending my days as the girls’ nanny was just what the doctor ordered for me. I needed a mental break and I don’t mind the physical expense that comes with playing, walking, singing, reading, feeding, and monitoring them. I shifted my mindset from one of being their nanny and to just having fun with them. It’s summer and the weather during the week has been nice, I don’t have to sit at a desk all day, so let’s go out and play.

Certainly, it was the pressure lowered from work that made the second two weeks wonderful, but we also had glorious weather and the girls and I fell into our own routine, which wasn’t so much routine to begin with. Reese and I would walk up the hill, me pushing the double stroller, in the morning to go get Lottie. Reese has a whole routine with this walk; smelling particular flowers, sometimes requiring lifts in the air to smell the tall ones, saying “hi” and “bye” to the neighborhood chickens, etc. But Reese also walks all the way to the top of the hill and sometimes further, sometimes all of the way to Lottie’s. On the way home, the girls walk about half of the way and then I pop them in the stroller. By the time we are home, they are ready for breakfast, generally this being yogurt, sometimes oatmeal. We’d play inside for a while, reading books, doing puzzles, obstacle courses, etc. We’d go outside for a little while before lunch and with the nice weather we would enjoy lunch outside listening to jams. The girls would go down for their nap anytime between 12 and 1 pm and that was my time to check work emails, get my own lunch and on two occasions I actually had enough energy to work out.

The girl’s naps range from 90 minutes to 3 1/2 hours, generally, so sometimes they are up early enough for an afternoon excursion and sometimes they are up just in time for a snack and for a walk home to return Lottie. But these girls love walks and generally when asked, that’s what they would choose to do. The double stroller served me well during this time and I used it often. If we didn’t walk home we would play in the backyard; singing and dancing to music, playing with the water, testing out the bikes that are still a tad too big for them to ride themselves.

We did a lot of things during the three weeks though. I took them to the beach at Lake Washington to play in the sand and water one afternoon. We walked through the Kubota Gardens in South Seattle twice and that was glorious. We got drive-thru fries for the girls to share on the way home. We had several picnics on our picnic blankets, finding shade in quiet parks. We made cookies and smoothies in the kitchen. I had the grand idea to walk to a dog park one afternoon, thinking the girls would find it fun to watch the dogs play. This was a good idea until Lottie immediately darted towards the dogs to chase them because she has absolutely no fear in animals. I took them to a secret playground twice to play on the “big slide”. They loved this and it was impressive to see them go down the tall slides on their own now and even exploring more difficult structures like rock climbing walls.

I was honestly a little sad that my time with the girls was coming to an end last week. I really enjoyed getting to know Lottie better and I have wanted to adventure with Reese during the weekdays for some time now. They are so fun right now, learning new words and new things on the daily. I’m back at work now and back at my shared office space with Bryan and that is also good, but I’m really grateful that I was able to take some time away. And I think Reese is excited to have her friend Joie back too.

Chelsea

This year’s Father Day weekend is not one I will probably forget anytime soon. As with everything during the times of Coronavirus, each is part bizarre and part special in its own way. We went into the weekend without any concrete plans; part my fault and part what every weekend has been like since the beginning of March. Plans or not, we had a great weekend celebrating Dadda and dads afar and celebrating the beginning of summer.

We started off with our Friday weekly happy hour with BBQ takeout from Cask and Trotter and an outdoor movie screening of Mary Poppins for Bryan the girls. We had our weekly pancakes Saturday morning and after a low key relaxing morning we took a nice long walk in the sun after Reese’s nap, came back home to make steaks and drink delicious Bourbon on the back deck and finished the night with ice cream.

Sunday morning presented the most special present yet; Reese sleeping into until nearly 9 am!!! The slow start on the weekend morning was wonderful and unexpected. We set out to pick up breakfast burritos from Agua Verde and enjoyed this pre-bike fuel in West Montlake Park, watching the boats go through The Cut and strolling along the waterfront waving to the boaters. We set back home so Bryan could do a million things to get us ready for a long bike ride.

I was going to be using Bryan’s old bike for the first time which meant that I had to learn how to ride with clip-in pedals with my new bike shoes, learn new brakes and handlebars, and learn how to shift on his bike. There was a whole lot of new and I was nervous about it all. I spent only about five minutes just before leaving on our ride practicing clipping in and out a few times and we were off. I did surprisingly well with all the newness, at least after the first two miles in. I never did fall though. Reese immediately fell asleep, as we expected her to do since we set out at 1 pm, planning this one through her nap time. She slept for the first 40 minutes, waking up after we had crossed the 520 floating bridge and had made our way through Kirkland on the eastside. We continued north until we hit the Sammammish River Trail and then heading back to the west, riding this along the north edge of Lake Washington before meeting up with the Burke-Gilman Trail to head back towards the U and eventually home. In total we biked 31 miles and kept a pretty good pace. We ran into some church friends about half way through and caught up with them, which is just so good to see someone you know these days. We took a break shortly after seeing them at a tiny little park that had a platform on the lake with a bench that we could enjoy our snacks, water, and watch Reese feed the ducks (she loved this!).

We got back home right around 5 pm and Reese was ready to try out her own bike in the backyard. She is still just a touch too short for it. We each took turns talking to our dads on the phone and then made a delicious Blue Apron dinner and watched Little Rascals before heading to bed. Definitely the highlight of the weekend was the bike ride and we are both feeling it today. But we also enjoyed a lot of good conversation which I feel is the most valuable present during these times.

Our social circle is slim these days and we both miss friends and family dearly, something neither of us are afraid to admit. It’s great to be outside and enjoy something that feels normal during this season but there is the looming anxiety and anger about the whole situation right now. I am so incredibly worried about the lack of caution and concern the country is taking towards the virus right now. I fear for those I love. I am desperate to get back to Michigan and don’t see that happening anytime soon considering the current circumstances and spread of infection we are seeing on the rise again. Why we can’t, in the present day, be a unified community on one dire issue and come together on this, have a leader safely lead us through this, and do what other countries have been able to do, baffles and infuriates me. I’ve cried too many times dreaming of being with family again and thinking of the time that we are wasting and the lives we are losing with our lackluster approach to all of this. I really hope that we can get this thing under control because I know that we all want to resume life as normal. I’m fully preparing myself for the rest of the summer being in quarantine.

Chelsea

I had created and titled this post last week and had planned on talking about what has basically become our “new normal” (hate the phrase but no other way I know to phrase it) for the past several months. For a while things weren’t too much different then they were a week ago, a month ago, or three months ago, other than we have settled into this routine. Work has been much the same. The house looks much the same. The routine is much the same. The weather is the same (gotta love Seattle this time of year…eye rolling). And I was going to talk about what that look like for us:

Weekdays:

• Bryan wakes up at 6 am and rolls out of bed and heads straight to work.
• Reese usually wakes up between 6 am and 7:30 am so that is when I wake up too.
• Reese knocks on the office door between 7:15 am and 7:40 am to get in a shared bowl of cereal with her daddy before Bryan’s 7:45 am daily meeting.
• We get ready, brush teeth, get dressed, vacuum the play area downstairs, make coffee.
• Reese and I go for a short stroll or play outside while we wait for Lottie and the nanny to arrive usually around 8:30 am.
• I greet nanny, discuss the girls, and then head up to my torture chamber (office).
• Bryan and I work upstairs, 18″ apart elbow to elbow, from about 8:45 am until 3 pm. We usually go downstairs to get lunch while the girls are napping. If it is nice outside we each try to eat or get outside briefly to get some fresh air.
• Around 3 pm, one or both of us might work out. I have to make sure the girls are either outside or occupied if I want to escape the house and go for a run or do a cardio warm-up outside. Otherwise, we can work upstairs because hey, we are already in that room. Yippee!
• At 4:15 pm, we relieve the nanny and usually chat and hang out for a bit, sometimes go for a toddler-paced walk around the block.
• Dinner around 6:30 pm, Reese’s bedtime routine starts around 7:30 pm, and she is now not falling asleep until between 8:30 – 9 pm, with one of us in the room with her.
• We crash on the couch for an hour or so before heading up to bed ourselves.

Weekends:

• Not too much different. Reese wakes up at about the same time and I get up with her.
• Saturdays are still pancake mornings and she somehow knows they are.
• Sunday mornings are now Safeway pickup order mornings in the car where we also grab donuts from Safeway and a Starbucks coffee as a treat.
• We try to get outside when the weather is good; long walks, runs, bike rides, swimming in the backyard, etc.
• We still have been doing weekend movie nights with dinner. We’ve watched most of the Disney movies and many of the Pixar movies already.

That’s all good and dandy and what a good routine…

HOWEVER, our nanny dropped a big one on us last Friday in telling us that she is going to take three weeks off, unpaid. We essentially told her she couldn’t do that to us, that she has three paid days she can use but three weeks?!? What were we supposed to do? Both Bryan and Sarah’s work has been stressful and chaotic. Both companies are in their own sorts of jeopardy. I’m the only one that could possibly take this time and I also was feeling a need for a break from work. Adding to that, my company qualifies for the FFCRA which would allow me to get paid 2/3 my salary for up to 6 hours per day, for several weeks if I so needed. After explaining to HR our situation and getting approval on whether this qualifies for this leave, then breaking the news to my supervisor, I’m full on ready to commit to watching the girls full-time for the next three weeks. I’m looking forward to. I’m ready for a break from work, even to just be eager to go back and appreciate work in the aftermath of this all.

So begins our “new normal” for these three weeks…now that I am a full week in. I have enjoyed stepping away from work and definitely the torture chamber this week. I like playing with the girls and doing things with them and for them. This week has continued to be on and off nice and miserable. We’ve made the best of both weather conditions. When it’s nice out, Reese and I have been walking to Sarah’s in the double stroller to get Lottie, and doing drop offs the same way. When it’s not nice out, we still go pick up Lottie but in the car. We’ve been able to swim one day, took a bath one day, went to the park twice, done a lot of puzzles, dancing, snacks, play-doh, obstacle courses coloring, and trains. We’ve gone on many walks. There have only been a few moments that have been stressful, when the girls aren’t sharing and acting up. For the most part, they have been pretty great and definitely a great reprieve from work.

But there hasn’t been a reprieve from work. This is the final week before our submission of the Catskills project to DEP. I’ve still been expected to do what I would normally be doing. Which means that I have had to have my phone on me more than I would like to field questions via chat messages or phone calls. I’ve worked straight through the girl’s nap times and I have worked until 11 pm after Reese has gone to bed the past two nights. I’m over all of that for sure. I have had ZERO time to do anything else. A part of me feels like super mom and a part of me just wants to go nap. I’m definitely ready for the weekend and hoping maybe to get a few work related items done this week so next week is not so stressful.

We have another happy hour tonight with our current “family” and another weekend of meh weather to get through. Maybe we will get a break like we did last weekend and get nice enough weather to go for another long bike ride or dip our feet in the lake. We had a great weekend last weekend with a 24 mile round trip bike ride to Juanita Beach Park and back, a long walk through the Arboretum, picking up our wine, and this week we were able to grill burgers outside once and picked up poke bowls to enjoy along the Sound waterfront one night.

Chelsea