Thank you for your replies......I know we aren’t the only ones struggling right now, and I am hopeful that the vaccine continuing to roll out will eventually let us return to a normal life. February is always hard, and just feels so much worse this year after such a long year. We should start having a little better weather in the next month or so, and will try to set up some more outdoor things. We did let dd return to her dance class in the fall, masked and distanced, which helped her a lot.....but due to increasing cases, the dance studio returned to virtual classes in January. She ‘attends’ online, but can’t see the other students. She was also really involved in youth group, but our church dissolved last summer (this is actually a good thing after seeing some really unhealthy behaviors going on there, even pre-pandemic), so we’ve been virtually attending a new church but don’t know anyone there yet, since it hasn’t been in person. They just very recently returned to some in person services at a very limited capacity, masks required, no congregational singing, etc. We will need to decide if we think we should try going in person, since they are being very careful and following the public health guidelines. It’s so tiring to be constantly having to weigh whether or not daily normal activities are worth the risk.....overall we aren’t in an anti-mask area, but our group of previous church and homeschool friends/acquaintances are pretty much all anti-mask, Covid conspiracy/hoax type of people, which really did surprise me. Thanks again for the responses.....we’ll all get through this......at least we have some sunshine today, which we haven’t seen for quite awhile.🙂

It may very well be a more boy-centric thing....my sister says my nephew is staying way more connected to his friends online than my niece is......I don’t know that there is a solution except keep hoping the vaccine keeps on rolling out.

This is probably mostly just a vent and sadness for dd(16). Dh and I are higher risk for Covid and have been very careful along with our dc. We’ve allowed dd to have outdoor distanced and masked visits with a couple friends. This wasn’t too bad over the summer but with the cold, wet weather these visits have become fewer and further between. They text and FaceTime sometimes, but this also seems to be less and less. Unfortunately, her friends and their families, in typical Christian homeschooler fashion (yes, I’m bitter), are not being careful at all and just living their best lives.....as if we aren’t in a pandemic. So, dd sees their posts on social media of them doing things together, and she’s just drifting away from all her friends as they continue to live their lives and she “sits alone in her room forgotten”. I don’t know how to make this any easier for her and hate seeing her getting sadder and lonelier. She has her brother, ds(18), and they go for walks daily, go pick up coffees or takeout, but she really believes she’ll have no friends left when things get back to some kind of normal. How are other teens surviving if actually following public health guidelines? I think it would be better for if her friends and their families actually cared about the pandemic, but they don’t. Ds’s friend group is completely opposite, and their families are probably even more careful than we are. He has a thriving online/Zoom/FaceTime social life going and visits outside with 2 friends a couple times per week masked and distanced regardless of the weather.

I’m glad to hear your treatment is going well, and I do hope your coworkers will be respectful of your boundaries. From what you’ve said, though, I don’t think it’s likely that they will. Possibly looking for a part-time job somewhere else would be healthier for you.....I’ve worked at many jobs over my lifetime, and can’t think of anytime a coworker would have fixed me a plate of food and been offended if I didn’t eat it. In my experience, that is not typical workplace behavior.

So much the bolded above!! I am so over that attitude. Our church is truly being cautious and carefully following health guidelines, and I am so thankful for that, but they are one of the few local churches doing so.

You are doing the right thing, and I’m sorry you’re having to deal with it. I cannot express how frustrated and disappointed I am in many churches, Christians, and homeschoolers. Their behavior concerning the pandemic is despicable and very far from how I believe God wants us to love each other. What I have seen is anything but loving or caring for others. Thankfully our own church is carefully following public health guidelines, and I’m looking forward to being able to return in person once vaccinated. I’m also thankful my youngest will start dual enrollment at the community college in the fall, so I never have to be involved in a homeschool group ever again.

I’ve had the same with dd(16). I think we’ll all feel better once we’re vaccinated. But it will take some time to reintegrate into ‘normal’ life after being pretty locked down the last year.

This.

You are not a failure. Having a healthy mom is much more important than being homeschooled. Making the best choice for you and your family is never a failure. I’m sorry to hear the struggles you’ve been dealing with and hope you start feeling better soon!

nm

My MIL got her first vaccine today....no side effects so far. I’m so glad because she’s been so scared of getting Covid and pretty much isolated in her house since March.....it’s a first step of her getting a normal life back in a couple months.

Another vote for Built bars. They really taste good for a protein bar. I just had one of the Built Puffs vanilla marshmallow bar.....it was really good! Kind of like a Charleston Chew or one of those marshmallow covered chocolate rabbits out at Easter.

I’ve been using the Neutrogena Hydro Boost hand lotion. It absorbs quickly and has a very light scent.

We have a milkman, too.......and his name is Brent....hmmmm......

I don’t have the article link but got this quote by an immunologist from a friend and found it encouraging. I’m a little nervous about the vaccine but really will be happy to have my turn to get it. “Theoretically, a vaccine should stop both the infection as well as the transmission and spread,” said Dr. Purvi Parikh, an immunologist with the nonprofit Allergy & Asthma Network and a co-investigator on the Pfizer vaccine trials. But we don’t know yet if that is true of the COVID-19 vaccines, she told me. That’s because the focus of the clinical trials was narrow. It had to be because of the time constraints. Scientists wanted to know whether these things prevented illness. They wanted to know whether the drugs were safe. And they got those answers. But getting those questions answered fast came at the expense of answering other questions — like whether vaccinated people can still spread the virus. “With a lot of other vaccines, you have years of data to analyze that,” Parikh said. So, experts are being careful — balancing their excitement and relief with caution that you can’t just switch off 2020 Mode and return to a normal state of being. They need a little more time to know for sure. “If you have a vaccine that’s 95 percent effective at reducing symptoms, there is no universe in which it wouldn’t also reduce the likelihood of transmission. It’s just not possible,” she said. “So we’re not talking about whether it reduces transmission or not, we just want to get an extent as to how much.”

My dc are close in age and good friends. I’m glad for their relationship with each other, especially since my relationship with my own sister has always been strained.

I can empathize, and some people are just awful. I’ve worked in customer service jobs for many years, and some days can be so discouraging and soul-crushing. Thank you for all you do!

I agree......it seems like there are pieces of the story missing, and I don’t think it can all necessarily be blamed on the person in the costume.

Yes, much to my son’s dismay 😂.....we look very much alike, and people comment on it frequently. Though I’m glad he got his dad’s personality......I’m very quiet and reserved. He’s extremely outgoing and friendly.

That’s so true! 😂I definitely feel like an oddball these days......a conservative, Christian, homeschooler, pro-vaccine, pro-science, pro-mask and social distancing......after seeing such bad behavior and conspiracy bs from so many ‘friends’ and acquaintances, we’re going to have to start over making new friends when this is over.....though it’s cleared up why we never really fit in.....

No, I don’t think that is necessary. Unless the sheets are soiled in some way, I wouldn’t be worrying about changing them daily. Hope you dh starts feeling better soon!

Love her workouts! So fun and a lot of variety of music.

I love Gina Buber’s Up to the Beat videos.....fun music and a lot of variety free on YouTube. She also has some workouts on Prime Video. https://youtube.com/c/UptotheBEatFit

Very easy and free. Many drive-up/walk-up locations, symptoms or not. Blue state.