Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anything with a fever or GI symptoms

Anything with a cough

Runny nose/sore throat stuff if it comes with fatigue or GI symptoms

So basically any little symptom.

If you want to be careful, yes. A friend's father felt a little run down with a mild cold, thought it was allergies, ran a bunch of errands all over, got tested finally, and lo and behold it was covid.

Anonymous wrote:When my kids moved out of a rocking chair they also moved into twin beds. We didn't really need (or have space for) a chair at that point, because reading usually happened in their beds after that. Where do you picture you'll do the reading/cuddling part of a bedtime routine?

Exactly. We kept a chair in the room until DS was in a bed. Then we read/snuggled/sang in the bed instead of the chair.

Anonymous wrote:I'm do the New York Times Chicken Shawarma (which you can do either on sheet pans in the oven or on the grill) with pita (also grill it a little bit or heat in a sauté pan and cut in triangles) plus romaine salad with cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and crumbled feta. For dressing, use lemon juice and olive oil. Sprinkle chopped flat leaf parsley all over the cooked meat and everything else.

That's such a delicious recipe. I used to serve this for company along side falafel since there's almost always a vegetarian or two in the mix.

Then I put out pita bread and chopped veggies, plus a bunch of dips like hummus, raita, babaghanoush, tabbouleh.

I feel the same way. I don't cook boneless, skinless chx breast anymore unless I'm pounding it thin to coat it in egg & breadcrumbs to pan fry.

For everything else I use thighs or bone-in, skin-on breasts, which have more flavor.

9 to 9:30 lately. DH is a morning person and I'm a night owl. I love being the only person awake late at night in the house.

I feel like I miss out on morning play time with the kids, but every time I try to get on an earlier schedule I'm such a grouch that I think my family prefers this schedule.

If you're sending gifts and not hearing anything about them, stop sending gifts.

A couple years ago, I either had a bad reaction, or picked up a stomach bug when I got the shot.

No problems at all this year, thankfully.

Anonymous wrote:I just need to keep this thread going. So many questions.

Thanks for your public service. I'm invested too.

I had the most beautiful friend in college. It was funny to go places with her. People would fall all over themselves for her. I enjoyed watching it, but tbh I never envied her.

I don't think it's always an easy life. She had a lot of heart break.

I think it's easier to be a 7 or 8 than a 10.

I feel successful in that I'm generally happy and feel fortunate about my circumstances.

But, I am not doing anything important, really. I sometimes wish I had a passion. Something that gave my life direction and meaning. (Other than DCUM, I mean.)

Anonymous wrote:I disagree that therapy will be useless. Therapy will give you coping mechanisms and allow you to get yourself worries and anxiety out in a safe place with a professional. I don’t see why it wouldn’t help and why you would be against it if you didn’t even try it

Agreed.

I feel like one of the main reasons I'm coping reasonably well during this pandemic is from the CBT therapy I did years ago.

If he's willing to read stuff, Janet Lansbury's No Bad Kids is great.

I'm emotionally impacted, but definitely less than a lot of my friends.

I think it's because I've acknowledged there's not much I can really, truly to do to fix everything on a large scale. I do what I can personally, donating what money I can, volunteering with some local campaigns, etc. And I just try to be a good person and live in the moment to the extent that I can.

I think the fact that I read a lot helps. Human misery is not new.

Anonymous wrote:Make a strict rule - no politics or the get together is over. You may have to walk out the first time to get your resolve across. But stick to your plan as things are not going to be over for months.

My sister and I had to make this deal and we abide by it.

Yes, this.

But do it in a caring way.

When I was in this spot with my father, I sat down with him and basically just said something like: "I hardly get to see you. I don't want the times we spend together to be spent like this."

It sounds like she's really struggling. Have you tried to have a conversation with her about it?