I've had a lot of time on my hands lately to think about life and reflect on the last two months. I know that I'm a very different person today than I was before COVID-19 rocked the world. I think there have been many good lessons I've learned from this unfortunate situation.

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1. The house never stays clean for long even if you're home 24/7 to keep up with it. Friend, I'm a clean person. I feel like I'm always low key picking up the house all day long and my house still gets dirty. I used to think if I were a stay at home mom, my house would look immaculate. Not true.

2. Making every meal at home really isn't as big of a chore as I made it out to be in my head. Prior to quarantine, the thought of cooking a meal at home really seemed like an annoying task. It took time, there were always dishes, the cleanup takes forever and then you have to navigate Tupperware for the leftovers. But, it's actually not that bad at all and there's always ready-made lunch in the fridge the next day.

3. The laundry never ends. There's always something to wash, even when there's not. Honestly, sometimes I think it would be a good idea to run around the house naked because that's less laundry later.

4. I'm learning that life is all about your choices. I mean, we all know this one but I'm truly making a conscious effort now to keep my choices productive and on task. Sometimes I still catch myself wasting time, but I've been so much more productive in my 'free' time.

5. You can have fun at home. I always felt like if I wasn't running around on the weekend taking my son to all of these fun places, that I was not doing a good job at being a mom. I'm so happy I realized how untrue this is. Yesterday, my son had fun playing with a stick in our backyard and loved it.

6. I used to spend money just to spend it. When I was organizing the crawl space yesterday I found 6 Easter baskets. I've got one son and he's 2. My spending was out of control on things I never used or would only use once and this has really brought me back to reality. I need to have a garage sale as soon as we're allowed!

7. You don't have to go on a fancy date with your spouse once a week to keep the friendship alive. My husband and I enjoy watching shows together, going on walks, having a White Claw, making food together, working on a home improvement project and playing board games. We really look forward to that time. We've saved a lot of money enjoying dates at home.

8. Sewing is an art form. I haven't mastered it yet...but, I'm trying.

9. This whole thing has taught me how important it is to cherish time with your family and never wish away the current day no matter how good or bad it is. Life is a very precious gift my friend.

10. Not having enough time in the day is NOT the real reason why I didn't hit the gym. There were days I'd tell myself I was too busy to work out...and I believed it. I've got all the time on my hands now, so what's my excuse? I realize you're never going to feel like working on your fitness, you have to push yourself and push past your reservations.

11. Cherish the time you've got at home with your family. I'll probably never have this much time at home with my two-year-old ever again. This is a super sad one to think about. But really, when's the next time you're going to have nearly 2 full months at home with your family 24/7? If you're waiting for retirement, realize your kids will be grown and hopefully out of the house by then. Enjoy this time.

 

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