It was approximately nine days ago when our county issued a “Declaration
of Disaster” and issued a strong recommendation that we all STAY HOME; “We
encourage --- residents to stay home except for essential needs, to get food,
care for a relative or friend, get necessary healthcare or go to an essential
job. It is okay to go outside for walks if you are not in a group. Stay at
least six feet apart when leaving your home for essential activities.”
To be perfectly honest, my sweet husband is recuperating
after surgery and it isn’t all that easy for him to get around right now anyway
— all we did have planned (due to his surgery) was to only go out for doctor
follow-up visits and to buy necessary perishable staples for the next few
weeks. Our pantry and freezer are fairly well stocked, my hubs is a terrific
shopper and always stocks up when he sees a good sale. The only grocery concern
I really have is preparing for Passover and staying local which does not really
give us much choice in the prescribed foods for our traditions.
Staying home these days didn’t really change much of what we
had planned to do, but the concept that we SHOULD NOT be mingling with the
outside world is a bit mind-boggling and restrictive. And the one big thing
that is suffocating is not being able to have our family come visiting,
especially our kids. Our daughter has helped to ease some of that particular
loneliness with multiple videos she sends us and even a lengthy video chat
while she walked our darling grand-pup (my cats don’t understand why we love
the dog so much, lol). Our daughter-in-love calls by phone whenever she has a
chance and sends texts often. Both our son and son-in-love tend to leave most
of the communication to their gals, but we do receive messages from each time
to time.
Basically if you have
friends or family you miss seeing, think of how lucky we are with phones,
emails, video chats, Facebook and so many other ways to connect remotely. Be
sure to make use of them and share everyday things with those you care about.
Don’t let anyone feel alone.
Being semi-forced to stay-at-home can actually be a blessing
in disguise. We all lead such harried lives we never really have time to just
sit back and relax. Play a board game with your family. Curl up for a Netflix movie
with your spouse. Read a book and even if you don’t have one handy, order an
e-book on your computer or smart phone, there’s even a whole bunch available
for free. Organize all of your pictures and scan those important documents onto
your computer for reference and record-keeping. If you have children at home,
find some terrific YA books you can read together.
Talking of children, how many times have we joked about
things we learned in school that we don’t think we have much use for these
days? Well spend some of your at-home time teaching your children a few of
those other skills like cooking, sewing, balancing checkbooks, gardening,
working on the car, cleaning and (if you have younger children as well) childcare.
Many teachers are helping by sending lesson plans via email or social media,
but whether they do or not read some history books (or even watch the History
channel on TV), play math games, host your own spelling bee. There are so many
ways to make your “playing” very productive.
Maybe now is the time for YOU to pick up a few new skills,
learn something that has always interested you, and simply bathe yourself in
new knowledge. Many online workshops are being offered, find Writing workshops, Kabballah,
foreign languages, Yoga,
business
practices, and even emergency
preparation classes… and you can do it all from home at your own schedule
and often for free or very little cost. If you’ve ever wanted to reinvent
yourself this could very well be the time.
Maybe, just maybe, all of this forced free time could just be
the thing we need to revitalize. Stay Heathy!
