The first day of Spring.  And what a gorgeous day it was.  At a high of 75 degrees, my back yard was tropical.  While I walked the dog this morning, I gained a sense of hope seeing the buds on the trees and flowers peeking out to the sun.  Everything seemed like it was going to be alright.

This week has had a quick change of events and everyone has been affected.  There’s a solution to this problem and the only solution currently is to distance yourself socially.  It’s the hardest thing since we are social beings.

Here are some things I’ve noticed so far that surprised me:

1. I feel like I am better at social distancing than my husband.  I was a stay at home mom for several years and was used to being “alone” with the gremlins.  Having conversations that involved poop, snacks and the Nick Jr channel were the norm.  Was I happy about it?  Not entirely because I didn’t have much adult conversation and felt pretty pathetic.  My husband went to work every day (up until yesterday) and I think he’s having a harder time.  Dude, I completely get it.  It’s kind of justifying for me to see it, frankly.  No ill feelings, I’m just happy he’s getting a taste.  And to be fair, we agreed that I would stay home when they were little.  I just didn’t know what that entailed until it happened.  Can I get an amen?  Here’s the crazy part though, I’m the extrovert and he has morphed as the years have passed from introvert to “medium-vert.” But still, I can speak to everyone in a room and he prefers to ghost when we leave.
2. I have a sneaky little feeling that our family will get stronger together during this time. Our children want our attention.  A lot.    They will thrive because they finally have it.  Our schedules have been completely cleared.  No more dentist appointments, water polo, orthodontist, gym workouts, dinners with friends…nothing.  We have a lot of free time and on top of that, we’re homeschooling.  Yes, they are going to push back, but they really do love it.  And their brains will actually learn more because of it.
3. My children are getting WAY more physical activity now that we’re home. This makes my heart content.  I have never been happy about the lack of physical activities in public school.  It’s never enough.  Brain development 101.
4. I have laughed more in the past week at home with my kids than I have in a while.

All this said, I feel like we can choose to be Debbie Downers about it all (and yes, it’s scary), or we can look at the positive in a tough situation and keep trucking.  Something good ALWAYS comes out of something bad.  I’ve said this all my life and I truly believe it.

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