For the first time in a long time, it feels like the world is resuming a sense of normalcy. My kids are attending homeschool activities. We’re seeing friends on a fairly regular basis. Best of all, I no longer feel the oppressive weight of fear on my shoulders whenever I walk out the door. Maybe it’s just pandemic fatigue talking, but I finally feel like there is a light at the end of the coronavirus tunnel.
Even though our family has eased up on our covid-19 precautions, there is one area where we have not let our guard down. I am primarily talking about shopping for household supplies. Like most Americans, we struggled to find toilet paper, sanitizing wipes, hand sanitizer, and soap at the start of the pandemic. It was a stressful time.
Since last March, we have been buying toilet paper and other essentials whenever we go grocery shopping. I wouldn’t say we “hoard” supplies, but we definitely keep more on hand now than we did in the past. After the panic we felt during the toilet paper shortage last spring, it’s hard to know when enough is enough.
With life returning to normal, I suggested to my husband that perhaps we should stop buying so much toilet paper (gasp!). John seemed skeptical. He did all of the toilet paper scavenging over the past year, and I think he’s been traumatized. We settled on a nice comprise of saving what we currently have, and only buying what we’ll use between shopping trips from this point forward.
This small change in our shopping habits is kind of a big deal. We’re cautiously optimistic that the pandemic is nearing an end. I truly think things are getting better, and I am willing to bet my toilet paper stash on it!