Apr 15

Apr 15 Episode #58: Pandemic Survival Tips

*Just a reminder that this podcast was recorded a few weeks ago so the coronavirus content may be a little old as the news continues to change so fast and frequently.

*Another reminder! Please rate and review BFF on Apple Podcasts! Once they reach either 50 reviews or 100 ratings, there will be a drawing! The winner will receive a phone call on the show or a be a guest on the podcast! Thank you so much to all those who have rated and reviewed already. It really helps with discoverability on Apple Podcasts.

Welcome to the Pandemic Survival Tips episode! Grace and Alvina would like to share what they have learned SO FAR. They are by no means experts on the matter but thought it may be helpful to share some things. You can share your own tips with them too in an email. They would love to hear from you! Before the get into the acts of survival…they catch-up a little and check-in.

“How’ve you been holding up?”

Grace has been feeling slightly more adjusted to this “new pandemic normal.” Her way of dealing with anxiety from it all has been to load up on projects like launching her new podcast (Kids Ask Authors!), reading to her daughter’s class online, and sharing her work and doing drawing lessons on the Grace Lin YouTube Channel! All these things have kept her busy and focused which is helpful. They also got two new chickens! We learn that all of their chickens are named after book characters! Here they are!:

Melvin- From Captain Underpants
Mr. Nuggy- From Dory Fantasmagory
Gigi- Also From Dory Fantasmagory
Black Hole - From a book that Grace and her daughter are currently writing
Pecan - The chicken actually belongs to their neighbor
Zita - From Zita is a Spacegirl
Olga- From Zita is a Spacegirl

Alvina has also been busy reading books and editing. She has a lot on her plate. She is grateful that she still has her job as the publishing industry had some tough news last week. Macmillan announced lay offs and pay cuts. Some companies are furloughing some people who can’t do their work remotely. It just makes one worrisome about the economy as a whole. She’s been distracting herself with zoom activities and chats. Even Zoom dates…dating in the time of the Coronavirus. It’s a great distraction and a good way to connect. You have to do whatever you can do!

Alvina attends a regular Zoom dance party!

SURVIVAL TIPS!

Alvina snagged a few principles of working remotely that she saw online the other day. Here’s a few:

“You are not working from home, you are at your home during a crisis trying to work.”
You will be kind to yourself and not judge how you are coping based on how you see others coping.
You will be kind to others and not judge how THEY are coping based on how you are coping.

Some of her own tips:

We are all in this together. Psychologically understand that everyone is dealing with it in different ways. When people are dealing with a crisis, there is no really right or wrong way.
Getting outside as much as possible and sticking to routine things. (Like running) Being in beauty outside has been very helpful for her.
Making yourself feel useful. Other things she’s been doing that helps: “When we’re not in pandemic, I’m actually not home that much. So now that I’m home, I’m doing home projects.” She can now have plants because she’s home to water them! She also wondered exactly what “Lounge pants” were and ordered some online. Online shopping…great retail therapy! She’s buying everything locally that she can and purchasing books from independent book sellers like Bookshop.org! She’s also been donating masks and gloves (she had leftover from when her deceased husband Greg was sick) to a neighborhood collection, and donating to local restaurants and organizations.

Grace’s tips:

Accepting that some things just can’t get done all in one day. She is trying to juggle homeschooling her daughter part of the day, working, catching up on emails, taxes, etc..AND trying to find alone time for herself.
Knowing what you need is important. For Grace, alone time has been hard to find but she knows it is very much needed. Playing with and teaching her daughter is mentally exhausting and requires being very extroverted. When you’re an introvert like Grace, it is extra exhausting. For this reason, she is finding it had to squeeze in the catching up sessions with her other family members and friends. If 4:00am -7:00am is her only alone time, she’s going to try and keep it that way because she knows that’s what she’s needed to not get overwhelmed.
Lowering your expectations. Especially when it comes to homeschooling! She has lowered the expectations around that because it is not easy. She’s declared it a “craft homeschool” and that is just completely fine. We just need to do the best we can.
One survival tip that they both wanted to SHARE: Comfort food! Alvina loves Pringles (childhood memories and her travel food!) and cake right now. Pound cake! Grace’s go-to’s have been Girl Scout Cookies and Taiwanese soy eggs! Here is the recipe! It’s very comforting although she’s not sure her cholesterol count will appreciate the 4 eggs a day!

“What are you grateful for?”

Alvina is grateful the weather is getting nicer for sure everything is now in bloom. She’s grateful for all of the essential workers and her community. Her neighbor Tracy made her a mask after she donated all of her surgical ones.

Grace is grateful for the nicer weather and that she finally got her daughter’s website up and running. It’s called quackducks.com! She’s been making clay duck and animal sculptures. If you buy a uniduck, she will donate 100% of the money (except for shipping costs) to her school’s PTO Emergency Fund. This fund helps relieve the financial stress that many families may be facing by providing grocery card gift cards that will be distributed by the school to families in need of assistance.

Thanks for reading and listening! Stay safe and healthy.

2-Minute Book Review by Alison Morris

“You know those books you read once, and they you find yourself thinking about them all the time? For me one of those is the superb young adult novel, Darius the Great is NOT OKAY.” - by Adib Khorram

Alison Morris is a nationally recognized children's book buyer with an infectious enthusiasm for reading and 20 years' experience matching books to readers. As the Senior Director of Title Selection for nonprofit First Book, she oversees the curation of children’s and young adult books on the First Book Marketplace, hand-selecting a diverse range of titles that speak to and address the needs of kids in underserved communities, with a keen eye to inclusion, authenticity, and kid-appeal. She previously served as Senior Editor at Scholastic Book Clubs, Children's Book Buyer for Wellesley Booksmith and The Dartmouth Bookstore, and was the founding blogger of the ShelfTalker children’s book blog for Publishers Weekly. She'll be joining us from her home near Washington, DC where she spends LOTS of time discussing books with her husband, illustrator and graphic novelist Gareth Hinds.