Hey Hey!
What a crazy weekend! That rain kept pushing back our little road trip until we really were gone just a little over twenty-four hours. But we got home around ten p.m. on Sunday night, so we were all exhausted by the time Monday morning rolled around.
I saw this post on Shelly’s blog with 10 Questions marking one year of the pandemic and immediately knew I wanted to remember how life was for us in 2020. If you’re a blogger, feel free to use as well!
1. What was life like in early 2020?
When 2020 hit, life was really good. The Slaughter Family rang in the new year in California at the Rose Bowl. Mix and Match Travel was doing great with many trips booked for 2020. The Manda Strong Gala we’d worked on for a year prior had just happened and we surpassed our fundraising goals by leaps and bounds. And then we were in Hawaii on our Spring Break trip when the world at home completely shut down.
2. What was the biggest change?
We went from Tab working two jobs, me working from home amidst shuttling kids everywhere, and four kids who were all involved in different activities, sports, and extracurricular fun living busy lives to immediately all six of us were at home with very little interaction with others. The shift from our normal lives to everyone at home 24/7 was huge.
3. What were your coping mechanisms?
Hmmm…I was nervous, scared, and not sure what to believe at times. I remember turning off the news as well as social media many, many days. We stayed busy and active by lots of walks, bike rides, Peloton rides, workouts from home, lots of family game nights, more movie nights then I can count, and we played so much baseball in the street we might have broken a windshield. Okay, okay…maybe we did break one windshield. Sigh.
4. What did connection in your relationships look like?
The six of us have never been more connected. My kids are like any other siblings which means they fight and argue, of course. But in the most serious part of the pandemic, when we were not seeing anyone else, they got along so much better. They were all each other had which as a mom was neat to see. I talked to family over the phone and even had a few group FaceTimes. Our Sunday School class met via Zoom every Sunday morning so we were able to stay connected to friends that way. And we had several Zoom “date nights” with friends. We’d set the kids up inside with a movie while Tab and I hung out on the patio with our computer {friends}.
5. What will you remember the most?
Just like a high school break-up, when we look back we tend to not remember all the bad so much as the good…right? Well that’s exactly what I’ll remember from this pandemic. I’ll remember how we had so much family time, how we voted Survivor-style on who had to do the dishes one night and after watching the video I laughed so hard I cried, I’ll remember the day we reenacted the Dude Perfect’s Air Soft Battle Royale in our own backyard-with Nerf guns of course, I’ll remember how our friends and family showed up BIG TIME to celebrate Ebby Lee and Nixon’s birthdays with those amazing drive-by parties, I’ll remember having lunch EVERY SINGLE DAY together, and I’ll remember how even in the scary times there was comfort in knowing we were all together.
6. What was the biggest challenge?
In the beginning, the biggest challenge as a mom was just keeping my family safe. There was so little information in the early days and the lack of information was scary. Another challenge was as the chef of this house, I remember getting to the grocery store and being really nervous about the lack of food. It always worked out and I managed to get creative but in those early days the bare shelves of the grocery store were scary. I’d never experienced days when the shelves were SO EMPTY! Instead of our typical beef and chicken meals, we had lots of fish and seafood. Us Texas residents are apparently always going to the beef and chicken first so it was much easier to find seafood.
7. What was a beautiful memory?
Since we were never leaving the house, one thing I had in much more abundance than I feel like I have in typical life was time. My quiet times were much longer and I’ll always look back on those days with beautiful memories of all my quiet mornings spent in my Bible. Another beautiful memory was in the middle of our stay-at-home-orders Tab got hired into the NFL. It was a call we’d been waiting on for a long time so to get it-even in the middle of a pandemic-was sweet.
8. What do you believe now that you didn’t one year ago?
I would have said that we can do hard things but I’m not exactly sure I’d believe it like I do now. After those pandemic days, I can confidently say that we can do hard things.
9. What would you do differently?
I wouldn’t let myself get worried or stressed about things outside of my control. I’m the worrier of the family. Tab is quick to say, “There’s no need to worry about it”. And he WILL NOT worry!
10. What will you carry forward?
I’ll never take my friends and family for granted. Hugging friends and seeing people face-to-face, well there’s nothing just nothing like it.
What about you? Best memory or something you’ll carry forward from your year?
Thanks for reading today, friends!
XO
