How productive can you be

With 2 1/2 hours without kids?

I can be SO productive.

A couple of weeks ago the kids had their one and only “camp” of the summer. It was entirely outdoors and everyone wore masks the entire time (they also did temp checks every am and so on and so forth). I felt comfortable with it and I am SO glad we ended up doing it because it was one of the best weeks we have had in a long long time. It started at 8 am, which was far earlier than we’ve been getting going, but with > 100 degree temps, I get why they had to squeeze it in first thing in the morning.

Incidentally, Kyle was out of town that week so the solo time was SO VERY necessary. I love my kids, but we haven’t been apart in way too long. We need time apart. For the sake of our relationships and sanity.

Immediately after dropping them off I worked out. This was a welcome change up from the 6 am workouts I usually do. That’s the good news. The bad news was that by the time I finished showering my time was half gone.

Don’t worry. Organization is one of my key strengths. I’m an OCD nurse remember? This is where I excel. I can’t even begin to tell you how much crap I got done. Granted there were things that have been begging for my attention since March…

Most of it wasn’t fun stuff, but some of it was. Like making six jars of nectarine jam. The perk of having our backyard remodel delayed for a few months was that we got one last harvest of nectarines! We gave hundreds away, but saved enough to get us through another year without buying any jam.

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That week of camp is now a distant memory, but it sure was a good one. I think I’m going to have to figure out a safe way to get a break from the kids this coming year. Kyle is sorting out ways to go in late for work a couple of times a week, but it’s hard to plan much of anything yet without knowing anything about their distance learning hours. My anxiety HATES this kind of limbo. To compensate for my lack of control and perceived helplessness, I have done everything in my power to create a sense of preparedness – buying another desk to match the one we already had and setting up one half of the toy room to be where we do school. It’s a false sense of security but it feels like anything is better than nothing at this point. So even if it gives me the tiniest sense of being settled, I WILL TAKE IT. In a world of unknowns, I am grasping at straws. In this case, a room with two desks and organized school supplies is it.