The quarantine life might have some light at the end of the tunnel, and I’m having a lot of feelings about it. I know that everyone’s experience and situation has been different, but I have been privileged to have a fairly positive and safe life right now.
So while I’m feeling a lot of the anxiety and excitement many people have right now, I’m also experiencing something I wasn’t necessarily expecting: sadness.
When I channel Pollyanna and play my “glad game” for this time, I realize that there have been some aspects of this life that I love and will miss when life starts to return to normal.
- No Make-up, No Hairstyle, No Problem. I’m always fairly low maintenance on the getting ready side of things, but I won’t lie, never has my “getting ready” time been shorter than right now. There’s just no stress to it, and I’ve gotten used to what I look like without make-up. I think I may end up going barefaced a little more often, even when I go places.
- No Need for Pants. I’m not talking about just playing the video conference game of pajama pants and a blouse, but more about the lack of a need for pants that button in general. My leggings have gotten a major workout during this time period and the idea of putting on real clothes has never seemed less appealing. I’m glad the Texas weather guarantees I can probably avoid wearing real pants for a solid five months now. And let’s be real, that’s still too soon.
- Solo Grocery Store Runs. My kids are my ever-faithful helpers on trips to get groceries, and while I love that time with them and think it’s very valuable, I won’t say I haven’t enjoyed going to the store all by myself. I’ve taken to listening to my audiobook from the moment I get in the car to make the drive to HEB and listening all the way until I get home. It doesn’t suck, and I’ll miss it just a tiny bit when I get my helpers back.
- Easy Pace. Even with my husband and I both working full time from home, overall family time has seen a major uptick recently and it’s kinda great. Lack of sports practices, extra meetings, and activities means our weekends are free and easy. It’s no longer a struggle to sit down and eat dinner together as a family. I love it and don’t really relish a return to the hyper-efficient hamster I had become due to commitments.
- Daytime Chores. Like many families, on a typical day we are all out of the house early in the morning and don’t make it back home until the evening. This means all of our daily chores are crammed into a couple of hours. It’s so much simpler to get laundry done and unload the dishwasher during the day now, and the kids are much less likely to complain about their chores because they know they have plenty of time to play.
- Playtime. Our boys are eight, eight, and six years old, and they are currently living their best life during this quarantine. While they do miss school and their friends, they are spending hours upon hours playing outside, creating elaborate pretend scenarios, and learning new board and card games. Honestly, they’re having a ball being happy and carefree, and I realize how much they learn and gain from large blocks of unstructured time. I know they will miss this time when it’s over.
- Less Function Obligation. I’m an introvert at heart and am truly relishing the lack of places and functions I have to go to at the moment. It’s not that I don’t enjoy it when I do go places, but it’s pretty draining and takes away from other things I love, like sitting on the couch with my husband and reading a good book. I’ll be happy to see other people again when we can, but it’s not so terrible to not see anyone right now.
- Sunshine. Y’all, the weather is at its very best right now with lots of sunshine and temps in the 70s and low 80s. I am grateful that instead of spending most of our days inside a classroom, my boys and I are soaking up the rays every chance we get. I’ll miss when we all have to return to business as usual. I don’t think the school would look very favorably at me teaching class outside on my lounge chair in a swimsuit, but I’m enjoying grading assignments that way for now.
Do you have anything you’ll miss from this time?
