Ashley contacted me to do a quick shoot with a new mask and jacket she wanted to include in her blog. I was just thinking how this is the new normal.  When I run into Target or Publix my mask is something I grab almost as involuntarily as I grab my keys. With COVID-19 being such a presence today we have a new routine as we plan our days. Especially in the beginning I didn’t take my kids ANYWHERE!! I just took them to Target with me for the first time in 3 1/2 months. Even then I was nervous. “Don’t touch anything!” Along with a new routine, we have new rules. Not that we didn’t before, but now there are more added on and others that are put more emphasis on. I do my best when I’m out with my children and I do feel they are safe. My girls understand why they have the new rules that they have. They are definitely wise beyond their years and do a very good job making smart choices when we’re out.

We still have not been to a restaurant, to a playground, to a public pool, the beach. Luckily we live on a bigger property so my kids have plenty of outside time. We have dirtbikes, bicycles, power wheels, goats, chickens, a golf cart. There is definitely enough here to do but I do miss bringing them everywhere. I have to hope for the future that things will get better but right now we are just taking it all day by day. I can’t dwell on the new norm. I can take what we have and make the best of it!!