Greetings,

Life is certainly interesting in the Cave household during this shelter in place period as a result of COVID-19. Here’s a list of some of the key differences:

• Streaming more content – even picked up a Disney+ subscription along the way and bumped up the network speed
• Doing more laundry (and triplet households do a lot as is)
• We are using a lot more soap. The kids really like to wash their hands. Luckily we dilute it to make it go far. But looking for handsoap when things started to fly off the shelves was an adventure when we were in stock up mode. One trip I ended up going to 5 different places and coming up empty. Got really familiar with Rocklin as a result though!
• Using more water and electricity
• The kids are eating more food – so the grocery bill has exploded as we are buying more food
• Buying more items off of Amazon
• We’re cooking 3 meals a day (plus whatever snacks they require) 7 days a week
• We’re using the dishwasher a lot more – it already required a maintenance visit via the home warranty
• The kids are at each other’s throats more
• With school essentially a wash the rest of the academic year, we go through whatever the teacher e-mails us, but after that it can be challenging to keep them learning and occupied. The Chromebooks we got from the school are essentially paperweights. They require too much intervention by parents and at these kids’ age, they don’t hold their interest for very long
• Believe it or not they go to bed earlier than usual…around 5:30-6:30pm. It’s a product of them playing so hard most of the day and eating earlier
• They are stirring up three times more mischief than when they were in school
• They get injured more, regularly alternating between out front (falling off bikes) or out back or the side of the house

I just completed 5 straight weeks working from home. I have commandeered Michaela’s room as my new home office until this is over.

Emma’s once consistently immaculate room has given way to the force of 3 tornadoes routinely blowing through it to play as a group.

One barbie doll has been beheaded already during this crisis. Not sure how…glad we don’t buy this stuff new!

The chaos spills out into the backyard when it is nice weather out.

Window in the master bedroom is now an art canvas

Breakfast nook window now dons triplet art work (paint)

Other than the chaos in the house and the frequent bouts with cabin fever, they are healthy and happy, which is really all that matters at the end of the day. The stimulus check arrived mid week via direct deposit, so that was a really nice infusion to prop up this massive operation.

I have picked up some hobbies before and after work. I have a passion for foreign languages, so I’m back to building my French vocabulary using DuoLingo in the mornings, and a little German as well. French is much easier for me having lived there in 2001.

I’ve also picked up going for bike rides every day. Now I’m not riding with a pelaton pack of cyclists but I do get out of the house for some exercise so let’s not get carried away!

And in the next week, we’ll probably get the OK to turn on the solar that was recently installed on the roof. That’ll help keep the electricity bill at bay. I’m also getting a 220 electrical outlet installed and bought a Level 2 charger so that I can charge my electric car faster when I’m driving again. 5 straight weeks teleworking has been a blessing in disguise. I had been averaging more than 1000 miles a month when I commuted into work, so not having to drive anywhere far consistently has brought the average mileage down. It’s a leased car with 12,000 annual miles and I was over that, so with another year or so to go I should not exceed the cap when it is time to turn the car in. It’s a nice car, though.

I’m looking forward to all of this craziness being behind us. It has really been an odd time. I do wonder what the new normal will be like for the country, communities, etc., though. Everyone has this look of panic on their faces – everyone is guarded and proceeds with caution like the nearest person to them is sick. It’s ridiculous but kind of to  be expected.

I look forward to seeing isles stocked with Clorox wipes, paper towels, toilet paper and whatever else is producing these regularly seen barren shelves again. I wonder how some businesses will recover, especially businesses that rely on capacity. I wonder how testing will be approached for illnesses of concern moving forward. Will people decide to stop trying to power through being sick if it is getting others sick in the process? Is reliable data/information the new world currency? Things that make you go hmmm….

Cheers,

M.