The new “normal” – I call it this because it’s uncertain how long it will last. Staying inside your own home, homeschooling the kids while parenting/working/running a household, scouting the shops for toilet paper and using technology to keep in touch with friends and family is our new schedule.
If you’ve been finding it hard to stay upbeat and motivated, you are not alone.
To be completely honest with you, there have been days where I’ve stayed in my pyjamas and literally wanted to hide under the bed covers all day. It’s ok to have those days where you don’t get dressed and instead snuggle in bed with the kids having a Netflix marathon.
I don’t think my family has quite found a routine yet – we were just getting into the swing of home schooling and managing without daycare, and now it is school holidays here in Australia. With literally no place to go, it has been interesting trying to fill the kids’ days with stimulating activities, while balancing everything else and trying to stay sane.
But amongst the stress of trying to navigate the current new normal, I’ve realised that I’m grateful about a whole bunch of things:
– having my workaholic hubby at home 24/7 means that he is now home for dinner every night. We have been sitting at our kitchen table as a family of 4 for dinner every week night ((excluding the odd Saturday or Sunday where we watch BeastMaster on the couch in front of the TV);
– I have been getting more exercise than EVER! I hate exercising and I’ve tried going to the gym (too expensive, too time consuming) as well as several different home workout programs. I just hate working out. But lately I’ve been either walking or cycling around my neighbourhood most days and I LOVE it! It’s funny how when someone tells you that you can’t do something, even though it’s something you wouldn’t normally care about doing, that you suddenly LONG to do that activity!
– my extended family is much more motivated to catch up than they used to be. My parents and 3 siblings all still live in New Zealand. Being able to catch up with them all together is a complicated thing to organise but during self isolation everyone is motivated to join a family video call and organising it is easy because they have no place else to be!
– our budget doesn’t allow for babysitters or expensive outings so I can’t remember the last time I went to a grown-up concert. But artists such as Coldplay’s Chris Martin and Keith Urban have been live streaming free concerts on their Instagram and Facebook! Listening to their beautiful music being played from their home studios has been both uplifting and comforting.
But most of all, I’ve been loving that there’s more emphasis with keeping in touch with friends and family and prioritising family time. When things get back to the old “normal”, we could take a leaf out of our own books and make sure we prioritise relationships and people over packing our schedules as full as they can be.
What are you grateful for during this time? Let’s help each other! Please share in the comments below x