What I’ve Learned During Our COVID-19 Spring Lockdown

Greetings from lockdown!

How are y’all holding up, here on our 3,854th day of social distancing? I hope everyone is safe, well, still getting along with your people, and able to find some joy and relief in these weird, weird times.

With all of this spare time (and I ONLY have that because my kids are older and my work is basically nonexistent right now. Trust me, if I had littles and a full-time job plus homeschooling, there would be no spare time. Big ups to those of you juggling it all.), I’ve started noticing things…

I’m guessing I’ve always noticed them, but I just never felt a need to really think about them before. Sometimes I pretend that I’m having a conversation with someone new about these things – someone who doesn’t live in my house and inhabit my face 24/7.

So, in no particular order, here are 19 things I’m telling YOU about that I’ve noticed during our COVID-19 spring lockdown:

1. My kids are actually pretty amazing and just roll with whatever life hands them. Sure, they’d rather not be stuck inside with us and only us, but they’re doing remarkably well.
2. I’m so glad my husband (The Professor) and I made a conscious decision to keep each other first in our marriage, and not get distracted by the kids and their activities. Now that we’re home ALL THE TIME, I’m relieved and thrilled that he’s still my favorite person.
3. It seems as though I miss two little patches when I shave my legs: part of my left knee and another one on my outside right ankle bone. I don’t think I’ve successfully hit these areas with a razor since about 2013.
4. Dill Pickle flavored Lay’s Potato Chips are delicious.
5. I DO like rosé bubbles!
6. That hall closet that I complain about all the time apparently doesn’t bother me *quite* as much I say, since I haven’t even seriously considered cleaning it out yet. This is what happened last time I sorted it out this closet. It’s OK – not perfect, but there’s some semblance of order in there at least, right?

But these pictures include the closet floor when my oldest daughter decides to redecorate her room and move things from there to the closet. Like it’s her own personal storage unit. (P.S. It is not.)

7. If I don’t regularly apply makeup, I forget how to put it on. And then when I do, it looks like I’m applying stage makeup. The results are a bit alarming. 
8. If I don’t regularly see people, I forget to tend to my eyebrows. These results are also quite alarming.
9. I’m OK being bored. I can turn nothing into a whole day.
10. I love Zoom or FaceTime happy hours with nearby and far-away friends and hope those continue.
11. I didn’t have a good feel for how much deodorant I had in my stash, but I figured it out when I finally cleaned out under my bathroom sink. There are eight for me and three for the girls. Seems like plenty. And razors to last them through their teenage years.
12. I like my people more than I realized. I’m a total homebody and don’t like most people, so I prefer to be alone a LOT. But it turns out that the people I DO like? I really like them and miss spending time with them IN REAL LIFE.
13. I’m thankful my gym is providing an online world for us to do our workouts – and turns out I really need a gym environment or I would do ZERO workouts on my own.
14. I like relaxed mornings that start later. I’m averaging about nine hours of sleep a night and I LOVE IT.
15. When my gray hairs come in, they’re not vibrant and beautiful and bold. They’re yellow and dirty and dingy looking.
16. It’s hard to limit trips to the grocery store. I’m learning that during normal times, I get about 90% of my stuff during my regular weekly trip, but then I’ll pop in to pick up other stuff I need throughout the week because it’s so easy. But this getting everything all at once? I may need to make better lists.
17. My natural nails, the ones under the dips I’ve had for about two years? They’re flimsy and fragile and cannot do a single thing on their own. They’re like little, newborn, useless baby nails.
18. My girls have good friends and are good friends.
19. I like affection and miss hugging people. The Professor is affectionate, too, and enthusiastically accepts my touches and cuddles (and returns them!), but the girls do not. (At least not on any regular basis.)

Please consider this a warning: When we get the official OK to be back in the world – I’m coming for you all. Hugs, arm rubs, hair ruffles, side hugs, back rubs, handholds, shoulder pats. All of it – lots and lots and lots of human touch. Hopefully, I won’t make it TOO weird between us, but I will definitely make it weird.

What have you learned during these strange, homebound times?