Life for some may be getting back to some kind of normality as businesses and certain sectors are beginning to operate again. Being senior citizens encouraged to stay home for our own protection, I discovered that it is possible to not leave home at all to have our needs met. I have adapted to the situation by getting good suppliers online of what we need, from fresh produce, goat’s milk, fish and organic chicken, garden supplies, occasional meal treats with home delivery, and some help from good neighbors. Getting settled with the mindset of staying home for months enabled us to get busy with the things we want to do and put structure to our time without the pressure to be somewhere else. Likewise, families have thrived and grown closer by adapting to the situation. Today, I have asked Pearl Anne Rojas and her household of five including her daughter (22), son (17), and niece (24) to share her lessons on their adjustments.
Every day seemed weekend-like and for a while, we didn’t know what to do with the lack of regular work and the freedom of time. After 2 months of staying at home and with the things we did as a family, it’s a relief to realize that we have not gone crazy. It has somehow turned to be a time of discovering and rediscovering.
FAMILY FUN. The no deadlines-to-beat and late-morning-rising has allowed us to freely enjoy movie nights and game nights. We are neither tired nor distracted to have simple fun thus allowing us to fully engage in these activities. BONUS: For movie nights, we have saved a ton. Since we cant go out, we don’t have to pay for the movie tickets or the food while watching.
IS WORK FUN? YES, IT IS! Since everybody is at home and since no one has to be excused because of assignments or work-related issues, everybody pitches in to the cleaning of the house and the yard. When we do this, work becomes a lot more fun and easier than on other days. The kids still don’t love housework , mind you, but they have accepted the fact that as part of the family, they have to do their share to make our house a home. And it is a sight to behold!
HEALTH-WISE. We have decided as a family to watch our weights. Though we slightly differ in our methods we agree with the low carb/intermittent fasting way of doing it. While everyone is busy whipping up delicious meals, we have been busy whipping up nutritious meals. So far, my daughter has lost 11 kgs. (from 84 to 73) and I have lost 10 kgs. (from 64-54). My son, who doesn’t weigh in has lost some of his tummy bulges and the hubby is proudly maintaining his ideal weight.
RICH IN SPIRIT. The family has continued with our nightly family time of reading Gods Word and prayer. But this time we decided to spend more time in it and to study the Bible starting with the book of Genesis. For Sunday Worship, we usually do it at home and occasionally we do it by the beach (we live near a beautiful beach). Sometimes we have early morning breakfasts at the beach, too!
Our family is one that thrives in our own spaces. Thus, quarantine has somehow given, especially the kids, the reason to spend more time alone. This meant that pulling them out of their rooms at the start was a challenge. But when they experienced the joy of us just coming together, they began to find the time to be with the family and perceive it as a regular thing. One of the things that surprised me though was our son saying that he appreciated our times together, not because we talked a lot now, but because we have already been doing it even before and that quarantine has heightened these times together. Our daughter and the niece are one in saying that this is the kind of rest that they really need, which they call as real rest, since they have both been working prior to ECQ.
Indeed, being locked down has not necessarily tied us up. Instead, it freed us to do many of the things we have not done in the busyness of life. It allowed us to focus on things that really matter: relationship with God and with each other.
Indeed, many seemingly crisis times like COVID that brought about all the restrictions be also a time of discoveries, growth in all aspects, family togetherness, gratefulness, and living life well despite the limitations.
