SourceTiming
Ain't it funny how things come on your path whenever there's something bothering you? A few days ago, I read an article about what could happen once our total supply of food/water/electricity, etc gets cut off, and something about this maybe happening globally in the next year. It honestly freaked me out!
During the first wave
I was scared at first, and honestly convinced that we needed to be prepared to stay in for weeks and therefore make sure we'd have enough food on the shelves outside of the fridge because our storage space in the fridge and freezer was lousy at the time (before we moved here). It made me worried that we'd run out of food and not be allowed to go to the supermarkets.
In the end, the 14-day lockdown never came, and I have only noticed in the very first weeks that people were stocking up toilet paper and flour for example, but this balanced out much quicker than expected. My fear was caused by reading online and watching these stupid press conferences.
This wasn't going to happen again
I told my boyfriend once we moved here, listen, I don't care what it will cost, but we will buy a small freezer as we only have a small fridge here as well. I would feel much more relaxed and less worried that once the second wave arrives, we have a freezer filled up with veggies and meat. He agreed that it's probably a good idea, also to have less waste from when we cook a bit more than needed. And so arrived our freezer (also just a small one, but it's good enough for us).
I haven't felt the urge to buy that much food, except twice. One time was when the freezer arrived and I wanted to fill it up the next day and the other time was before Christmas, haha. The Christmas stock is still partially available btw.
Not afraid to catch C-19
We all stay home, our daughter too, which is a challenge at times, and hopefully, we can change that within the next month / 6 weeks max. We make sure that when we go together, we wear the stupid mask from the moment we leave the building, not because I agree, but we have to. I hate being cut off from fresh air outside! I have to admit, that often I walk different routes when I go grocery shopping, simply because in some areas masks aren't mandatory and I just cheat by walking via those routes.
I believe both my daughter and I had it during February and many others with us at the time. It was a horrible cough like no others I remember and also a pain in my chest. But at the time, we had no idea it was something other than the regular cold/infection.
Since then we have started to take high doses of vitamin c, vitamin d and plan on adding zink as well. My boyfriend mentions it all the time, but for some reason, it was sold out every time I went there.
I've noticed that taking these high (over)doses of vitamins often helps instantly. Although I often forget to take it several days, as soon as I feel strange/flu-ish/snotty, I take a double dose, and hours later, the next day at the latest, I feel fine again.
The feeling of being scared in supermarkets like I was during the first wave, is long gone, scared slowly faded to being careful and using my common sense. I have to admit that even for someone that doesn't watch the news/mainstream media, I was being hyped into fear too. I felt scared our daughter would catch it after being ill many times already. Nothing happened.
So what would I do feel secure staying at home?
While during the first wave, I started with the food supply, now I have first made sure we have a load of vitamin c lasting for months is my guess. I have to add the others too. Funny thing is, that during the first wave, I hoarded medicins from the pharmacy, afraid they'd run out of paracetamol (lol), these haven't been used more than a few times (which was for toothache even) and I'm not even worried to refill it for us (for our daughter is an exception if this runs out).
I would have a hard time if I'd had to figure out a way to have enough food for all of us for three weeks now if the power was to be cut off. My boyfriend is thriving best on a carnivore diet so it seems, so where I'm leaning more towards vegetarian days, he's having the best results physically and mentally eating carnivore. So how does one do that if the power fails? I know the answer thanks to one of the people I follow: freeze-drying food! But, then again, that's not an option here and now, lack of money to buy such a thing. Maybe in the future, it will be a good idea, not forgetting that option.
I would have to break my head a bit more about how to solve the food issue as I don't really see how that can be resolved right away.
Secure also means having things to do to relieve stress
For example, during the summer I've been buying up a lot of crafting supplies, painting stuff, pencils etc. On top of that, I also have a huge box filled with decoration for cakes and all sorts of coloring and fondant including cookie cutters. I have been using the baking stuff a lot in the previous place we lived in, but here it has calmed down a bit. I went from baking to more crafting, which I believe is a good thing, and much better for our health as well (lol).
With Christmas, we made sure to add some games to our collection (like family games), a game console (cheap oldie just for fun), and our daughter got a huge box of LEGO. I noticed that I also enjoyed building with her, it calmed my brain when doing this.
What I do miss currently is some refills of crafting supplies, the Christmas crafts has made me use a lot, but that's fine, I will just have to refill my crafting closet once I can and know what I need exactly.
Sporting equipment
We discussed the option to buy some boxing gear for all of us so that we can work out in our home as well after me injuring my knee pretty badly by going for runs. We didn't buy them yet, due to the costs, but that's still on my list for the next months.
We found that our landlord had a bag with yoga mats hidden between a pile of new blankets and I decided to make use of these by trying out some yoga (I suck at it) and combine this with some exercises. I think that if we have some options to stay sane and not get glued to our chairs, we will have a better chance of getting through a longer period at home.
Honestly, I hope it's all not needed, but I also won't dismiss the very possible option that it may happen. I do realize writing this, that I have some stuff to sort out and make sure we have a survival pack at home for a possible situation like this.
One important last topic
I can't forget this one: Mental health! I mean, we can talk about groceries and other supplies all day long, let's not forget to take care of our mental health when staying inside longer than we're used to. During the first wave, we had to adjust a lot and there were weeks we needed a break from each other so badly! We managed to get through it without losing it, my mantra was: You've been through much worse, this too shall pass!
And so it did, but here we are, the second wave and new mutations that will probably cause more restrictions soon. This time we have the luck that our apartment is having 2 bedrooms and a big enough living room in between. We can all be in different rooms if needed. Add to that the bathroom and another separate toilet, so we're good to isolate ourselves from the others when we need to. And yes, that happens! I'm not afraid to admit it.
Sometimes I need to put on the headphones, listen to calming meditation music or binaural sounds to find back my zen, or start drawing, and in other situations, I need to write it off. Instead of getting annoyed and angry when the little lady clearly had enough inside time, I try talking and explaining why that is some days. And while we still can, compensate for this with a full afternoon to a park or playground.
Thankfully, she seems to understand, but I do hope in the long term this will not affect her mental state badly, because yes, that's something I do fear, because it's a child's brain and she can not use common sense as we can as adults. Luckily, she's a lot like me, and loves drawing/painting etc, so that's what we do A LOT, with a lot of fun! #craftingformentalhealth :)
Enough for today, thanks for stopping by, and if you want to participate in this week's question, here's the link to the post from @ecotrain. See you next week!