10 Ways Quarantine has Positively affected Our Family

For awhile now I’ve been trying to offer you guys helpful resources to handle such an unpredictable time. Indoor Activities to do with your Kids, How to Stay Sane during Quarantine, Bridal Resources, and even a Free Photography Class for my audience of moms to help the time go by. But I haven’t shared a LOT of my feelings and thoughts. Not because I don’t want to but because sometimes, I don’t know what I think about something until I write it. So, here I am in the third week of Quarantine, having just celebrated the weirdest Easter of all time, and I’m ready to share my thoughts with you! And while I could talk to you about how hard things have been economically, financially, and socially… instead I’m going to give you 10 ways that Quarantine has Positively affected my Family. Because I’m trying to practice what I preach to mom’s all over the world, “When you see beauty in all people and in all things, you don’t just find it, you become it!”

Reminder

I was telling my husband that life in Quarantine isn’t THAT much different for me. I’ve always worked from home with my children in the same house. We don’t eat out much. I hardly ever leave the house except to go to the grocery store or for client sessions. But this Quarantine has made me aware that:

1.) I need to get out more

2.) I need to intentionally invest in more face to face time with friends. Just being around humanity more in general would be good! 😂

And even if someone was intentionally doing those things before, I believe that after this every single one of us will walk out of quarantine with a reminder of how much we really do need each other.

Purposeful Discipline

Not that I wasn’t parenting purposefully before, I totally was. But because we don’t know when this is going to end, there’s less work for me and my hubby to do, and we’re not allowed to go anywhere, we have been able to more intentionally handle behavior/attitude issues with each of our girls. And while this isn’t necessarily fun. I would consider it a positive outcome. All working parents know that when you come home from work ALREADY exhausted and then you have to make dinner, clean up the house and do all the other household chores… the last thing you or your hubby want to do is handle a sibling fight. Sooooo sometimes you get in the habit of not handling it directly. Whether it’s turning on a show, or sending them to separate rooms (which is still totally necessary sometimes, lol). But now we have found that because space is limited right now and tv time is already a wee bit higher than normal, instead of distracting them, we have had to confront it head on.

Click below to download our daily schedule (which has been keeping me sane) and our discipline chart with the instructions below!

Physical Intimacy

Hey… I’m just trying to keep it real here! 😅 Because me and my hubby have more time to fill each others cup and love each other with our actions and our words… our intimacy has gotten better to if ya know what I mean. 😂 He would KILL me if he knew I wrote this for everyone to see. 😂If you’re interest in this topic a little more, check out this blog post: “Making Time for Sex in Marriage.”

Organization

A lot of things that have been on our to-do list for literally YEARS are happening. We are redoing our bathroom floor, painting bedrooms, we’ve re-arranged every single room in our home, cleaned out our basement and SO MUCH MORE. Not every single day is productive, but overall, yes!

Quality Time

Something about being locked at home with your spouse & children makes you go, “well, there’s nothing we can do about it so we may as well enjoy it.” Now, I’m not saying I don’t enjoy the time I had with them before this, I totally did! But the truth is, parenting littles (or any age for that matter) is freaking hard. Sometimes it feels like you are the best on mom on the freaking planet and some days it takes everything in you to just survive. But because of the fact that there is LITERALLY nothing else to do, we have played more with our kiddos in these three weeks and it’s been incredible. I taught my daughter how to play “Go Fish” and “War.” I’ve gotten to see how smart she is by homeschooling her! I’ve been able to see for myself how she has grown in her math, reading, etc. I’ve gotten to observe her love for animals and firmly believe that she might grow up to be a zoologist or marine biologist. 😂 And even though I don’t think homeschooling is what’s best for both of us in the future… it’s been SO, SO good for this season.

Writing

I’ve ALWAYS loved writing! But this Quarantine has brought it out of me on a whole other level! I write things because I don’t know what I’m thinking until I read what I wrote. I write to challenge others to grow and use their minds. I write to process my day to day. I write to help others and myself understand. I’m not sure if it’s because of the sudden increase in time or because of all the emotions that this quarantine has brought up for everyone… but either way, the words are flowing.

Remote Work

Honestly, I LOVE having my husband work from home! The truth is, people used to go to work because we didn’t have the resources to do the work from home. But now, nearly everyone has access to internet, computers, phones, etc. And because of the positive impacts this quarantine is having on families, making them talk, think, and be together… I believe that companies should consider making this a regular thing. At least part-time! I think it would propel our society, as a whole, in the right direction. One that is people focused and genuinely cares about others instead of just ourselves, our own journey and our own career.

Resourceful

As American’s in general, sometimes we get a little spoiled. Me included! 🙋🏻‍♀️But this quarantine has forced a lot of us to go without things we would’ve deemed as necessary before. Whether its because of financial restrictions or because there is nothing left at the store, haha, all of us are being forced to become more resourceful! I mean, I just made an AMAZING easter meal out of what I had in my cabinets! I never would’ve called myself a chef before this! But look at me now! 👩‍🍳

Generosity

To be honest, life before COVID-19 didn’t give us TOO many ways to be generous. Giving to churches, food banks, etc. was always a part of our lives but now… we actually get to help real people with real problems. Because coronavirus has brought with it a sense of desperation, people everywhere are opening up about their needs and it’s giving other people, businesses, and schools the opportunity to be generous. It’s encouraging to see humanity step up in this way!

Prayer

I love to pray! I journal my prayers because all the things I said about writing above! But there’s something about seasons of perceived hopelessness that take my prayers to a whole new level. They become a little more raw. A little more real. A little less stale. And I believe that is an excellent thing for me to experience because it propels my relationship with God and with others around me who are suffering to new depths. It forces me to grow in ways that cannot be undone.

What are some ways that COVID-19 has had a positive effect on you, your mindset, your family, or your life?