I’m not trying to sugar coat it—this quarantine situation mostly sucks. My housebound kids are needy, whiny and constantly fighting. Between cooking three meals a day plus snacks and cleaning up, I barely leave the kitchen (unless I’m doing laundry—woo hoo!). Meanwhile, my suddenly work-at-home husband tries his best to tune out our chaos, which is totally reasonable yet also infuriating.
But…
I know I’m not the only mom who has thought to herself, “at least we’re together.” It’s special to have this time as a family. (Well, it’s not 24/7 special, but it has its moments.) Here are 21 things I’m secretly enjoying while I complain about the quarantine:
1. Never wearing makeup, a bra, or, if I’m being totally honest, deodorant. My skin is getting an amazing vacation and so is my razor.
2. Being able to say “yes” to creative projects that are messy and take hours because really, what else have we got to do?
3. Curing my FOMO. Nobody is going to the hot new restaurant/concert/resort, and everybody’s Instagram looks basically like mine.
4. Forcing the kids to watch my fave ’80s movies, like The Karate Kid, Big and The Princess Bride.
5. Feeling zero guilt over screen time. I mean, the teachers are making us do it.
6. Learning new skills, including trimming my daughter’s bangs and baking actual bread. (It tasted like bread!)
7. Finally being able to show my husband what my days with the kids are really like. I think he’s impressed with the sheer number of “Mom! Mom! Mom! Mom!” yelps in an afternoon. (Never “Dad,” even though he’s home.)
8. Reconnecting with family and friends. It feels more important than ever, and technology has made it easier than ever.
9. Speaking of technology, the quarantine has de-aged this Gen X’er into a veritable millennial, what with my Zooms, Marco Polos and Houseparties. I’m so fire. Dope? Just humor me.
10. Taking it slow. I’m not missing that heart-pounding panic of being late for school, caught in traffic during carpool and all the other over-scheduled moments of our normal lives. The rat race is now a turtle crawl and I like it.
11. Relying more on ourselves. If it’s broke, we have to fix it. If we’re hungry, we have to make it. It’s like Little House on the Prairie times, but with Netflix.
12. The snuggles. I mean, I don’t want my kids to feel anxious, but if they need to work through their feelings while curled up on my lap, I’m not going to stop them.
13. Kondo’ing our closets. Paring down and decluttering is super satisfying. And if we ever get out of the house, we’ll know exactly what to wear.
14. Rediscovering simple pleasures like jigsaw puzzles, card games, scratch pancakes, finger knitting, bubble baths, long walks and sunsets—basically anything you’d falsely claim to be your hobbies in a dating profile.
15. All the freebies, from Harry Potter books and educational apps to online classes from KidPass.
16. Moms coming together in force to support each other with virtual book clubs, happy hours and just general venting sessions. We are a community, and we are all in this together.
17. Some of the funniest memes ever.
18. Appreciating nature for the gift of fresh air and sunshine, as corny as that sounds. I’ve noticed us literally stopping to smell the roses, wish on the dandelions and spy on the ladybugs.
19. Knowing that even though it’s hard, we’re still making memories.
20. Living in the moment. This might be the first time in my life I’m not obsessively planning the future, making to-do lists, booking reservations and otherwise living in next week when today is where it’s at.
21. Family dinner with all four of us every night. Lunch too. Sometimes even breakfast. This time together is truly a blessing, and it’s the thing I’ll miss most when life goes back to normal.
Want more lighthearted Coronavirus entertainment? Follow me on Twitter and Instagram! XOXO Amy
This post first appeared on Mommy Nearest.