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Anyone enjoying themselves?


Wulaw Horn

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My 7 year old is. He hates school, loves home school, we knock out his school work in about 10 hours a week and he’s having a ball. 

My 4 year old loves it. She hates when I have to go to work normally and every day now she wakes up and looks at me and says- you don’t have to go to work today- right daddy?  And gets happy when I tell her I’m working from home. 

9 year old is a little bummed she missed her friends and is saving stuff she does around here project wise to give to her teacher when she goes back. I told her I doubted that happened this school year and she teared up a little while the other two celebrated. 

It was very sad to have my parents come over and the kids stand across the yard from then and waive instead of doing hugs and kisses. 

On days I stay off surly and don’t watch TV this thing is actually pretty enjoyable. When it comes to mind by way of what I watch and read the anxiety and sadness come. 

If I wasn’t an idiot I’d do a poll something like:

this enforced isolation/ lockdown is:

a) totally awesome I’ve got a month to Netflix and chill

B) pretty good as long as I don’t read/watch/think about it

C) incredibly irritating and making me rethink all my major life decisions

D) make it stop already before I snap and hurt somebody.  

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I am.  My 11 year old son hates school, but he does miss his friends.  We go fishing and play basketball.  He plays Fortnite with his schoold friends and I stay up, listen to the Grateful Dead, and get drunk.  Lather, rinse, repeat.  It all changes Monday when his school begins online classes, my wife has to try do speech therapy with her students online, and I begin a new job where i have never met any of my co-workers or project team and probably won't for at least a couple more weeks.  So this weekend we are all living it up and having as much fun as possible before the shit hits the fan next week. 

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As a natural introvert, I am. Read about this virus in January, gradually stocked up on stuff, got dentist appointment in, got a refill on contacts, and got a way shorter than normal haircut three weeks ago in anticipation for the exact situation we’re in. Mostly been relaxing through the panic. It’s not hard to be prepared for certain things. 

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I have enjoyed the extra family time very much. I work nights so some more flexibility with the wife’s and kids schedules has led to a lot more time together. There has been a refreshing resurgence of wholesome family time for us with the daily grind halting. Playing in the yard, neighborhood walks, movie time, game nights...it has been pretty great so far. 

Edited by Constant
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I'll tell y'all on Monday if kate Brown will make us stay home, or if I still go through work. Otherwise this weekend has been fun since the girlfriend and don't go out unless to meet a friend at thier place. No old people to worry about in our families since mine are in Texas and hers in Washington. I hope I'm able to work to pay rent this month, but if not, yikes.

 

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My son was supposed to be here for spring break, of course my life timing as per usual, was right on time.  I've been working on my home, getting ready to build the new garden for this year, but so far the weather has been pretty shitty.  I need to finish up my media closet that controls basically all the electronic activity in my entire home and in the process need to climb up in the attic and run a few wires and drill a few holes.  Nothing substantial at all, considering what else I've done up there, except before when I did it (months ago) I didn't have a concern necessarily of "well, don't fuck yourself up or you'll be in line with every sick mother fucker in the city regardless of where you go".

Oh, why you ask did I wait until now to do it?  I wanted my son to be here to gain the experience of working on your own home.  You know, life skills like changing tires and shit....things we learned when we were 10, because Dad showed us how.

Fuck you life timing.

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No.  Even when I’m able to get the anxiety to subside, the 4 year old and 1.5 year old are fucking relentless.  There are positives: no rushing to get the kids ready for daycare,  some quality time with them.  But overall this has been hell.  
 

Now, if I didn’t have kids, I would be LOVING this.  Reduced focus on work, the wife and I home alone for a month?  Bring that shit on.  But alas...

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9 minutes ago, Casual Encounter said:

Are you on Christian Mingle? I can tell you that’s not been my experience. Women that age typically know what they want and don’t waste time one way or the other.

Becareful bro.

Better wrap that up. You don’t want a tingle in your dingle from all that mingle.

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It's spring and I enjoy playing in the dirt so I'm spending time outdoors (covered because skin cancer stinks and I had it). I was planning a trip to the wildflower center and other gardens and I'm a little disappointed since many of those places are closed but I'll get over it. There is always something to do so I immerse myself in indoor and outdoor activities and tasks or come and read what you all have to say.

My children are older and are engaging with their friends online so they are hanging in there. They are all introverts so while the situation is not ideal, it is in their wheelhouse so they have managed to cope w/o complaint. My oldest who is out of the house and living in California has had a slightly more difficult time due to the shelter in place and grocery restrictions. She loves to bake and that is what she would be doing when restricted indoors but no supplies.

I feel the worst for my spouse as he is required to work, it has been an awful allergy season so he already has a cough and can't enjoy the outdoors, and the implementation of getting everything available for remote access has been a nightmare. I did learn that our local library has closed to the public for visitation, but will be offering a drive up service so I am going to see if he'd like me to get some reading materials so he can relax.

All in all, it is what it is and we will get through it, hopefully unscathed.

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WFH is a pretty regular occurrence with my job but our office is closed up until this all blows over. Furloughs have happened but I’m lucky enough to be on a project that is still moving forward and actually expanding.  Thrilled for the job security. 
 

My wife works in an office by herself so she is still going to work. That leaves me to wfh while watching my 5yo. She is very good and knows to give me time when I’m on video calls but there is only so much time she can spend occupying herself. 
 

it’s been nice to do art projects and act goofy with her throughout the day. For fresh air we’ve been able to go fishing at the neighborhood pond. Tough explaining that the playgrounds are all closed but she is a trooper.

Real challenge has been no contact with grandparents. Normally they’d be able to give us a breather to get some stuff done but thems the brakes. 
 

The cabin fever is real and the rainy weather the past two days is pushing me to the brink. 

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Enjoying ?  Some yes and some no.  Took a few hours to do a self walking tour thru the Petersburg, Va. siege  trenches of 1864-1865 with a couple buds, and the dogs yesterday.  Social distancing was practiced at all times.  I think we may have had the entire 10 sq. mile section of park we were in to ourselves.

Thoughts of what if this thing gets worse ?  What if the quarantine lasts months instead of weeks ?  What if work starts drying up ?

What if I need to take a dump out here in the woods, and me with no TP ?  Good thing we had some weed, and sipping bourbon.

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27 minutes ago, hookemATL said:

The cabin fever is real and the rainy weather the past two days is pushing me to the brink

Shit, the rainy weather last week is what kept me sane. Now that the sun is popping out again, and I'm seeing normal, beautiful San Diego days, the reality of our situation is settling in.

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1 minute ago, aggie08 said:

Shit, the rainy weather last week is what kept me sane. Not that the sun is popping out again, and I'm seeing the normal, beautiful San Diego daylight, the reality of our situation is settling in.

Rain ?  In San Diego ?  Shit, you must have really felt the apocalypse was upon us.

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My wife and I are teachers.  We also have two kids - 7 and 13 - at home.  We're cool with teaching at home, and the kids are being pretty good.  In that sense, things aren't bad at all.

Problem is, that I feel for those that are truly being affected whether by health or finances, so I can't truly enjoy things.  I also worry about the long-term effects.

That being said, this would be a lot better if it'd stop effing raining and/or there were sporting events still going on.

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1 minute ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

My wife and I are teachers.  We also have two kids - 7 and 13 - at home.  We're cool with teaching at home, and the kids are being pretty good.  In that sense, things aren't bad at all.

Problem is, that I feel for those that are truly being affected whether by health or finances, so I can't truly enjoy things.  I also worry about the long-term effects.

That being said, this would be a lot better if it'd stop effing raining and/or there were sporting events still going on.

I haven't been able to get the kids/families who live below the poverty line out of my head. Meals at schools are sometimes all they get.  The situation sounds rife for lots of abuse now, and coming down the pike if this thing lingers.

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My cousin's wife is a principal at 4A school in a relatively affluent town.  In addition to school lunches, they have a group of kids who they send home groceries with every Friday so they have food on the weekend.  I feel really bad for the kids like that all over the country.  Remember that if you ever hear about someone bitching about school lunch programs.

Edited by kevwun
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I WFH normally and have a pretty legit garage gym, so M-F were pretty standard fare for me, minus having my 18 month old alone the three days my wife works.

Weekend was good. Filled the days up doing lost procrastinated house work. Got out of the house, swung by Independence for a bomber of their Convict Hill Stout aged in Garrison Brothers barrels, then garage drank with the wife with a movie on the projector.

Butt on the smoker today, a few chores then I'm going to bet on horses this afternoon (TVG.com thank me later).

I did spend a mint on toddler toys to keep him worn out. Slide, bball hoop, trampoline, bubble machine etc. So far we're keeping his energy burnt off, but we'll see how long that lasts. Definitely makes me appreciate that day care sends him home worn out and content every day.

It's all what you make it. Though I realize those with jobs or finances that are in jeopardy have far more stress and may not be able to enjoy anything throughout this. My heart goes out to those peeps.

Also, ask me again in 4 weeks.

 

 

 

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We are doing ok, except for the damned roof rat/squirrel/critter that has moved in to the outside sofit above our breakfast room bay window. That sumbitch starts up with the racket at 8 or 9 in the morning and goes intermittently until sundown. It sounds like he’s moving furniture and/or playing rugby. I use the broom stick to thump on the ceiling in that corner or under the eaves outside. Sometimes his noise stops, sometimes not. Sometimes I feel like ventilating that corner of the house with my .22.

we have a recumbent exercise bike & a treadmill that we use three or four days a week. I like to stream Pachelbel’s Canon in D while riding in place. Very soothing. We have lost 5 pounds each this week, so there is that.

Son will come up tomorrow with his ladders to investigate the critter.. He and the grandsons will have to stay outside of course. That part really sucks, especially for Mrs. Brat. Now she is insisting on going to Costco Tuesday during the “olds” hours to get some frozen veggies and hamburger. I do not think we are in immediate need and disapprove of taking such a risk. We have ample gloves, wipes, tp, etc. and she knows to SD, but I still do not like it.

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I've been on vacation this week, in what has been a very, very busy week for my folks at work. Texts and calls have been at an absolute minimum, with most of them coming from me to cascade info to team.  It is a great feeling to (not) work with capable, caring people.

This last week was supposed to be spent in Missouri with oldest son and his wife. Even though they had to work, we had made plans for hitting watering holes and wine bars for the girls in the surrounding area/ Springfield and possibly one day in St Looey. When we left last Friday, there were zero cases in West Texas and zero in his area. Everyone here lived it and saw the transition, but Monday was a huge day of change and having been through several hurricane situations- I knew shit could change really quickly.  We ended up driving home on Wednesday Wednesday.

That night I was playing my  pinball machine at home upon which I had a high score of 6.5MM for about 2.5 years, and took it up to 8.2 million.  That blew my hair back and was much fun.

Then a cool front hit and the past 2 days have been highs in the upper 40s. but calm winds.  Perfect for me to work outside and pull weeds, treat the lawn, and mow for the first time this season.  I got to talk with our son in Spain for an hour and 45 minutes yesterday afternoon.  He is confined to work station and quarters.  They must stay on (Naval) base. He said if you're out in town, citizens must be going to/from work or have a receipt from grocery store/ gas station or it's about a 350 Euro fine.  he sounded good and this made our day getting to visit with him for so long.

My ice box is full of different beers.  I made homemade red sauce and meatballs yesterday too.  They were great.

I guess, really, I was pretty damned productive yesterday.Maybe I will just sit on my ass today and recuperate...

 

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1 hour ago, Snake Diggity said:

No.  Even when I’m able to get the anxiety to subside, the 4 year old and 1.5 year old are fucking relentless.  There are positives: no rushing to get the kids ready for daycare,  some quality time with them.  But overall this has been hell.  
 

Now, if I didn’t have kids, I would be LOVING this.  Reduced focus on work, the wife and I home alone for a month?  Bring that shit on.  But alas...

That’s exactly how I feel and have posted that here a few times.  My buddies with no/older kids are all grilling, chilling in the backyard with friends 6’ apart and sleeping off the hangover everyday uninterrupted.  My 3/6yo kids get up at 630 everyday (stay in his room until the ok-to-wake clock turns green but can still hear them), 3yo has typical 3yo meltdowns/fights/accidents,  the only time the house is quiet is from 830-930 after they’re in bed but then I’m off to sleep to start the Groundhog Day cycle all over again.  
 

It’ll be ok but especially for someone who needs some alone time, this has been rough.  All this baby boom talk is for people in a different stage of life/parenting. 

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5 hours ago, workswithseed said:

I'll tell y'all on Monday if kate Brown will make us stay home, or if I still go through work

 

 

Whoa, another Surlyian in the same State.  I was WFH before all this, so that won't affect me.  Good luck to you.

To the original question, overall my mental state hasn't let me 'enjoy' things.  That said, I am trying to relish the time I get with the kids and wife.  Weather here has been beautiful.  I got a longboard on Friday, and we took it and son's skateboard, and daughter's heelies (sp?) out to an empty parking lot and just had a blast together.  Son said "we should do this more often."   It was such a good day for us all, outside, together.  We saw plenty of other folks riding bikes nearby or walking their dogs, and even other skateboarders.   All kept safe distances, thank goodness as sadly when out driving you can spot lots of folks not taking this seriously at all, still.

Work has slammed me and the virus news is mentally taxing, and the whole I'm scheduled to close on a house in May thing.  But good days outside,  and trying to learn a new hobby are what keep me in a more positive mental place. 

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9 hours ago, Hate said:

I am.  My 11 year old son hates school, but he does miss his friends.  We go fishing and play basketball.  He plays Fortnite with his schoold friends and I stay up, listen to the Grateful Dead, and get drunk.  Lather, rinse, repeat.  It all changes Monday when his school begins online classes, my wife has to try do speech therapy with her students online, and I begin a new job where i have never met any of my co-workers or project team and probably won't for at least a couple more weeks.  So this weekend we are all living it up and having as much fun as possible before the shit hits the fan next week. 

My DIL is a speech language pathologist, too. She left her hospital job and took one with a school district after she got pregnant. She’s on maternity leave, but she’s really curious how the online speech therapy will go. 

She recently had a boy in therapy whose mother claimed he did well when he used Siri because he had to concentrate on his annunciation. She decided to let him demonstrate just to see how that worked. She had him repeat something that incorporated one of his speech impediments, and Siri thought he wanted to talk dirty.

End of experiment. 

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31 minutes ago, Armybrat said:

We are doing ok, except for the damned roof rat/squirrel/critter that has moved in to the outside sofit above our breakfast room bay window. That sumbitch starts up with the racket at 8 or 9 in the morning and goes intermittently until sundown. It sounds like he’s moving furniture and/or playing rugby. I use the broom stick to thump on the ceiling in that corner or under the eaves outside. Sometimes his noise stops, sometimes not. Sometimes I feel like ventilating that corner of the house with my .22.

I’ve had the exact same situation in my house for the past several months.

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3 hours ago, SwanderedTalent said:

I seek out news sources that flatter me as a truth-seeker, confirm my worst fears, and lay the blame on people I already distrust and dislike. So, even though I'm descending into borderline sociopathology where anyone who doesn't tell me what I already think seems like a non-person, I get a real rush out of feeling like there are "sides" to this thing and my side is rational and blameless. 

It's a nifty bit of faux self-actualization, pointing fingers at other passengers on a sinking boat. I love it, if we get through this I hope something even worse happens (to other people).

Out of rep. This cracked me up. Yes, lots of people seem to be acting this way. I think if shit actually hits the fan it will be interesting to see if that kind of opinion goes away or not. 

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Nothing has changed for me, really. I haven't missed work yet and don't plan on it, as my job never bothered to move into the 21st century and prepare for remote working. My wife is working from home next week, my kids are seniors in HS and are out of school until at least April 6th. The only change for me is the grocery stores are picked over and we didn't have any fun stuff to do this weekend because just about every retail establishment is closed.

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2 hours ago, Snake Diggity said:

No.  Even when I’m able to get the anxiety to subside, the 4 year old and 1.5 year old are fucking relentless.  There are positives: no rushing to get the kids ready for daycare,  some quality time with them.  But overall this has been hell.  
 

Now, if I didn’t have kids, I would be LOVING this.  Reduced focus on work, the wife and I home alone for a month?  Bring that shit on.  But alas...

Hang in there brother. The 4 YO can be a bit of a pain in the ass but the 7 and 9 year old are mostly fun and can misty wipe their own ass 

You are in the absolute worst of it and probably will be for another 2 or 2.5 years. That sounds like a long time but it isn’t. In a couple years the clouds are going to let the sun will come out and it will be like angels singing. Seriously someone would have to put a gun to my head to send me back to the time when I had a 4 year old and 1.5 YO. It’s awful. 

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49 minutes ago, Iceman said:

This last week was supposed to be spent in Missouri with oldest son and his wife. Even though they had to work, we had made plans for hitting watering holes and wine bars for the girls in the surrounding area/ Springfield and possibly one day in St Looey.

I'm not a Branson (also in Mizzou) kind of gal, but Wilson's Creek National Battlefield was memorable. Hard to imagine something now so green and picturesque was the site of such tragedy. Pretty state.

44 minutes ago, Homercles said:

the only time the house is quiet is from 830-930 after they’re in bed but then I’m off to sleep to start the Groundhog Day cycle all over again.  
 

Parents of youngsters do have it rough, but hang in there. It can make a relationship stronger as you press on each hour and each day.

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I feel like I’m on an adult spring break.  Haven’t changed out of panamas in 4 days.  Been drinking margaritas and eating edibles every day.  Crushing call of duty and and binge watching series.  Been whipping up some delicious meals gaining weight by the day.  After working 6 days a week the last 5 years, I was getting burned out in my career.  I’m taking advantage of this quarantine.

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20 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

Hang in there brother. The 4 YO can be a bit of a pain in the ass but the 7 and 9 year old are mostly fun and can misty wipe their own ass 

You are in the absolute worst of it and probably will be for another 2 or 2.5 years. That sounds like a long time but it isn’t. In a couple years the clouds are going to let the sun will come out and it will be like angels singing. Seriously someone would have to put a gun to my head to send me back to the time when I had a 4 year old and 1.5 YO. It’s awful. 

I’m going to miss 3...just like I miss 18mo...my daughter can be adorably cute, still wants random hugs/kisses, still carries around her lovey ‘mimi’ and talks to it like a real friend, will watch Peppa with me, has an alternate persona ‘juju’ when she wants to be held, and overall is still a cross between toddler/little girl.    
 

It’s being in the house, with little to do, with these ages that’s the challenge.  At those ages there’s frequent meltdowns, potty accidents, whining, supervision, chastising to clean up messes, etc.  

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11 minutes ago, Homercles said:

It’s being in the house, with little to do, with these ages that’s the challenge.  At those ages there’s frequent meltdowns, potty accidents, whining, supervision, chastising to clean up messes, etc.  

Or when you have more than one child, the diabolical tag teaming and diversionary tactics. Those take something out of you at the end of the day. But then, after bathtime when they are fed, clean, and smelling of sweetness they fall asleep while you are reading Hank the Cowdog or Cars, and Trucks, and Things That Go and you forgive them everything.

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I’ve enjoyed this week. My kids were on spring break last week and I was not able to take time off because we are in the middle of an audit. My company started a mandated work from home this week and since the kids were out of school I told my ex I would keep them this past week. It’s been nice having them here. This week may be a little different since it’ll just be me and my dog.

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No.  Even when I’m able to get the anxiety to subside, the 4 year old and 1.5 year old are fucking relentless.  There are positives: no rushing to get the kids ready for daycare,  some quality time with them.  But overall this has been hell.  

 

Now, if I didn’t have kids, I would be LOVING this.  Reduced focus on work, the wife and I home alone for a month?  Bring that shit on.  But alas...

You’re not alone. Same situation here. We’ll get through this together.

 

 

I try to mentally help myself that the day is broken into 2 4-5 hour sections with a nap in the middle for the 1.5 yr old. Get through both of those and it’s bed time

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7 hours ago, MissingInAction said:

Dont try to date a 45 year old woman online. They take reality a bit tougher than you'd expect 

For real. Met a 42 year old nurse and she wouldn’t let me kiss her last night. 
 

im having a blast. Finding new things to be a degenerate gambler on. Playing golf like a mother fucker. Have my food and armory prepped. Spending a fuckload of money on new toys and on top of it all getting a shitload of work done. I’m one of 2 people going into the office but we are steering the company the direction we want with no bitching from others. It’s been a great week and a half. As long as we don’t go on full lockdown then I’m loving it. 

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My 4 YO plays here comes the spider his name is MR pickles and runs her dingers over my arm and neck.  It’s pure joy for me- like all is right in the world and nothing can ever be bad. The game ends with me tickling her and her laughing. We now do this 10 times a day, seemingly, instead of once a week. 

Ive instituted movie night now with my kids. We fall asleep in the study watching late night movies (9-11- their normal bedtime is 8:30 for the big two). I watched PS I love you with my daughter and we both cried and cuddled, the boy and I watched infinity wars- that blew his mind. 

It really has been amazing and wonderful for our family. It’s a slow down button that we’ve pushed that gets us off the treadmill and enjoying each other in a way that getting up at 6:00 am to get ready for school and swim, scouts and church doesn’t allow for. 

When I think about the old and sick people that will die I’m very sad. When I think about the scared, poor and marginal people that don’t know where their next meal is coming from my heart breaks. When I think about losing trillions of dollars in economic activity I get pretty frightened. But, when you are shut in you have the choice on what you consume- and if you don’t watch/listen you can put it out of your mind 

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20 minutes ago, DallasHorn26 said:

I’ve enjoyed this week. My kids were on spring break last week and I was not able to take time off because we are in the middle of an audit. My company started a mandated work from home this week and since the kids were out of school I told my ex I would keep them this past week. It’s been nice having them here. This week may be a little different since it’ll just be me and my dog.

Not discounting how rough a divorce is on all involved (for ultimate good or ill) but that sounds like it’s as good as it can be given circumstances.  I love trying to teach my boy Mario or having tea time with my daughter, but then having a week to myself would be amazing.  I fully acknowledge though that it’s gotta be heart wrenching trading them off after a week together, I’m just suffering from family overload.
 

I tend to WFH a couple days each week because I need that solitude and have been a whiny bitch here sometimes because alone time was taken away with a very ambiguous timeline for it to return.  

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57 minutes ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

I'm not a Branson (also in Mizzou) kind of gal, but Wilson's Creek National Battlefield was memorable. Hard to imagine something now so green and picturesque was the site of such tragedy. Pretty state.

Parents of youngsters do have it rough, but hang in there. It can make a relationship stronger as you press on each hour and each day.

My GG grandfather (Nodaway County, Mo.)fought at Wilson’s Creek (Union)I still have his leather dispatch pouch.

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