Who Knew Neighborhood Walks Could Be This Refreshing, And 4 More Unexpected Upsides To Lockdown
Moms can find the silver lining in any situation.
Hear me out. Moms have an uncanny ability to dig deep, put on our mom goggles, and get to work spinning even scary and intense situations into something manageable and even – gulp – kinda fun. Yep, moms everywhere have managed to find the upside to lockdown. And our families feel a bit safer because we’ve sprinkled our mom magic all over everything, even being together literally ALL. THE. TIME. From rediscovering the comfort of classic TV shows to turning our homes into bakeries, moms make it all better.
I Made My TikTok Debut And It Was…Something
Remember in the Old Normal when we all dismissed TikTok as a silly dance app only for the youth? And then we discovered how incredibly FUN it is? We’ve all done those things where we sighed and muttered something about how we’re just doing it to keep the kids busy and then BAM – discovered we are in it to win it! My kids have gotten more true belly laughs from my comical attempts to drop it like it’s warm than just about anything else this year.
We’ve Rediscovered Screen-Free Family Fun
I’m a little embarrassed to admit this but pre-lockdown, I hadn’t played a board game with my kids in –- let’s just say it’s been a minute. Being home together all day every day with no real destination, we had to find things to do other than stare at screens together. Enter jigsaw puzzles, coloring books (even for the grownups) and card games. Turns out saving stuff we haven’t used in years actually pays off sometimes!.
I’ve Seen Other People’s Houses And Now I Feel Better About Mine
Oh, Zoom. You’ve opened up *Princess Jasmine voice* a whole new world! There are several people I used to only see in the office or at kids’ soccer games. I had no idea what the inside of their homes looked like. And I confess I definitely made some assumptions. It’s easy to think yours is the only family with the morning’s cereal bowls still on the counter at dinner time. Or that only your kids sense a magnetic pull toward you the minute you start an important call. Nope. Lockdown has shown us that everyone – even celebrities – are just like us, with all the same chaos and piles of laundry and barking dogs.
We Appreciate Being Outside Like Never Before
When kids are little, walks in the stroller or to the playground are pretty common. But as kids get older and have more schoolwork and sports and other obligations, time spent outside together drops off. Lockdown made us rediscover the joys of an aimless neighborhood walk. Or just playing catch in the backyard. Or skating in the street. We truly appreciate fresh air, sunshine and stars in ways we’d almost forgotten.
Our Family Discovered How Resilient We Can Be
If nothing else, these incredibly trying times have called on all of us to find reserves of strength we didn’t know we had. Sure, not every day has been a win. At times, it all just felt too hard. But even on the hardest days, we’ve learned to really focus on what’s important: letting our kids know we will always do everything we can to keep them safe and healthy. Keeping that as our primary focus made it a lot easier to get over not being able to eat out or go to a movie.
So keep baking, binge-watching and bike riding. You’ve got this.
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