Y’all, I spent seven years of my life preparing for shelter in place.
As a Gen Xer, we were raised to follow rules for staying in the house. We were the generation of latchkey kids. Every day from sixth through twelfth grade, we rode the bus home from school, let ourselves into our homes, and followed our parents’ rules. My parents’ rules are remarkably like the rules we’re following now.
Rule #1: Come in and lock the door. I always keep our doors locked, anyway. Too many years of city life following living by myself ingrained that habit in me.
Rule #2: Call me (Mom 98% of the time) as soon as you get home. This phone call usually was my chance to tell her about my day and also to get instructions. My parents and I email often, but since the social isolation started, it’s every day.
Rule #3: Don’t let anyone in the house. My own cousin who lived next door wasn’t even supposed to come over. Haha. Nope. If you don’t bathe here, you’re not coming in at this time.
Rule #4: Don’t leave the house. I could be in the yard and on the back deck, but I couldn’t go for a bike ride or a walk on the street, couldn’t visit with friends. Sound familiar? Same stuff, different decade/century/millenium, except now I can be out on the street since I’m an adult.
Rule #5: Get your work done before you play or watch TV. I honestly don’t get those folks who can binge-watch Netflix all day. I can barely sit still through a movie. Even though we have all day to play, school still happens. I tell my younger, “Get your work done. Then you can play without worrying about having to work.” We still have a rule, no matter what, school work and chores have to be completed before TV and friend time.
Rule #6: Do xyz to help prepare for dinner. Mom didn’t get home until around 5:30, and she always wanted to have dinner on the table as close to 6 as possible. Most days, this meant I had to clean chicken (ew!) or make spaghetti sauce. In these days of social isolation, cooking is still enjoyable. We experiment, and we work together to pull dinner together.
If you’re a Gen Xer, then you were made to survive. We handled being on our own for hours at a time perfectly fine. We followed the simple rules of our parents and that usually was enough to keep us healthy and out of trouble. We can do it again now, too.
