My Two Writing Teachers colleagues and I are hosting the 13th Annual March Slice of Life Story Challenge, in which hundreds of teachers participate in posting a story per day.

Dear Kids,

Today I did what I’ll call “doomsday” grocery shopping. I planned out what seven days of meals based on non-perishables and frozen food might look like and then I went online and ordered it all from Hannafords, times two, to equal two weeks.

It turns out I’m not the only one. Hannafords is so busy that the groceries won’t be ready for pick up until tomorrow. Plus, they are only allowing people to buy five of any given item at a time!

It all started because I went online to order toilet paper. First I went to Amazon, like usual, but literally every package of T.P. was sold out. This can’t be good. I thought. So I went to the Walmart website. Same. This really can’t be good.

So it was the thought of going two weeks without toilet paper - not food - that prompted me to sit down and make a grocery list.

I already stocked up on things like Advil, Tylenol, Pepto, and Gatorade (because NPR told me to) so if any of us gets sick or somehow severely dehydrated, we’ve already got that stuff in supply. I even beat the Purell rush several weeks ago, so we already have tiny bottles of Purell to carry around with us.

So don’t worry kids, we’re prepared for the worst. This mother will NOT let her family go without toilet paper.

Love,

Your Mom