The last six weeks of our shelter in place quarantine have flown by.  I planned on writing this post one week into quarantine, and I have absolutely no idea the time since then has gone.  Our last six weeks have consisted of two parents working from home with demanding jobs, and three kids in grades 2^nd, 3^rd, and 5th being “home-schooled” by those same parents.  I can count on my hand the number of times we’ve been in the car over the last six weeks, and the number of times we’ve been inside a store.  Though there have definitely been some things about the last six weeks that have been tough and quite different, there have also been a lot of amazing things and I’ve really been trying to be mindful and take note of all of the things I am grateful for.

It’s worth me prefacing this with a key piece of information – I am an introvert.  If you met me, you’d likely think I was fairly outgoing, I hope funny, and just overall charming.  Who knows!?  Maybe none of those would be the words you’d use, but a girl can dream.  Inside of all of that is an introvert.  I get my energy from being alone.  And though there hasn’t been a lot of alone time over the last 6 weeks, I believe my introversion has made it easier to deal with this quarantine.  I am OK being “cooped” up inside my house for weeks and seeing a very small group of people who I am close to.  I’m OK with that.  Not forever, but for a while.

My Quarantine Gratitude List:

• Not having to put on “real” clothes to go to work. I love dressing comfortably and wearing workout clothes or just something super comfy.  Pre-quarantine, my husband would see me changing into workout clothes and be like “oh, are you going for a run?” and I’m like “no, I’m just getting comfortable.”  He now knows not to ask me this, as he knows my uniform around the house.  I’ve really been enjoying the freedom to wear comfy clothes, comfy shoes, and just whatever I want.  I am on video calls all day, but I honestly don’t care what I look like and I believe the standard for what we’re wearing during this quarantine should be quite low.  Some of my co-workers have been dressing nicely as they say it makes them more productive and feel like they are going to work.  This is definitely not me.  I am more productive in a sports bra, t-shirt, and shorts or running tights. That’s my superwoman outfit.
• More quality time with my kids. This is a tricky one, as there are many days when I am wishing I had some alone time. However, for years I’ve been wanting more time with my kids and feeling regrets that I am working too much while my kids are growing up right in front of me and I’m not there for enough of it. Well, I just got my ask.  I’ve been getting way more quality time with my kids.  I’m having these little, and big, moments with them that are special, and I’ll remember them forever.  We’re in a good groove together and we’re mostly enjoying each other’s company.  I am getting to experience more of my kid’s lives and I am enjoying it.  Even if this only lasts for a few months, I am grateful for this time we all have together, and it reminds me I do actually like my kids!
• Going on walks. I’ve been going on walks with my best friends in the neighborhood.  I’ve been going on walks with my husband.  I’ve been going on walks with my kids.  I love being able to pop out for 30 minutes and go on a quick walk with the kids to a nearby creek and just get some sunshine and stretch our legs.  It’s a good break for all of us, and we’ve been able to do it at 10:30 in the morning, or over lunch, or in the afternoon, or all of the above.  I’ve really enjoyed going on some nice walks with my best friends.  We’ve tried these walks with 5-6 people, but after much testing I can say 2-3 people is ideal for a productive socially distanced walk where you can engage and hear everyone.
• More time to work out and enjoy outdoor activities. I’ve had more time to run and do it at times that are less stressful.  I’m not a morning person, so I’ve always had to get my runs in during the evenings and it was a constant struggle to stay motivated to do that.  During the quarantine, I’ve been able to work a run into a brief opening between meetings or over lunch, and really enjoy getting it out of the way earlier.  I’ve been able to get in a lot of runs, walks, and bike rides and am feeling more fit than ever!
• Less commuting time to work and school. I don’t have a super long commute as my office is only 15 minutes away with no traffic, and 30 minutes with traffic.  So I used to spend about 1 hour in the car every day.  I’ve noticed the extra time and appreciate being able to sleep in a little later before an early meeting and substituting my former commute time for workout time.
• My husband. My husband is always pretty amazing, but I think this time in quarantine has just reinforced and reminded me how amazing he is.  His job is fairly demanding, but due to the nature of our jobs he’s had a slightly less crazy work schedule than I’ve had over the last six weeks. He’s happily picked up a lot of my slack and not once complained about it.  He never complains when I disappear for hours to go and work, or when I randomly pop up with a “I’m gonna go for a run now, is that cool?”  Oh, and he washed the dishes by hand (we don’t use our dishwasher, someday I’ll write a post about why) for 2+ weeks straight because I accidentally cut into my thumb pretty deep and it needed time to heal.  It probably only needed one week to heal before I could wash dishes again, but he just kept going cause he’s awesome.
• My noise cancelling headphones. I’ve written about these before.  My noise cancelling headphone make me incredibly happy and when I need some silence, they are my savior.  I wear them while meditating, while washing dishes and tidying up the house at night, or while on work video conferences where I really need to focus and down out what sounds like my kids  having a wrestling match on the other side of the wall.
• My bathroom. I actually got this one from my kids.  I hadn’t thought of it at first, but when I asked my kids what they were enjoying most about being home vs. at school they said “oh, the bathrooms, because the bathrooms at school are disgusting.”  Our bathrooms at work are fine and nice, but they are community bathrooms without a great deal of privacy.  It made me realize I just enjoy the convenience and privacy of getting to walk 5 feet from my “office” over to my own personal bathroom and being able to brush my teeth easily whenever I’d like.
• Time to teach our kids things we want to teach them. In our previous life, the kids were at school all day learning what someone else prioritized, then we had limited time in the evenings for anything extra, and the weekends fly by.  This time has allowed us to prioritize teaching our kids what we think is important and incorporating that into their days.  The kids have spent more time reading than ever before, we’ve learned about and started a compost pile together, we’ve partnered with the kids to create a youtube channel and teach them how to edit videos on their own, we’ve taught them how to use email, and many other activities that will add value to their lives.
• The Weather. I’m not sure if there’s a good time for a shelter in place quarantine, but if there is, I’d have to say right now.  I live in Atlanta, GA and 80% of the time the weather has been amazing.
• A mildly slower pace. There’s something about the last six weeks where it’s hard to say it’s a slow pace, as I feel busy almost every minute and have a lot of demands.  But there is something that feels slower about this.  I’m not busy every morning trying to get the kids out the door before we miss the drop-off time, making lunches, getting someone off to soccer or basketball practice, or running someone to a birthday party.  The commitments are just fewer.  We’ve still been having PTA meetings remotely, but outside of that the majority of commitments are minimized and I love that.
• I get to sleep in a little later in the mornings. Some mornings I have 7am calls, so nix that from the list of things I am grateful for, but outside of those mornings I am enjoying getting to sleep in a little later on many mornings.
• An understanding employer who cares about people. I am very grateful to work for a company that is truly putting people first and practicing empathy and understanding during a difficult time.  They are doing their best to weather this storm, and I work in the travel industry, so the storm is hitting hard.

Things I miss:

• Alone time in my car on the way to and from work. I would listen to podcasts, books, music, or just enjoy the silence.  This should likely just be expanded to “alone time.”  I miss alone time.
• Working in an office with adults and not being interrupted 27 times a day by someone who can’t figure out how to get an e-learning link to work, wants me to explain fractions to them, wants a snack, or wants to know if they can watch their iPad and if they’ve done enough “work” for the day.
• I do miss the freedom and flexibility to take a weekend trip or book or plan another adventure.  We had to cancel our spring break trip to the beach and that was a bummer.
• Seeing family. I’ve not seen my mom in person for a very long time, and I was supposed to see my mother-in-law for the above-mentioned spring break trip.  My brother and his wife live a mile away and I’ve seen them once in six weeks.  We’ve all seen each other over zoom and facetime many times, and it’s nice, but it doesn’t fully replace in person contact and time.
• My daughter’s 5th grade end of year experience and graduation. I know there are much worse things happening in the world, so I don’t dwell on this, but I am sad that my 5th grader hasn’t been able to enjoy her last few months as a 5th grader with her friends before she heads off to middle school.

I’m sure there are more things I am grateful for, and that I miss, but this is a mostly it.  The list above is by no means in order of importance, but I did move “my bathroom” to be below “my husband” as I felt like he should be higher on the list even if it’s not rank ordered.  The reality is we have a lot to be thankful for and I’m incredibly aware of and grateful for that.  I always have been.  This quarantine time amplifies that gratitude even more.  My husband and I have both had pay cuts since the quarantine started and many days are chaotic in our house, but those are the sorts of thing we take in stride as we are incredibly grateful for all that we have vs. many in the world.  We have a roof over our head, enough food on the table, family and friends we love, and we can survive this storm.  I recently read about toxic positivity and I hope this post doesn’t come across as that.  This is meant to capture all of the things I am grateful for right now, as a way to capture it during a truly unique time in this world and so I avoid focusing too much on various things that I could easily complain about right now.  All in all, we’re doing OK, we’ll get through this, and I am trying to recognize what I am grateful for along the way.

What are you grateful for?

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