The CORVID-19 pandemic has completely changed the route of my familys daily activities. In order to keep our family and community safe from the coronavirus, weve had to be receptive and adapt. Im a single working mom with three children (1, 5, and 8) and Im an MBA graduate student. Initially, the lifestyle changes were very overwhelming and challenging. In the beginning stages of the pandemic, my family experienced a death in the family. There was concern for the funeral arrangements due to the coronavirus. On the day of the funeral, the executive order of ten individuals or less was not mandated. However, there were still modifications to the arrangements for public safety. Our family opted not to host a repast to gather and fellowship, instead to-go dinners were provided to all that attended the funeral. It was an odd feeling to not stay for a traditional repast to celebrate the life of our loved one while consoling family and friends.Weeks prior, an announcement was made that schools for grades K-12 were suspended until further notice. As a working mom, childcare is a necessity to be able to work and provide for my family. My 1-year olds daycare opened their facility to grade school kids that were misplaced due to school closures. This was truly a blessing, but a couple of weeks later the daycare made an announcement that they were closing their doors to keep the staff and children safe until further notice. In order to keep working, I had to send my two oldest kids to Georgia to be with my mom. My 1 year old was able to stay with her dad during the day while he teleworked from home. During this time, my University announced campus closures and the transition to online classes.After two weeks of submitting a request to telework from home, it was approved! Even though my children were in good hands, I was eager to return them home and to able to help them with distance learning school. Then again, I had no idea how challenging it would be to telework with two children attending live classes twice a day, attend to my 1 year old, and attend a demanding online graduate class. Not knowing what to expect, the first week was extremely unorganized and challenging. There were missed assignments, I got caught up with telework and forgot to log one child into live class, lunch was served late, house was a mess, etc. We have since established a routine and balance to this new way of living, but it is still a challenging process. Nevertheless, Im blessed Im still able to work and provide for my family.Another adjustment to our lifestyle is how we attend worship service. We now attend worship services and bible study via Facebook live. I really miss attending church with my family and worshiping with my church family.It also stressful going to the grocery store not being able to find necessities for the family like toiletries and having a limitation on buying meats and produce. I cant leave the children at home alone, so I must take them with me to the grocery store. We all wear mask and the trips are quick, but I dont like taking them into crowded spaces. Over the past weeks, I have slowly seen improvement with challenge of finding necessities. Even though there has been many changes, challenges and struggles adapting to the impacts of the CORVID-19 pandemic, there are some positives. For instance, Im able to spend more quality time with my family. Instead of waking up early to get myself and three kids ready for work and school, I wake up early to make breakfast. Instead of rushing home from work and school to cook dinner, we can take walks together in the evening after having an early dinner to get out of being in the house all day. I also noticed a savings from not having to commute to work and school, also from not eating out and less entertainment activities. Also, a mini family vacation was planned for the spring and summer, which had to be cancelled. Sadly, those mini vacations were something we looked forward to attending for a while. Society and my family crave returning to their life of normalcy before the pandemic of CORVID-19, and it will happened in due time. However, as I watch the news, I hear concern about the upcoming forecast of a very active hurricane season. So, I just take one day at a time, pray, stand fast in faith, and count my blessings.
Keeping Faith, Adapting and Balancing
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