‘Fixer Upper’: Joanna Gaines Feels ‘Anxiety’ While Stuck at Home But Enjoys ‘Comforting Moments’ Around the Table

Millionaire celebrities may have less to complain about during the current coronavirus pandemic and resulting quarantines, but they’re experiencing a myriad of complicated emotions just like the rest of us. Former Fixer Upper host Joanna Gaines took to social media to describe how her family is handling their extended isolation at home.

The Gaines family is cooking, playing games, and doing schoolwork at while sheltering in place. But even the seemingly-perfect home design expert did admit that she’s having hard moments, too.

Joanna Gaines is trying to create a schedule

Like so many other parents, Gaines is feeling the negative effects of no one knowing exactly what day or time it is. She spoke with USA Today about the challenges of trying to create a sense of normalcy.

“It’s now two weeks into it, and I feel like (we’re) just learning new rhythms and new schedules. The kids just got finished eating lunch, so it’s like, ‘OK, go back to class,’ – whatever that means,” she joked.

Gaines also revealed that she’s been struggling at times, too. She told USA Today that she’s “trying to make the best out of a bad situation” but is also very aware of the state of the world “and just kind of gets anxiety about it.”

She’s been cooking up a storm

Gaines is a best-selling cookbook author and has been vocal about her love of creating meals from scratch, so it’s no surprise that she’s been spending a lot of time whipping up homemade meals in the kitchen during quarantine. She’s also sharing tips and short videos on social media to encourage her millions of followers to do the same.

The mother-of-five spoke about how she’s feeling the stress of preparing so many meals, though. “Now it’s we’re home all day, every day,” she told Today. “It’s not trying to figure out how to fit in two or three meals a week. It’s now every single meal that we’re eating is cooked from the kitchen.”

The HGTV star treasures family time around the table

With so many changes happening at once, it’s no wonder Gaines is clinging to a family routine that feels familiar. For her family, that means embracing their mealtimes, which haven’t completely changed since the quarantine began.

“The perspective has changed, and that is kind of our moment of togetherness – those times in the kitchen, those times around the table,” she said. “I feel like in some ways (it’s) deeper now because the kids have all of these questions about what’s going on… I would say those times around the table have just felt like the sweetest, the most comforting.”

Joanna Gaines doesn’t know what the future will bring

For now, filming on Gaines’s cooking show for her new Magnolia Network is delayed, but she said the network launch is still set for Oct. 3. However, considering all the unknowns in the world right now, that could change at any time. “It’s an everyday conversation,” she said. “We don’t know. Next week may be a different answer.”

Hopefully, we won’t have to wait too long to see Magnolia Network and Gaines’s cooking skills in action. But for now we have Instagram to get us through.