THE HIDDEN UPSIDE OF THE DOWNSIDE OF COVID-19

image by Misty Trone

I’m a glass half empty kind of girl. Truth is, I tend to see things a little negative sometimes. Perhaps this is a part of the worrier component of my DNA, or maybe it’s just who I am. And if I’m honest, I woke up this morning feeling heavier than usual. Worried more than usual. Stressed more than usual. And I hate that. But then I had a thought. And here’s how it went.

Here we are. We are starting another week at home. With nowhere to go. No parks, no restaurants, no friends houses, nowhere. Nowhere but home. And open roads. And for a homebody like me, that’s great. For a minute. But then you add 3 kids to the mix that have nowhere to go, no school, no structure, no friends houses, no amusement. And then you add a husband who works and works and works and moves and moves and moves. But there’s no movement. And nowhere now is the new normal. 

Cool. 

Feeling better? Me neither. 

And then if we add numbers and statistics to this game, it becomes exponentially more stupendously catastrophic. And tragic. And sad. And there’s where my usual hopeful self declines. I hate that too.

And so I wake up and I’m forced to be here now. And the downside of Covid-19 makes me want to cry. Weep actually. Because for a second, I’m realizing that the future for all of us is unknown. UNKNOWN. This is nothing like we’ve ever seen before and it’s scaring the shit out of me.

Full stop.

But, fast forward to my day. 

If you know me well, you know I’m a proponent of quality time. I’m a people person. An extrovert. A conversationalist. A lover. Especially when it comes to my family.

So here we are. Quality time unlimited. 

And if I really think about it, like I did this morning as my husband and I woke early to birds chirping and the sun coming up, I thought. We are here. And we have each other. And that’s a real upside. 

The quality time I can very well turn negative as a result of exhaustion only a mother of kids would understand, is well, not negative. 

Not today.

Today I’m here to share with you the upside of the downside of Covid-19. There is an upside.

It’s the time sitting next to your daughter while you have the opportunity to teach her one on one how to write a biography. 

It’s the opportunity to turn on your FaceTime and call Grandpa when you simply don’t remember how to work out a complicated 3rd grade math word problem. 

It’s the face of an 8 year old turning bright pink with pride when Grandpa and mama and her actually solve the problem all together at the same time.

It’s the bonding and recognition of quality time with a mother and a daughter that we didn’t have 3 weeks ago.

It’s the ability to recognize her gifts and her weaknesses all at the same time and to be able to support, lift and prepare her for the future. 

It’s the opportunity to see growth in real time, in studies, but also just in the growth a female human.

It’s a time to try new things with the twins and stretch their minds in ways they never have at pre-school. 

It’s a time to have dance parties with them and celebrate their wild silliness.

It’s a time to get off my device and sit down with my kids and try a new puzzle. With no schedule, no agenda and nowhere we have to be, but here now.

It’s pool time with the family with music blaring and sun shining and knowing we get to be together today, tomorrow and the next few weeks and maybe even months.

It’s togetherness. 

And it’s actually beautiful untouched territory. 

And for a glass half empty kind of girl, I’m here to tell you, my cup runneth over. 

I know I’m sarcastic from time to time on instagram and yes it can be brutal when a mama doesn’t even get alone time to use the bathroom.

But if we push that negative aside for just a minute, there’s a real upside.

And I’m going to live there. And be happy. 

Choose happy. 

And there will be days that suck.

And there will be days that you want to end at 4 pm.

But the truth is we won’t get this time back.

So love someone. Reach out and hug your husband. Even when he’s pissing you off.

Hug your babies tight.

Cuddle your dogs.

Know that we are all in this together.

And this too shall pass.

K, love you, bye.