Silver Linings - 1st Installment

What have YOU been up to over these past 2.5 weeks. Has it really only been 2.5 weeks??!? This isn't April Fools! Doesn't it feel like it's been longer?? In our regular busy lives, we have so many commitments, obligations, activities, and other events, that we feel like we go from thing to thing. Are we over-scheduled? Maybe we are. This is an opportunity to slow down and look at what we do and how we spend our time. Do we miss Girl Scouts? Yes! Do my girls miss their hour of gymnastics every week and the opportunity to jump on the trampoline and climb the rope to the ceiling? Yep! Do I miss talking with people while watching them at gymnastics? Sure. Do I miss running to Target when I need something? Definitely. (I always find TOO many things I need at Target, don't you?)

However, what I now recognize even more clearly is that we didn't have much Family time built in to our crazy schedules. I can't remember the last time we sat down and spent an hour or more working on a puzzle, taking a long walk, or playing a game - TOGETHER. We're doing a lot more of that now, so that's one of the positive "Silver Lining" of this whole situation. Besides our daily walks, we've played Spaceopoly - it took us a week, and I learned that my younger daughter enjoys winning! She's good at making change, too! We've cooked and baked together. We're playing Sleeping Queens later this week. We also started a puzzle.

Most nights before this shut-down, I was checking emails "one more time," planning lessons, and grading work. Now, I am cooperating more with my teammates and we're working together, which means I can be more flexible with my time. I got to sit outside for lunch on Monday and enjoy the sunshine! I love getting to take walks and look at the signs on spring most days! I take lots of pictures that I can share later! I used to get home as it was getting dark, so we didn't have time to take walks. Now, we have lots of opportunities, especially since days are getting longer.

Miniature daffodils at Mill Run

Azaleas at the Neighbors'

Neighbor's Tulips & Daffodils

Have you noticed some good things happening during this time, too? Have some students seen more of their parents over the past couple of weeks? Have parents learned something new about their kids?

E & A Make Art with Ms. Oliveira

In our house, I've learned that my younger daughter Addie wants to spend more time helping me cook in the kitchen. She LOVES making and serving things. I know her older sister Ellie enjoys cooking, but now they both do. They ask to make more things with me every day! Addie has always been a voracious reader. Now Ellie is finishing a book a day!  They're trying their art teacher's YouTube lessons, too. I'm impressed! Addie has also become more adventurous in trying new foods, so we are ALL pretty excited about this!

This is a time of change for all of us. We have to look for the positive things and not dwell in the negative things. Yes, I grieve for the missed time with friends and family and opportunities my daughters are missing with their friends and their grandparents. But I am looking for the positives, too. You control your response to things that happen to you. No one else can choose your weather FOR you. It's this paradigm shift that help you be happier in the long run.