3 Cs during Corona

#GoCorona and #Lockdown and #StayHome 

These hashtags are is all that we eat, see, like and follow pretty much every day. 

And then there are some other hashtags that have jumped up in the line..

#homecooking #dalgonacoffee #homemadebread #cookingincorona #homemeadpanipuri #foodgram are the current and happening hashtags doing rounds amongst people stuck in their homes all over the world.

People are going above and beyond experimenting in their kitchens with minimal as well as fancy pantry items. And I have some of those in my family and friend circle too. Daddy-Daughter combo in my home has been making interesting stuff from Corn Chivda to Rasgulla to Maggi Omelette to variations of chicken! They can spend hours slogging in that hot kitchen. The non-foodie me is often at awe but never motivated to gear up my cooking skills. 

Another series of hashtags going around in the world of moms of  young children is the art and craft. People are creating beautiful pieces, some DIY from scratch watching #YouTube videos and others out of their imagination! Its actually therapeutic to watch not only the creations but also the process of the same. Jai ho 5 minute crafts!

If that was any less, celebrities have started posting their vidoes of enjoying the #jhadupocha and #dusting with their children dancing along the specially designed playlists to do their cleanups. Hats off to all of them who can find extreme fun in cleaning up the messy kitchens and dusting off the fans and windows effortlessly. 

I on the other hand am just very very happy to be #safe, #sound and content in getting by the days trying to have normalcy in life. Yes I like to indulge in a little bit of creativity every once in a while - but everything else has to be really taken care of for me to be able to do so. Which is a luxury these days. Regular daily chores takes up so much of effort n energy on most days that even the mindless scrolling of #Facebook and #Instagram is often a task. By the time night time cleaning and good night kisses are done - I am so done with the day I can watch endless re-runs of Grey's Anatomy or The Mentalist just so I can drift to sleep with the hurting back and dried off hands. 

Yes, N helps.. she is doing a lot more than I ever imagined she doing at an early age of almost 9..But still she is a child. Some days she just doesn't want to do it..and I can't blame her. This is tedious work. J tries to help everyday too and works around his calls so I put a little less stress on my ever-rigid back. But then again - there are some things that need only my focus. 

No. I am not rambling how much hard work it is for me or I am some super mom to do all this. All I am saying is, I am just not able to create the fancy, build the beautiful or love the exercise that is thrown at us by the stupid virus. And still, IT IS OK. YET, I AM OK!!

I am saying that Its ok to serve your family simple, healthy meals and not indulge in fancy looking, insta worthy plating and meals just because everyone else is. 

No offense to all those who are trying and are successful. Absolutely NOT. Please continue. Your families love you. 

But people like me..ordinary moms.. who cannot comprehend creativity in their foods - we are OK too. Our families love us too.  :-) They might have more expectations every once in a while, but IT IS OK. You can experiment with the delicacies of food when things are back to normal. You can create yummy tiffin boxes for your bachchas when they restart school. But right now, You are doing MORE THAN ENOUGH. Even the humble bread-butter, poha and daal-rice, roti-subzi is Ok!! 

Same thing applies to creating art and craft master pieces. Not all of us are equipped to let our imaginations flowing in pieces of paper or amazon cardboard boxes or jute strings. Yes there is dearth of options available on the Internet and if you are willing to de-stress yourself in the process of creating something beautiful - Go For It!

But if you are not, or cannot or just don't want to. I.T I.S O.K. You are not a bad Mom if scrolling on FB memes is more interesting to you than Pinning on Pinterest! Your child is not going to be left behind in life if he/she doesn't develop the keen interest in making beautiful art/craft. They will turn out fine. And so will WE. At this juncture in life - anything that holds us together, safe and alive - is perhaps the greatest gifts we can give to ourselves, our family as well as people around us! 

I did not write this post as a gyaan to my fellow moms. On the contrary, last week I was feeling awful of the fact that I am practically depriving N of all these wonderful things that we can do in this blessing in disguise #lockdown period. It was a horrible feeling. Social Media also doesn't help. And neither do the Whatsapp Groups n Statuses where creativity is overflowing! 

In all this madness I tried to reason with myself. And above is what I felt. 

Hence wrote candidly..without any edits (as always :-p) 

If I want to reiterate it will be these 2 things - 

People who can be creative and make the best of this period - Wonderful! - please make more and also record/click/post/share more. These are memories. You will cherish them once you go back to "Normal" life. 

And

People who are able to barely survive with/without WFH jobs, regular cleaning, cooking and chores in this period - Perfect! - You are able to save the next generation from the claws of a horrible virus. Keeping yourself and others safe. Please record/click/post/share of the normal, boring, regular things you do. These are also memories. You will have a sense of achievement once we all get out of this "Abnormal" period. 

Whether you enjoy the 3 Cs of Corona - Cooking, Cleaning, Creativity.. #StaySane #StaySafe 

This too shall pass!

💖

-MomReflections