I have a confession to make.
I love being quarantined.
// Granted, my family has been safe and healthy through all of this – which I know isn’t the case for everyone. We are both still employed during this time. Our small business isn’t in jeopardy. We don’t have anyone directly close to us experiencing coronavirus. We are not first responders, healthcare professionals, or anyone on the frontlines. We haven’t lost a loved one or experienced grieving alone during this time. For all of those who’ve experienced or are experiencing such - we are praying for you. We are here for you. Please speak up if we can be there for you! //
But truth be told, I’m truly enjoying being quarantined.
I married my husband for a reason – so he would be stuck with me for the rest of his life. If I could pick anyone to be quarantined with, it would be him. The fact we get to be stuck with our cute little kids is quite the extra bonus.
As someone who has always felt the guilt of being a working mom – having a career while my kids attend daycare – I’m selfishly loving this brief time of getting my family all to myself all day long. Chances are, this is probably the only time in my lifetime this will happen, and I’m taking full advantage of this time with my children.
We’ve had quite a few people call to check in on us and make sure we are doing okay and if we needed anything. And to be honest – we couldn’t be better. We’ve had so much good, quality family time together. We’ve experienced new things. Made new recipes. Tried new foods the kids have actually liked. We’ve let the kids make messes. Big messes. We’ve spent hours swinging. And coloring. Flown kites. Gone on daily walks. Ate every meal together. Made arts and crafts we would have never found the time to do. We’ve stayed up past our bedtime. We’ve stayed in our pajamas longer than we should admit. We’ve laughed. We’ve played. Had glow stick bath parties. And so many dance parties. A zoom dance party with our cousins. Zoom parties with our friends. Made friends with our neighbors. Read more books than we can count. Gone on hikes and adventures. Jumped on our beds. Learned new ways of doing things. Hugged a lot. Called friends we haven’t talked to in quite some time. Taken more pictures and videos than we knew our phones were capable of. Prayed more together than we ever have as a family. And the list goes on.
Now don’t get me wrong, it hasn’t been easy. It has been hard. Really hard. We’ve had to make a lot of sacrifices and adjustments. We are still expected to put in 8 hours of work a day. Working remotely while having two kids under the age of two at home (thankful we aren’t having to home school), and being pregnant, has not been easy. It has been hard. It took my husband and I a solid week to figure out our schedules, juggling both of our jobs, the kids, ordering groceries, cooking meals, mowing the yard, keeping up with all the housework and laundry, and everything else in between. It has been challenging - we’ve put in a lot of early mornings and late nights to ensure we aren’t missing deadlines with work. We’ve adjusted our typical household roles to accommodate where we’ve needed to. It has been hard. But we’re doing it. And loving it. And enjoying every minute of this time we have together because we know it is only temporary.
And all the other things I’ve yet to mention… Not seeing family? Hard. Missing birthdays and Easter and so many other celebrations? Hard. Friends cancelling their weddings? Hard. Not going to church? Hard. Not getting to see or talk to our special needs brother? The absolute hardest part.
But you know what is going to be even more hard? Really hard? Having to readjust. To return back to normalcy. To go back to the 9-5. To drop my kids off at daycare again. To miss having breakfast, lunch, and snack time with them. To miss putting them down for their naps, and their sweet snuggles after waking up. To not have our daily walks. Or dance parties. Not getting to hear their giggles. Or their little feet running up and down the halls. I’m dreading that first day. The first day putting on make-up and real clothes to head back into the office. Kissing my husband good-bye without a cup of coffee together. Rushing the kids to get ready and hustle out the door so I can attempt to be at work on time. To drop them off at each of their classrooms and walk out, knowing it’ll be 8 hours before I see their sweet faces again. And then to get home only for another nightly routine - dinner, baths, bedtime. That… that will be hard.
This quarantine has made us thankful for the little things. It has helped refocus our home on what is really important. We are grateful for our health and our happiness. We’ve gone without all the things we thought we needed, and made it work with what we already had, and sadly realizing that’s more than enough. It has reminded us what family really is. Depending on each other in a time of need. Relying on each other to keep us strong. Making sacrifices we wish we didn’t have to. We’ve learned to accommodate and accept what we can not control. We have our faith and we have each other, and nothing else is more important. We are all in this together and our home has been reminded that together is our favorite place to be.
