Hello, Everyone!
I am SO EXCITED to announce that I have teamed up with a bunch of other mamas across the United States and BEYOND to bring you the Motherhood in Quarantine Series.
The Motherhood in Quarantine Series is a set of blog posts by different mamas in different place and different walks of life, discussing their experiences with quarantine, mommying, and trying to get by during these “uncertain times”. I know some personally and some I have met through social media. They all work different jobs, live in different places, and have different experiences about how this time of quarantine has impacted their lives, their childrens’ lives and their families’ lives.
I will be posting a new first-hand account of quarantine through these mamas’ eyes every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, so please make sure to subscribe on the bottom of this page for email notifications so you don’t miss one!
So without further ado, the first post in the Motherhood in Quarantine series will come from… me!
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You all know me as Kayla Tucker. I am 28, and will be married for 3 years in June of this year to my wonderful husband, Chase. We have one daughter named Kennedy Ann, and she will be two years old in September. We currently live in San Diego, CA, with my parents, as we try to save money for a down payment for a house!
LIVING SITUATION
Currently, we are living in a house of 8 people in the suburbs of San Diego, CA. We are outside “downtown” so the population isn’t as dense, but we are still surrounded by neighbors on all sides. And, yes, you read that correctly, EIGHT! My mom, dad, sister, two brothers, husband, daughter and I are all living under one roof during this quarantine, with two dogs and 1 cat, and it has had its own set of challenges. When the quarantine started, we already had 7 of us living under one roof, but my brother Austin, who works in Los Angeles, decided that it would be a safer option to come back to San Diego, and stay with us, too. 8 people living in 2400 square feet and not really ever leaving can definitely take it’s toll, but we have been able to cope pretty well being around each other for this long.
The thing we struggle with most is SPACE. We were already pressed for space before quarantine, but now that we are all, mostly, working from home, there is no space for all of the computers, monitors and things that we need to operate our work schedules from home. I have taken over the island counter top, my brother has taken over half of the dining room table, with Chase in our room at the desk and my mom taking up the other half of the dining room table. We are trying hard to make it work the best we can, but we definitely struggle with stuff being EVERYWHERE!
GETTING OUT
Kennedy and I try to get out once a day to go on a walk in the neighborhood. I look forward to listening to my podcasts, getting some fresh and being out of the house! It feels like we aren’t in quarantine anymore, and I kind of forget that it exists. We don’t run into too many people out on our walk. More people lately, but at the beginning, there was NO ONE out. I ran into a couple people a day, before. Now I see a steady stream of people walking with their dogs, running, and enjoying the sunshine. It’s been A LOT hotter lately than when quarantine started, which makes it even more difficult to stay inside and in quarantine! Living in a house with no air conditioner, as a lot of San Diego houses were built, makes it really hard to stay cooped up in the hot house!
WORK DURING QUARANTINE
Chase is considered an essential worker. His job as a District Manager of Sales in the alcohol industry requires that he work his job normally, but do as much of the “administrative” work from our home as possible. Before, while doing his administrative tasks, he would’ve planted himself in a Starbucks or Better Buzz near his team so he could help them at a moments notice, but now, he’s working on the computer at home as well. 4 out of the 8 of us are working from home, full-time, and that’s pretty difficult to do when Kennedy is having an off day, or deciding that she wants to scream all morning for fun!
I am a school counselor, so I am working from home full time as well. I am trying to balance video conferencing with students, scheduling, and full time work, while also taking care of Kennedy. It is very challenging but despite that, I feel like the only positive of this quarantine situation is all the extra time I have been able to spend with Kennedy while working from home. It’s difficult to do, and, while taking care of my screaming, hyperactive, 1.5 year old, and trying to schedule parent meets can be strenuous, I am SO THANKFUL for this extra time with her. She is growing up so fast, and it’s nice to be able to be here with her to experience all of it. If there is one good thing that comes out of this quarantine, it’s that!
CHANGE IN KENNEDY’S SCHEDULE
Before the BIG C, Kennedy was going to a babysitter two to four times a week. This was a blessing for us because she was close to my work and very flexible. This allowed us to bring Kennedy when we needed. Unfortunately, our babysitter is going back to work after this summer, so we will need to find another arrangement by the fall when I go back to work. Typically on a regular weekday, I would wake up around 5 A.M., get her bag packed and lunch made, I would get ready for work, and then I would wake her up, get her dressed and we would leave.
Now, we roll out of bed around 7:30, I check some emails while she eats breakfast, and we kinda plan the day from there. If I have meetings, someone will watch Kennedy for me while I do them, then it’s back to mama and baby. We spend a lot of time outside, playing with her new water table, chalk, going on walks with the dog, and more. Life is good! It makes me really consider how hard it’s gonna be when life goes back to normal!
LIFE IN SAN DIEGO DURING QUARANTINE
San Diego has some of the strictest quarantine rules in all of the country. Though the beaches have just opened for surfing and swimming, all malls, department stores, gyms and recreation centers are closed. You are not allowed to be out in public without a mask, unless you are exercising in your neighborhood. If you come within 6 ft of someone you are supposed to have a mask on. This makes walking around our neighborhood a little more difficult, but I just try to cross streets whenever I can, because wearing a mask is the worst.
Going out to the grocery store is interesting. There is pretty much no pasta on the shelves at any time. The only pasta that’s there is the chickpea pasta or the whole wheat pasta, which is just fine, but not a husband pleaser. We aren’t having a hard time finding meat, but I hear in other parts of the country, they are! Workers have stopped going to plants because they are scared of the virus and don’t want to go to work on the off chance that someone there has been exposed. All Starbucks locations are closed unless they have a drive through or are located inside a Vons or Albertsons. Even most of those locations are closed, but the Vons by my house still has an operational Starbucks inside of it!
BEST SHOWS TO BINGE WATCH RIGHT NOW
The best shows on Netflix and Hulu to binge right now are Tiger King on Netflix, and Schitt’s Creek on Hulu. The Tiger King documentary is absolute insanity. Carole Baskin definitely killed her husband, stole his money and made her tiger “sanctuary” with it. And who knows if Joe Exotic was set up! Only time will tell. Schitt’s Creek is a classic, and I recommend to anyone and everyone. It’s funny, witty, and a mirror to high society women to are entitled and can’t come down to earth. It’s a great watch.
GETTING THROUGH
The thing getting me through this quarantine is the hope that all things will return to “normal” again soon. Whatever the new definition of normal will be. I just got word that Souplantation is closing, so that’s terrible. We would go there every time my Grandma from Missouri would visit us, so that hits a little close. I know so many people are struggling and we are so lucky to have our jobs and income still. I just am holding on to hope that everything will turn around here real soon. And that we WON’T have to do this again come fall. Also, Disneyland, I am really looking forward to that too.
ADVICE FOR MY FELLOW MAMAS OUT THERE
The only advice that I can give is breathe. Breathe through the hard times, the bad times, and the awful times. Kennedy is experiencing her terrible twos a little early and pushing every boundary she’s ever been given. It makes it hard at times. She’ll slap me in the face or scream when she doesn’t get her way, and I often find it hard to refrain from yelling at her. I try to stop and breathe and understand she’s just learning. We are all just learning right now, and we need to take it one step at a time!
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Thank you so much for reading what my experience in quarantine has been like! The next post in this series will come from my friend Jenna who lives in Baltimore, Maryland!
Make sure subscribe your email at the bottom of this page so that was you are notified every time a new Motherhood in Quarantine post goes live!
That’s all for now!
Kayla
