#WorstApocalypseEver

But That’s Not a Bad Thing

So we’re all at home now, all day, every day, in our too small house. There has been a lot of stress and fighting. But there has also been a lot of fun, and working together. It’s a reflection of how society, and humanity as a whole, is working right now. You hear stories of how people are fighting over rolls of toilet paper because people are'n’t using the bathrooms at work anymore and Georgia-Pacific can’t manufacture it fast enough to keep up. And then you hear stories of people going out of their way to donate groceries to elderly who can’t shop for themselves because they can’t put themselves in danger of illness. It’s not The Apocalypse, but it is a cataclysmic event that is bringing out the worst and best in everyone.

Maximus fell out of a tree the other day. He had climbed too high, and Nick had to come out and catch him (it was a coordinated fall). He didn’t get hurt, but he was scared. Mimi ran inside to tell me that he had “almost died,” and needed me. So I hugged him, and told him that when you fall off a horse the best thing that you can do is get back on and try again. He agreed to climb a few more trees if I would help him.

We, Max, Min, Ohmi, and I spent the next two hours climbing trees all over the back yard. It reminded me just how much I love climbing trees and being up high. That’s why I love our tree-house, once it’s done I’ll probably be up there as much as the kids, if not more. Anyway, the next day Maximus went out and climbed the tree that he’d fallen from, and he conquered it.

All five boys were outside, playing and climbing. They’re not allowed in the treehouse yet, so they climb all over the logs we cut down around it. That big one is their motorcycle. When I was done climbing and had to take Ohmi back inside I left the little Dudes outside. You’d think that I’d know better by now….

This bridge is halfway down the mountain. I had yet again underestimated their commitment to adventure.

Ramblings aside, I am trying not to think that we’re some of the lucky ones. Luck has nothing to do with it, God is looking out for us. Everything in our lives has been building to help us get through this pandemic. Nick and I both have a lot of siblings and we were both homeschooled. While we decided to enroll the kids in public school a few years ago for my mental health, we both know how to handle lots of children with lots of schoolwork (hint—it’s so much easier now that I don’t have crippling anxiety and depression). Nick’s job is “essential” but he can work from home. It has been wonderful for the kids to be able to go to him with their math problems. If that’s the only good thing that came out of this forced isolation, then I’m grateful. But there have been so many more little things that have worked themselves out, just because we have no choice now.

And then there is my sewing. I’ve been sewing since I was seven, I started with woven fabric and taught myself to sew with knits a few years ago. Since then I haven’t worked with wovens very much, only for the halloween costumes last year. There are certain things about wovens that I hate, like hemming (hemming in general), using piping and bias tape, and gathering. And quilting has terrified me. Well, I’ve stopped making clothes for the time being and am working on face masks. And I am making bias tape. Sometimes I shudder at the thought, but mostly I’m just happy to be able to help. I’ve been sewing so fast that I got close to burnout, so I took a break and am teaching myself to quilt.

We are growing as a family, and learning new things about each other. Things would be a whole lot more stressful, and less fun, if we were hunting zombies. We are doing what we can, and for the things that we can’t, we are praying. May God bless you and keep you.