Taking Back Control While Living with Teenagers During The Lockdown
I am as busy as ever. It just never stops, right? It has been another full-on week, and I feel like I am taking this working-from-home thing into my stride now.
Of course, it takes some time to adjust to a new routine, but I am pleased to report that my back doesn’t hurt this week. I am now trying to move every hour or so. I also force myself to get a proper break for lunch instead of spending all day talking to a computer. I even took a yoga lesson on Zoom yesterday. It must have helped. What can I say? I am adjusting. Surely that’s progress, right?
Apparently the latest craze during meetings is to play with the background on Teams, which is fun for a bit, but not really my thing. And with the beach house’s dramatic views, I don’t need a fake background anyway. That said, I can’t help thinking that Teams should have Instagram-like filters to make me look younger and hide the fact that my hair is becoming a mane. Where is technology when you need it? Maybe I should write to them? Just a thought.
I am now waking up the teenagers by 8am every day including weekends and am trying to instill more discipline in this household. I think that they all call me sergeant chief behind my back. They prepare their own breakfast, and are currently studying the principles of permaculture (understand: they take care of the garden). They seem to be becoming more independent. They even learnt to operate the washing machine. I take comfort in the fact that Gen-Z will be strong and self-reliant. And maybe this virus crisis has allowed me to correct some of my helicopter-parenting mistakes. Anyway, our gardening skills are improving everyday (not hard!). I can’t wait to have fresh herbs & veggies, but I would be more reassured if the girls were watering the plants more often. They seem to forget to do it a lot…We’ll get there.
Don’t think that the week was uneventful. Far from it. On Thursday I realized during another Teams meeting that the neighbor’s chickens had escaped from their coop. Some were banging their heads on my door, others were enjoying the garden and on their way to the next neighbor. A frantic hunt to find the chickens ensued, helped by neighbors on both sides, while trying to comply with social distancing rules of course. It wasn’t all plain sailing. Have you ever tried to catch a chicken? It’s not easy as it looks. I remember that my dad had a small net to do it. We had no net, and my ‘technique’ wasn’t working at all. The neighbor’s teenage daughter showed me what to do and tried to teach me, but I think that it’s a skill I’ll never have. I am a lost cause. Long story short: I couldn’t catch a single chicken, let alone bring one back to its coop. That said, I was clearly scaring them, and they more or less moved in the right direction. I am pleased to report that all twelve chickens are now safe and sound. Stupid chickens. There are foxes around here. I also had forgotten how chickens stink. I am clearly a city girl. This is one of the weird things I noticed about myself during this lockdown. I don’t know about everybody else, but I am finding out lots of weird things about me during this lockdown. I don’t know what I will do with them once this lockdown is over.
For instance, I am a serial worrier. I worry all the time. I find myself tossing and turning in bed as I am thinking of the day ahead, writing a mental to-do list in my head. The uncertainty of the whole situation is clearly taking its toll. I have also learned that writing is truly a passion of mine. I miss writing and my free-lance writing days. Ah memories! I have also learned that I actually enjoy cooking. Oh, and I am addicted to coffee (Which I kind of knew…).
Running remains my therapy, and my weekly mileage has steadily increased. I have tried to convince the girls to run with me, but it didn’t work. They are all doing this workout challenge on Youtube with a new fitness guru I have never heard of. It must be a generation thing: you just need your legs to go running, and I don’t like to use technology when I exercise.
Every day before starting work I put on my running gear and go for a little jog. Once I am in the zone I don’t think of anything else. I just run. The Northern Beaches are not flat, and I am trying not to walk on big hills. Easier said than done. I am telling myself that this is good training for the next City 2Surf. I push myself a little bit. Little by little I am getting faster. This morning I finished 6k in 34mins with some big hills. Not too shabby. I might be getting my mojo back…
