One Year in COVID Lockdown With Kids

Laura

Hi, welcome to Big Fat Positive with Shanna and Laura. On this very special bonus episode, Shanna and I reflect on our one-year anniversary of the COVID lockdown, and we have some BFPs to share with y'all. Let's get to it. Hey, Shanna. Hi. So guess what? What? It's been a year. a whole year since we did our first coronavirus special bonus episode.

Shanna

Wow. And you know, I was looking back at that episode and we recorded on March, I think 13th, and that was the first day of my family's lockdown. Like, I don't know why we were like, let's do this on the very first day of this craziness, but we did. So, yeah, we've been recording this from the beginning.

Laura

The very beginning. We really have. And yeah, so we wanted to do a special bonus episode because, you know, I think originally we were trying to keep anything coronavirus related in the bonus episodes and never mention it in the main show, right? We were so naive. Yes. It's been impossible to do do that obviously because it's affected every aspect of our lives. But it's time to check back in to really have a dedicated time to think about the last year. And so I want to hear from you, has this brought anything up? What do you want to talk about in our year anniversary special?

Shanna

Well, first of all, listeners know that we are in the Los Angeles area and our county, our city has been in what we call the purple tier, which is like the highest risk level since I think the lockdown started. So I know a lot of cities and towns are more open and kids have been going to school and all that kind of stuff, but we've really been pretty strict for the last year. Elle's preschool shut down a year ago and has not opened at all. And the public schools here are still closed. Yeah. So there's just not been a lot of freedom. And my family, we've been quarantining with Steve's mom, who's an older woman. So we've been extra careful. But the good news is she's fully vaccinated now. So yay.

Laura

What did she get, the Pfizer or the Moderna? She got the Pfizer. Okay. That's what my mom got, too. My mom and I said that. Oh, good.

Shanna

Okay. And my mom got her first shot, also Pfizer. And so I'm very excited for her to get fully vaccinated so I could see her again. Yes. It's been so long. At this point, we've just really been living this monotony. Steve and I still work at home, and the girls are still home all the time. And what I've started thinking about lately, Laura, with the vaccinations coming out and the idea that things are going to be opening up at some point again in the future, I'm actually getting really anxious about that. And about the change that's gonna come because when things open back up our life is gonna be pretty different than it was when it when it locked down L is gonna be starting kindergarten in a few months a totally different school a new routine CECE I'm gonna try to get her in preschool so that's gonna be completely different we haven't had to get kids into car seats.

Laura

I want to say like easy doesn't strike me as the right word as much as like simple, maybe.

Shanna

Simple, yeah.

Laura

Because easy is not a phrase I would use to describe the last year, but I totally agree with you that.

Shanna

Well, I wasn't using it to describe the entire last year, but I think like the routine element of our lives has been easy. Agreed. I like your word simple. Yeah, I think that's a good word to describe it.

Laura

Things have been very, very simplified because when there's nowhere to go, nothing to do. It makes life with a toddler a lot easier. I don't know. I mean, like you said, simpler because

Shanna

Yeah. But at the same time, I'm looking forward to having more opportunities to do things with the family. I'm already mentally planning a vacation, family vacation for the summer. Joe Biden was like, the nation should be vaccinated by about May. I was like, perfect, we're going on vacation in July. What can I do? I've got so many ideas and I just need to figure it out. And I'm so desperate to get out of this house. I bet. Oh my god, I cannot wait to go somewhere.

Laura

because you guys have been extra cautious. Like, there's obviously this whole gradient of what, you know, how people have been behaving during this crisis. And you guys are definitely on the, like, more conservative side of staying in, quarantining, not doing stuff. I feel like Corey and I have been, you know, a little bit towards the less... I mean, we're even super, super cautious, but like, compared to you, you know, we went to that We drove to Santa Barbara once. I was like, whoa, we rented near B&B once. But comparatively, that is very different from what you've been experiencing.

Shanna

One of my ideas is to go up to our family cabin in Sea Ranch. It's in Northern California. I was like, oh, we work from home. So we could theoretically go up there for like a month and just like be by the ocean and work, you know, from home. And there's like pools there in the community and all this stuff. And Steve's like, won't we be bored up there for a month? I'm like, we've been locked in the same house here doing even less. Like there's no beach to go to, no pools to go to. What's the difference? I know, I know. I was like, I think you're just trying to talk, talk us out of this. Just bring the bounce house.

Laura

It does sound fun to like put on a dress. Yeah. It almost sounds fun to like put on heels. That's how bad it is. Yeah.

Shanna

Oh man, that would be so fun.

Laura

Like going and having a cocktail somewhere. Wow.

Shanna

That sounds so great. Yeah.

Laura

But anyway, we're getting ahead of ourselves.

Shanna

We are. I mean, obviously, the point is I'm really looking towards the future. And right now, looking towards when things are going to open the excitement about it, the anxiety about it. And because otherwise, really, all I have to report is that things are mostly the same, you know. And we've eased into the monotony and we're safe and we're doing fine.

Laura

That's good. Doing fine and being safe is that's the whole point, right? Exactly.

Shanna

That's the whole point. Yeah, so that's me. Why don't we take a break and come back with your check-in?

Laura

Okay, sounds good.

Shanna

We're back. And Laura, I want to hear your check-in for this last year of COVID lockdown.

Laura

Ooh, all right, here we go. Yeah, well, this year has been wild for a couple reasons because what you didn't know or what you knew but no one else listening knew is that when we were recording that bonus episode, Corey and I had just started trying to conceive. And we abruptly slammed on the brakes when everything started getting shut down. So the entire span of this coronavirus crisis has been taken up by first trying to conceive, then stopping, then starting again, and then being pregnant and now having a baby. Yeah, that's a lot to happen in one year despite the lockdown. Yeah. I mean, obviously that, you know, it's usually how it happens. Usually you have a baby within nine months of conception within the year.

Shanna

That's good. Yeah, that's peace of mind for sure.

Laura

Yeah. So right now I'm sort of just in the hanging out phase. I have to say, though, that my big crisis right now is that I don't know what to do about childcare because we need it. Right now my mom's here. My mom's here till the end of March. But once she's gone, we're going to be screwed because Corey is starting to get busier with work. Like he has some things that are in the mix and he has to be working. He has to be in the office writing more. And now we have two kids. And in my mind, when we were trying to conceive, I thought things would be kind of better by now and that we could maybe put my toddler into preschool or daycare. And now I'm just not sure, like part of me is thinking we should wait till we get the vaccine at the very least. And so I'm just kind of undecided. So right now I have feelers out.

Shanna

Well, as time goes on, it'll become more clear what's safe and what isn't with people getting vaccinated more. And one thing we mentioned on the episode a year ago is the good thing about this is that it doesn't seem to be affecting children. And that is still true, luckily. And that's something that can give a little peace of mind. If you decide to send your guy to preschool or daycare or something like that.

Laura

Yeah. And you know, I have to say that getting sick isn't the, like that's a concern with going to preschool or daycare. But I'm also just kind of concerned that he's going to have a really big problem with it because he's been with us nonstop for this last year. And because we just had the new baby, I don't want him to feel like I'm shipping him off, you know?

Shanna

Yeah. He might want to wait a little while on that.

Laura

Yeah, exactly. So that's why I was thinking bringing someone in would be good. I don't even know. But yeah, so we'll talk about that on the show for sure. But other than that, you know, we're like, we're hunkered down and it's kind of nice. And I am just desperate to get that vaccine. I know. So excited to get it. I'm so excited. I have lots of friends who've gotten it. And I'm just like so happy for them slash jealous of it.

Shanna

I know, I know.

Laura

Did you hear our friend Steven got the first vaccine? No. Oh, good. Yes. So the first of our little really core friend group has gotten it. So hopefully we can all start getting it. And then once we all have it, we can see each other again. backyard barbecues still backyard barbecues we can totally do that if we're all vaccinated come on i think so yes i think so too yeah okay but anyway that's my hope too i just i just keep fantasizing about how we can all get together i know

Shanna

No, it's gonna be so fun. I told Steve in my musings about what to do for vacation this summer. I was like, Steve, what if our friend group rented a house somewhere and just went for a few nights. We were all together and our kids were all together and we got a place with a pool or something, just something fun. And he was like, oh my God, that's my dream. So, putting it out there.

Laura

That is now my new dream. I didn't even dare to dream that, Shanna. But now I'm just like, how can we make this happen? I think we can make it happen. It will be awesome when it does happen. Oh, my God. I think the first time we all hang out, I'm probably just going to be crying the whole time.

Shanna

I know. Oh, my gosh.

Laura

And all the kids are going to be like, what's happening? I felt the grownups bawling.

Shanna

It's going to be so weird for them. Whatever this last year is weird for them anyway.

Laura

That's true. But anyway, yeah, so we're hanging in there. Oh, I wanted to give a little update. So on the first COVID episode, I was talking about how I was like, I was a little smug about how two weeks before everyone else, I went to Costco and like got a bunch of supplies and stuff. But I wanted to give an update because there are some things that I still haven't used from that trip. Oh my god. Yeah, like what? The corned beef in cans that I bought, that's still in there. Although that's more of like an emergency earthquake preparedness thing, so it's okay. Yeah, like I have like canned chicken and canned corned beef that I haven't touched. Something I wish I had gotten flour because that was one thing I ended up like having to scramble to find.

Shanna

Yeah, that went out of stock.

Laura

I didn't think about that. Yeah. And oh, and I should say that, do you remember in the first episode, I talked about how I still had hand sanitizer left over from when my toddler was born. Oh, yes. I still have. Actually, I found another bottle of it in the back.

Shanna

Wow, you bought a lifetime's worth of hand sanitizer when your toddler was born.

Laura

accidentally ordered like a five pack of giant ones from Amazon, you know, like in some middle of the night haze. And so, so I'm still good on hand sanitizer.

Shanna

Oh, that's good.

Laura

That's good. You're ready for the next pandemic. Oh, God, don't say that. I know. Sorry. Please. One pandemic per lifetime is fine by me. That's fine by me, too. Yeah. So that's it for me for this check-in. I think it's time to move on, though.

Shanna

Yes, let's move on. Now, normally we would have a special segment in here, and we did ask listeners for stories about what y'all have been through in this last year of COVID lockdown. And we got a lot of responses, and it was so wonderful to hear from everyone. But we realized that we got So many stories that we don't have time for them in this episode. So we're going to put them in a second bonus episode about the COVID lockdown, which we will release very shortly after this one comes out.

Laura

That's right. So stay tuned for that. But for now, we're just going to move on to our BFPs.

Shanna

Well, there's been a lot of BFPs, you know, just being able to spend more time with my family and the girls and watching their relationship blossom. But I thought I'd get more specific and talk to you all about some entertainment that I have been partaking of lately that I've just really been enjoying. Oh, yes, please. Yes.

Laura

Streaming recommendations, I hope.

Shanna

Yes, exactly. The first is a show. It's a food network show that I watch on Hulu. It's called Cooks versus Cons. I love this show. It's hosted by Jeffrey Zakarian, who's a chef, and it's basically four contestants. Two of them are real cooks and two of them are like just at home. Cooks mm-hmm so they're the cons but you know we don't know their true identity and they all cook and then like present their food to the judges and people get eliminated and then you see like can a con beat a real cook. It's just like a fun format it's super easy. to digest. As I've mentioned before in the last year, that's like the main thing I want in my entertainment right now is stuff that's just lighthearted, easy to digest. And it's fun to watch people cook and you get different ideas for recipes and food and stuff like that.

Laura

I've never heard of that. I'm gonna have to add it to my queue because it sounds amazing. My version of that that I've been watching is a show called blown away. Have you heard of that? Oh, yes, the glass blowing show. Yes, the glass. It's project runway for glass blowers. It's like one of those shows where you can literally like nothing bad happens and you just can watch them. It's very mesmerizing just to watch them blow the glass and they've got terrible puns in the show.

Shanna

Oh, I'm sure there's like, isn't there like a glory hole in the glass blowing world that you like stick something in?

Laura

There is, but amazingly they never go there. It's a very PG show. Oh. Yeah, I've not heard a glory hole joke, but they do make stupid jokes about other things. Anyway, so okay, chefs versus cons.

Shanna

cooks versus cons and they also have a spin-off called baker versus faker or baker or faker something like that so that's I love that one too and then some podcasts I've been binging lately I've mentioned in a episode a little while back that I do like true crime podcast I know that's not your thing but I wanted to mention a couple that I've been enjoying in case anyone else out there is looking for something. I've really been getting into the Dateline podcast, which is funny because I don't watch Dateline. But anyway, I've discovered that I really like their style of investigation and reporting. And so two of their podcasts that I binge so fast, they're so interesting. The first one is called The Thing About Pam. And the other one is called Mommy Doomsday. Which, you know, gets into not only murder but cults and zombies and all kinds of wild stuff. It's fascinating.

Laura

Yeah, I can't do the murdery true crime stuff, but I did listen to a podcast called Bed of Lies, which I think technically might be true crime, but it's not about murder. There's no murder involved. But it's fascinating. It's from the Telegraph newspaper in the UK. And it's a crazy story from all these women who found out that their long-term partners and boyfriends were actually like spies. Ooh, interesting. And it's really fascinating stuff. And just highly recommend that one. So I've listened to that one a bunch in the middle of the night lately when I've been nursing. Nothing like a true crime podcast in the middle of the night. That's why you can't do the murder. Like, there's no murder. This is just like... Intrigue. You're being deceived by your boyfriend, so it's a little better. Much better.

Shanna

Okay, cool. I'll have to check that out.

Laura

I've been deceived by a boyfriend in the past, so I can relate. Ah, so it hits close to home.

Shanna

It's amazing, not even a runny nose. I mean, Cici had roseola for a few days, which was weird, but other than that, same situation. It's like almost eerie to be so healthy.

Laura

Yes. And I'm a little worried about what's going to happen when we actually start seeing people again.

Shanna

Yeah.

Laura

I might be that person who wears a mask in the winter, no matter what, like for the rest of my life, because it seems to work and I'm not looking forward to like getting sick again. So.

Shanna

Yeah, definitely.

Laura

Yeah. So that's my personal BFP, like not being sick.

Shanna

Well, that's amazing. Yes. We saved a lot of money on Kleenex and Tylenol this last year, that's for sure.

Laura

Yeah. So, okay, do you have a bonus BFP for us?

Shanna

I do. My bonus BFP of the entire quarantine, the COVID lockdown, is the Target Drive Up. Oh, yeah. I love it. I've been picking up groceries or having stuff delivered this entire time. I haven't gone into a store. Well, I did go into one store because I wanted Sudafed and they don't sell that through the drive-thru. Oh, that's right.

Laura

Yeah, you have to sign for it.

Shanna

Yes, but in general, the target drive-up has been awesome. You know, I love Target. I miss it so much and you can get stuff within a couple hours. And then what's even better is within the last couple couple of months or so, they have included cold, refrigerated items in pickup. So if I forget milk in my grocery order, I can just go online, order one gallon of milk, they put it in my trunk. Usually you have to have like a minimum amount of dollars spent, right? In one of these grocery stores to get some side pickup or whatever. Ralph's is like $35 whole food, same. So it's like, oh, I have to, You know, throw all this other stuff into the order, but no, not a target. There's no minimum. I could get like a stick of butter and just like someone will bring it out, put it in my car. So I've used that all the time. I love it. It's made my life so much easier.

Laura

I have to say that with kids too, like if you happen to have them in the car, it's just so much better like to not have to get out of the car with the kid in his car seat. But yeah, yesterday I actually I went to Home Depot curbside pickup, then I went to Target curbside pickup, then I went to Walgreens drive-thru pickup, and then I went to Ace Hardware curbside pickup. I went to four stores without getting out of my car. It was awesome.

Shanna

Oh, that's all I ever wanted when I had a newborn, especially. It's like, I don't want to take this car seat out. Why can't everyone just be drive-thru? And it's like, oh my god, my wish came true. Yeah, all it took was a global pandemic. That's all it took. Oh, so I love that. I hope stores keep that stuff up. I think Target will. They've put all those parking spots in there and created a whole infrastructure to support it. I do miss just strolling the aisles of Target though and browsing and seeing what to get. I will pick that back up, I'm sure. The convenience of the drive up will also not be dead to me.

Laura

Yeah, I mean, when you just need diapers or whatever, drive up. When you're like, I could use a new shirt or I have 20 minutes to myself before I have to go pick up the kids. Like what to do? Target.

Shanna

The good old form of parental entertainment. Go stroll target. Yes. So that's mine. What is your bonus BFP?

Laura

OK, mine is actually kind of related to my personal BFP, which is that according to the CDC, this year's flu season didn't happen. Wow. So did you know about this? Vaguely. But what does that mean exactly? OK, so here's an example. OK, so last year before coronavirus, 2019 to 2020 flu season, there were 195 child deaths from flu in the US. This year, one.

Shanna

Do you think that going forward, more people are going to wear masks during that time of year, like you mentioned before, and do better sanitizing and stuff like that? I think so. Maybe keep some of these numbers down.

Laura

Yeah, I don't see how we couldn't. It's something that in Asia they've been doing already. So when I went to Hong Kong for my honeymoon a couple of years ago, like what was that 2016? And I remember being like really struck by how many people were wearing masks on the subway in Hong Kong. And I remember thinking it was like really weird. And I kind of Googled it. I was like, why are all these people wearing masks in Hong Kong? And the answer was like, because of the SARS outbreak that happened, what was that like early 2000s, something like that. In Asia, it became like really commonplace to just wear masks anytime you have any, you know, cold or flu symptoms, right? And now I totally am on board with that. Like if I have any, if I was like having the sniffles and I had to go on public, of course I would

Shanna

Yes, or at least like to doctor's appointments in the winter or something. Like, why not? Even if I'm feeling well, but taking my kid to the doctor, like, I'll put a mask on and just protect myself.

Laura

Yeah, I don't mind being weird if that's the case. Like, yeah, I'm so used to the wearing them now. It's like, who cares? I find them comfortable.

Shanna

Yeah, no big deal. I will say Steve bought a pack of face shields and I'm just like, I still feel weird about that. But the face masks I'm on board with. Sorry, Steve. Oh, sorry, Steve.

Laura

Anyway, that is it for me. I think that's it for our episode. Yeah, I think it is. Anyway, listeners, I'm so happy that you've been on this journey with us for the last year. I actually don't know what I would have done without this podcast because it's definitely grounded me. It's given me a reason to sort of take notes on things and stay present. I don't know about you. How do you feel about it?

Shanna

Oh yeah, this podcast is definitely one of my biggest BFPs of the last year. Aside from the bonus episodes, you know, just doing this weekly with you and checking in and interacting with listeners and stuff. It's been such a bright spot in my life, especially in this last year.

Laura

Yes, so listeners, you are our extra, extra bonus BFP. But you are every week. Absolutely. So you should know that. But let's wrap it up. Let's wrap up this love fest.

Shanna

Let's do it. Laura, if anyone else has anything to share, where can they reach us?

Laura

We are on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at BFP Podcast. We have a website, bigfatpositivepodcast.com. You can send us a voice memo to contact at bigfatpositivepodcast.com. You can also just send us a regular email there, but we love voice memos. Finally, if you're on Facebook, join our Facebook community group. Search Big Fat Positive Community, request to join, answer the two membership questions, and we will get you through to our wonderful private group where there's some awesome conversations happening.

Shanna

If you love our show, please rate us and review us wherever you listen to podcasts and spread the word. Let your friends know about BFP. Our show is produced by Laura Birek, Shanna Micko, and Steve Yager. Thanks for listening, everyone. Bye. Bye.