My New (Hopefully Temporary) Norm

I wake up an hour later than normal these days. Monday through Friday my alarm now goes off at 6:45 AM.

I check the local coronavirus update page for new cases and information regarding the pandemic in my area.

I am sad that my prayer time now has circumstantial prayer requests included. I now pray for Covid-19 to be wiped out quickly and efficiently. I pray for my family's health and safety and I pray for all of those who will be or have already been affected by the virus in one way or another.

I kiss my husband goodbye only to have him move down the hall for his work day.

I don't make my daughter breakfast or drive her to school. Her day also starts about an hour later and she is enjoying making her own breakfast and lunch.

I still do my two loads of laundry each day however the loads have been lighter and I am seeing the same athleisure wear on repeat. No work clothing or school uniforms.

I walk in the morning now in addition to taking an online LIVE barre class because I can - I have the time.

I have discovered that the middle of my day is the weirdest. It's the time where I used to run mostly needless errands. There is a chunk of about two hours that has now been freed up. I am using that time to write, to blog and to post to a new Instagram account. Somedays these projects seem silly but I keep going because I can and they aren't silly.

I still shower twice a day, but my longer shower, where I shave and wash my hair, takes place midday.

I am a napper and my naps have a bit more regularity and wiggle room to them. I set an alarm so I don't nap too long but I don't get up from a nap with a panicky feeling like I have to get back to getting stuff done. There is less guilt in my napping and that is pretty awesome.

I still prep for and make dinner. It is done in a bit less of a frantic frame of mind - but I still don't enjoy dinner preparation. What has changed in regard to dinner is that we are all home and can eat at the same time. Mostly. Online dance classes can still sometimes conflict with our usual dinner hour but we also have the flexibility now to eat earlier in order to accommodate that. I can pull my husband out of his office for an early dinner and then he can return to work.

I walk with my husband in the evening most nights as we don't have evening activities or meetings.

I go to bed earlier as we aren't doing late night dance class pick ups.

I am enjoying a few of these temporary new norms but I realize that at the end of the pandemic, some of these new habits will go back to the old normal or will change all together. For me personally this isn't a time to get too comfortable with anything. However, it is a fine time to embrace and enjoy the simplicity of the current day to day schedule because I have no choice.

I pray that my current norms last only a bit longer and that I can go back to living my old norms soon! I also pray that I take along some of the wisdom and lessons learned from this time of social distancing and restructuring of my days.

Silver lining for the day: Ice cream. Having ice cream in my freezer is a silver lining. Cookie Dough Overload to be exact.