Life has changed, and it’s been hard. We have found ourselves in the middle of a pandemic and stuck at home with our children and maybe even our spouses. This has been no easy task for anyone. Working from home, raising the children, trying to make things entertaining on day 35 of quarantine when they were over it on day 7. I’m pretty sure I have consumed more wine in the last thirty days than I have in the last two and a half years. But, putting all the craziness aside, I have seen a silver lining, I have seen the good.
Yes, there are times I resent my husband when he leaves for work because he gets 8 hours of freedom, and I’m stuck in our home turned prison, and my children are the wardens. But it hasn’t all been bad. I’m slowing down; we are enjoying the little things, like pajamas all day and extra junk food. We are laughing and taking bike rides, and eating ice cream, sometimes throwing a routine out the window feels good. We have slowed down and started gelling as a family more than ever, and it’s been great to be even stronger than ever.
We all look a mess! This is a good thing. As a plus-size mom, living in an image-conscious society has been tough. I have always felt judged. I’m not skinny enough, and I need to eat better and to work out. I need to take even more effort in my appearance so that I don’t appear “disgusting.” Now it’s different, yes some of us are still getting in those in-home workouts and eating right, but let’s face it, a lot of us have found the cookies, wine, and yoga pants. Looks don’t matter so much right now—we all need the gym, a haircut & color, and some eyebrow waxing. We are all in the same boat, and honestly, it feels good.
We are helping! I have noticed in my community that it’s no longer an “every man for himself” mentality. Neighbors are helping neighbors again. We are making grocery runs, and meal pickups, I’m in a neighborhood Facebook group, and when some people are low on supplies, others have offered their extra, or they’ve offered to go to the grocery to help. We have been living in a society where this has been happening less and less, and it warms my heart to see people sharing their resources and reaching out. It’s an awesome feeling.
We are outside! I’ll admit that screen time rules around my house are pretty non-existent at this point, but even my children are getting bored with their screens. So we’ve gone outside, and so has everyone else. My neighborhood has seen a lot more foot traffic and that’s so awesome! We are waving, we are saying hello, we are even stopping to have quick chat with unfamiliar faces, from safe distances of course. Again, all practices that have seemed to be something of the past.
We are celebrating our heroes! For some of us, this is not a new thing. For others, we realize how close to home this pandemic is hitting, and we realize that a hero comes in all shapes and sizes. Doctors, nurses, police, first responders, grocery store workers, truck drivers, military, and the list goes on. You might even have a hero living in your house, and we are so thankful for them every day.
The bottom line; this pandemic has hit everyone hard. People are sick, and people are dying, there are frontline workers going to work daily and putting themselves at risk. We are stuck in our homes, and this is no easy task, but we can choose to be miserable, or we can choose to find the silver lining in all of this and find the positive. Be kind, laugh, and keep a positive attitude. This will end, and things will slowly head back to normal, but let’s not get rid of some of these great lessons we have learned, let’s keep them going.
