Can I just say, quarantine is hard. Quarantine with toddlers is hard. Quarantine when you are an extrovert is hard. Quarantine when you have health problems is hard. It’s hard to do basic everyday things, it’s hard to entertain almost 3 year olds when you can’t go to the zoo or aquarium or go shopping with them (which my girls love doing lol), it’s hard getting your mental health in a good place when you just want to be around people but can’t, and it’s hard to see your doctor and get good care when you can’t see them in person. But even with all this hard there are still ways to care for yourself. Over the past 47ish weeks of quarantine I’ve found some of my favorite methods of self care. I thought I would share them in case anyone else is having a hard time finding ideas to take a break for themselves mentally. Note: This is not sponsored by anything and some links may be referral links. While I do not receive financial compensation from them I may get reward points if you use them.
1. Learning how to do my own make up. Yes, I made it to 34 without having the slightest idea of how to put on make up. I was never big on wearing it when I was younger, but Em is super interested in make up and El is starting to get there so I figured I should learn how so they can learn from me rather than random videos on YouTube. The things that helped me the most with this are my best friend who does amazing looks on herself and Ipsy. Ipsy is a monthly make up and skin care subscription service that’s pretty reasonably priced and lets you try bunches of different samples of products to see what you like so you don’t feel like you are wasting anything if you don’t like it.
2. Drinking my favorite teas. I joined Sipsby, a tea subscription service, a while ago and it has made getting tea without going anywhere super easy. Each box lasts me about a month (which is perfect lol) and I rarely find a tea I don’t like. I really enjoy getting to sit quietly after the girls go to bed with a book or playing a mobile game and drinking a cup of tea. I also have started drinking a lot of tea while I work from home. I go through about 3 or 4 cups through out the day which makes the long days I’ve started working more tolerable.
3. Learning new things. I’ve started learning a new hobby during this time. I started learning how to do polymer clay jewelry. One of the things that prompted this was I saw something on Pinterest for a pendant with kids’ fingerprints in it for a Mother’s Day gift, and I decided to do a version of that for my mom’s birthday with the girls’ fingerprints. Getting 2 year olds to cooperate with pressing their thumb into a clay bit was a lot harder than I thought it would be. They were very suspicious about why I wanted to hold their hands, but once they realized we weren’t going to cut their nails they did a lot better. I’ve really enjoyed doing marbleized charms and creating small figures for earrings, it an easy to learn craft and beginner kits are easy to find at a good price.
4. Tried coffee. I’ve never been a coffee drinker, but I figured this would be a good time for me to experiment with different coffees and creamers to see if I could find a way to enjoy it. I have been having a hard time sleeping for several years and kind of want the higher caffeine kick coffee can give you. I’ve found one I actually do like. Copper Cow Coffee is actually very mild tasting without being bitter. I also found that I like my coffee with sweetened condensed milk rather than creamer, which I did not expect. It’s a little pricey, but since I don’t drink more than a cup a day it’s a doable price point.
5. Take the girls for walks. I know it seems simple, but just getting out of the house for a little bit even not being around other people really helped with my mental state during this time. And the girls have started really enjoying going for our walks. In the beginning they pitched a fit every time they saw the stroller come out, but now they are really enjoying getting out of the house even just for a little bit. We let the girls walk on their own now rather than ride in a stroller, and use these backpack leashes instead to keep them from running too far ahead. They love their “tails” as they call them and ask to sleep with them regularly.
As an extra thing regarding health for our family. Matthew has thankfully not gotten Covid from his work during this time though he was exposed twice that we know of. The rest of us have stayed basically healthy. As you can see from the picture Em is now wearing an eye patch to help correct a drifting eye. She has had a check up since starting to wear the patch and the doctor said that it is improving. She will be wearing the patch for another few months until her next appointment to see how much longer she needs to wear it. So far we have avoided surgery and glasses which is a huge plus for us. I don’t want to have to try to get an almost 3 year old to wear glasses consistently when it’s hard to get her to wear shoes. As far as my health stuff goes it has been a whirlwind that will get it’s own post as it is way too much to add here.
Em really loves counting and singing the ABC’s. She surprised the ophthalmologist at her first appointment by being able to identify the letters on the eye chart, which they didn’t expect her to be able to do. She also knows her colors pretty well, though she still consistently gets blue and yellow confused. I have partial shade differential issues and I’m starting to wonder if she may have the same problems. She loves to try new foods though vegetables are still some of her favorites. She loves broccoli, edamame, cucumber, carrots, any fruit, and chicken nuggets.
El loves singing and counting and her verbal skills have really exploded over the last few months. She has her colors down pat and will tell you the color of everything she sees. She also loves wearing dresses because she hates pants. She isn’t as keen on trying new foods, but loves vegetables, chicken nuggets, pasta, fruit, and puffcorn. She also loves chocolate and cuddling to try and avoid doing things she doesn’t want to do.
Are They Twins? 