It has been over a week since coronavirus changed our lives — dramatically. 

Our new normal means no school, no sports, no entertainment, no birthday parties, and no date nights. It means staying at home with lots of boredom, sibling fights, constant media updates, confusion and frustration. 

As a mom, my new normal also includes concerns about food supply, my kids’ lack of formal education and potential sickness with inadequate healthcare. I’m concerned about my college son who works at the hospital, my high school senior’s graduation, and the long term effects this shut down will have on the economy.

Those are my fears. That is the ugly side of living in a pandemic.

Fortunately, there is a silver lining.

I have never had more uninterrupted family time. My kids spend hours playing and building with Legos. Our family goes on hikes and walks together. We organize, plan and cook meals together. We bake together. We deep clean the house together (not my kids favorite).

I finally have time for my daughters’ to french braid my hair, apply face masks, paint nails, practice yoga moves and learn Tik Tok dances (still working on the last one).  

We all miss social interaction, so we set up virtual play dates. My elementary daughter spent one hour coloring with a friend via FaceTime today. My son texts his friends to schedule times to play online video games together. We use apps, like Marco Polo, to video chat with friends and family. I call my parents more frequently.

We sleep in. We watch movies.

I don’t know when life will return to normal, but for now, I’m trying to balance the negativity with the perks of living a new unstructured life.