Here we are, 2 years into a pandemic, with many of the same frustrations felt a year ago. This year was somehow even harder than the last. Last year everyone felt a sense of comradery, but now it’s everyone for themselves.
This year I ended my maternity leave with the twins, going back to work and switching jobs early in the new year. Alex was on paternity leave for most of the year and then also switched jobs. We made our lives even harder by deciding not to send the twins to daycare at the end of Alex’s leave because Covid19 was still rampant and the cost of two toddlers in daycare was astronomical. Working from home, flexible working hours and long toddler naps) allowed us to take shifts and still manage – although barely. At the end of the summer, we had had enough so everyone was in daycare full time and we could have a break from the kids during the workday.
We also made considerable progress on our basement renovation over the last year. I finished the first half of our family room, which included built-in cabinets; 99% of our basement bathroom is now done, and the other half of the family room, including a wall feature and custom cabinet for our electronics, is all set up.
Like every Christmas, the latest project – our TV wall – was finished just a few days before Christmas.
We had semi-social plans for Christmas, including a trip to Port Hope and a small family gathering for Christmas. But as luck would have it, all 5 of us got Covid19 on December 24. We had to cancel all of our plans and were house-bound for 10 days.
Since we were house-bound anyways, we decided to potty train the twins. Why not just add to the utter hell of being stuck inside with 3 small children? Our couch was also still several weeks from being delivered, so with a completely empty but clean basement, it made the most sense to do it now.
It was a pretty rough couple of weeks, followed by an extra week of hell when daycares and schools stayed closed to help reduced the spread of Covid19. By the time January came around, we were exhausted, frustrated and completely depleted.
But, we still managed to smile for a couple of Christmas photos to make it all look like a good time. Except for Sam. Sam’s never having a good time.
