What day is it?!

I am seriously starting to not know what day it is these days. Being a stay at home mom, I was only able to know what day it was based on the scheduled activities we had for my daughter. But, now, with those activities cancelled, I only know it is a week day because my husband is gone at work.

We are all living through the same thing these days with the COVID-19 pandemic but we are not going through it the same way. Some of us are essential and still working like any other day while others have either adjusted to working at home or not working at all. Whatever your situation, it is hard to not compare your experience with those of others. I personally have caught myself comparing my response to everything to those of others.

When the announcement of shelter in place was made for my state -Illinois- I was overwhelmed, unsure, and worried for how this would affect my young daughter and my family. I went and stood in long line at the grocery store to ensure my family had groceries for the next month and then did not step foot into a store for the next 3 weeks. I read almost every news article that came across my phone and tried to stay up to date on everything. It was after we were 2 weeks into our shelter in place that I noticed I was not sleeping well, I was having higher anxiety than normal, and I was questioning a lot of what people where sharing on social media.

I began to adapt my daily routine. I would check the news once in the morning for any major updates that could have changes for my family and then I did not check anything else COVID related the rest of the day unless the Governor was making an update on the shelter in place. I noticed a decrease in my anxiety and I stopped following certain people on social media because they would have me questioning everything.

And it was then that I realized how resilient in our own ways we all have come during all this and that there is no right way to be responding to this aside from following what the CDC recommends. I have given myself credit for realizing I needed to step back from those I unfollowed on social media for my own mental health and I have realized that I am not the only one who struggles to know what day it is these days.