This too shall pass…
This is a life motto I learned many years ago in a story told around a campfire at summer camp. It has carried me through times both good and bad. It serves as a reminder that the bad isn’t forever, but also to appreciate the good while you have it.
Life can change on a dime.
This is something the whole world has learned over the last few months. One day, you’re at work and the TP is aplenty then BAM! We’re stuck schooling kids at home, searching Facebook posts to find what store has toilet paper in that day. We truly never know what will come tomorrow.
While I am eager to return to normal, whatever that is, I am going to miss some things that have come from this pandemic crisis. Some lessons learned I will carry into our new normal, to become a part of our daily life.
Here are five takeaway lessons from my experience:
Less is More
With one executive order, all the things that keep us running around and busy all week were gone. After school classes, rehearsals and shopping trips, cancelled. PTA meetings and committees of all kinds, cancelled until further notice. All the things I viewed as so important in my daily life have suddenly been taken off my plate. We miss them, but have realized that we don’t need them. Our new normal will include a few less obligations.
Hobbies are Important
Being home all the time has given me some time to devote to hobbies. Having something to do keeps me from scrolling through news and feeding my anxiety. My craft stash has given my kids and I plenty to create with. Looking ahead, I plan to make sure we all have hobbies and that we make time for them and keep what we need on hand.
Homemade Tastes Better
Cooking at least three times a day has inspired creativity. At times, a missing ingredient has become a hunt for a substitute or alternative plan. Tonight, we made pizza on flattened chicken breast instead of a pizza crust and it was delicious! We made sourdough starter when yeast was hard to find. We’ve explored making our favorite snacks and some creative cookies and muffins using what we had on hand and avoided trips to the store. We won’t always have time to cook this much, but we will prioritize cooking together as life goes on.
We’re More Capable Than We Know
All of us have taken on more than we ever dreamed in this shut down. Working, crisis school lessons at home, and keeping a household running. Cooking and cleaning up ALL the meals. Entertaining kids, watching the news, and socializing from a distance. We weren’t given a choice, yet here we are rising and SLAYING.
Family is Number One
This is one I hope to not let go or forget. We may lose our way in life but, if family is our bedrock, we will always have a starting point. This idea I cling to in hard times, and I hope to impart on my children. I hope they look back on this experience as time spent together making memories. This has come at a moment when time was speeding by too fast. I have a child going off to middle school next year and I was feeling the weight of it all. This has been a chance to hit pause on a lot of things and reconnect as a family.
What lessons are you taking away from this experience?
