Quarantine with a Toddler

Toddler with essential oil rollerball and tablet

Day 22 of quarantine with a toddler (and an infant)!

It’s been 22 days since I’ve been working from home with the kids here… and my husband… and the two, 100 pound dogs… one of which is a year old—very much still a puppy– kind of dog.

It’s been 10 days since I’ve left my house (for the baby’s wellness check) … but really, being home doesn’t actually bother me too much as we’re home bodies anyway, it’s everything else…

Dexter my 3 year old who I thought is immune to the situation (not the actual virus) is even starting to notice.

At first I told him we were just on spring break….

The other day while I was rocking him to put him down for a nap, he says to me,

Mommy, we’re having a lot of home time.

He wasn’t upset per se, it was clearly just an observation with a little bit of curiosity, but I thought, dang this kid is smart. I tell him that it will be school time again before he knows it and he’ll be able to see his friends and teachers again soon.

He thrives thrived in school was advanced and I don’t want to lose that, so like many moms who HAVE to homeschool… I feel like I NEED to so he can keep him up with his Pre-k curriculum, so my shining star of a kid doesn’t burn out his light!

And then there’s the tablet. I effing hate the tablet.

I’ve been against it from the beginning of time, but I knew it was inevitable… I thought, let’s use it as a tool to help get him pooping in the potty… he was pee trained… but would NOT poop…. Finally he started pooping sans tablet… VICTORY… I can keep that tablet away from him for just a little longer…. Then the world had to go all crazy… and now I feel like I HAVE to use it to help keep up with some of his education while I sit on work calls almost 90% of my work day. Ahhhh!! And I think this stupid thing is helping him learn (which I love), but I’m convinced it’s also making him a little psycho… I mean sure, he’s already psycho because he’s 3, but the days he’s on his tablet… when he gets off of it, he is like a million times more crazy, like on another level, like he’s a completely different kid.

The best part is that I have the best defense at my fingertips…. I use essential oils for nearly everything…. they are amazing, and I know I’ll be able to find the right combination for my guy’s tablet crazy.

Right now, the quickest thing at my fingertips is a roller with a calming blend pre-made that I bought straight up from my company. I generally make my own blends and put them in rollers, but to be honest, the last 6 months with getting back to work after a baby and being so overworked at my day job… I just went with it!

This blend is magical…

When I see things going off tilt… or starting to go that way, I reach for the roller. If things blow up fast and me and Dexter are going head to head from 0 to 60… when I can take a second to think about it… I grab that thing and swipe Dexter and then swipe the hell out of myself, but God knows we both need it at that moment.

And remember that puppy I mentioned earlier??? Yea, the dumb, extremely large and annoying HUGE puppy…. He even gets a swipe from time to time.

Moral of the story? If you come to my house (when our #healthyathome is no longer mandatory, of course) and throw a tantrum, be prepared to be swiped with oils…The oils are the best thing I have on hand right now to help me (and my family) cope with this new reality that we’re all living.

With everything going on in the world right now, I hope you’re all finding good balance, as that’s all we can strive for.

Balance as a working woman, as a wife, a mother, a teacher, an individual…. It’s a LOT and you’re not alone. Please know that you’re not supposed to be perfect at doing all of this at once, so please don’t make yourself crazy striving for that.

Live balanced, Jennie