The Daily Routine
The past several weeks at our home seemed to roll from one to the next. Basketball season had ended for the boys with the preparation for baseball season beginning. Dance competition season had started for my daughter. Welcome to that funny part of March where it doesn’t feel like winter but spring hasn’t sprung. But the daily laundry, pick up, drop off, and meal preparation kept rolling on.
Our morning routine includes watching the Today Show just before leaving the house. With each passing day of our routine, there was more and more talk of the Coronavirus each morning and more and more questions from the kids. The discussions of this virus got mixed in with the looming laundry and household duties that needed to be tackled. We talked about it being another communicable disease and how important it was to wash our hands and cough into our arms. As a physician assistant, I began to pay more attention to my professional readings and had a more difficult time ignoring the pit that sat in my stomach. The news coverage out of Europe and then Washington made it very apparent this was happening. But how would it impact our daily life here in Ohio?
The Day Life Changed…Again
There are days in history that stick out in our minds. September 11, 2001, is one and I have feeling March 12, 2020, may just be another. My two older children arrived home off of the school bus with the announcement that school was going to be on an extended spring break due to the Coronavirus. Would they cancel sports? What would we do about church activities? Do we as parents let them gather socially if they are feeling well? How do we decide what to do and not do? And this would be how our new normal would begin.
The Break We All Needed
After a day of letting the dust settle and trying to wrap our minds around what was transpiring, it was time to make some plans. Looking at how the schedule had been freed up, this just might be the break that we never knew we needed. As a single mother to my crew I spend little parts of my day wishing there was more time with them. Why hadn’t we watched a certain movie I had loved as a child? When will I find time to teach them how to sort laundry or make a simple meal on their own? That time is now. I am embarrassed to say that it’s taking a global health crisis to make me stop and think about what is truly important. So let’s all cherish this break no matter how inconvenient it seems. And let’s all keep taking breaks even after this crisis is over. Make a new recipe together as a family. Take the time to teach him how to tie a bow tie or just take a moment to be. The break that this virus is causing may be just the cure that this world needs.
