What quarantine has taught me

I’m toasting the end of the bread. The piece that I often threw away without a thought.

I’m using the apple with the bruise and just cutting off the piece that went bad. Some of you may have always done this, but not me. I never realized how wasteful I could be in my pre-corona existence.

I’m making meals out of all the random items that have been sitting in my pantry forever. So many times I have looked at them and thought, “ugh, we have no food.”

I’m utilizing leftover chalk paint to bring new life to an old sofa table and give me a creative outlet. This is the kind of thing I would talk about doing for months, but just put off, because “I’ll get to it later.”

I’m reading a book that I bought a year ago, but it was collecting dust on my shelf, because I just “didn’t have the time” to read. I wasn’t prioritizing my time properly is what I’m now realizing.

The kids are playing with things that they haven’t touched in years. Sidewalk chalk that was once ignored has become a chance to get out and get some fresh air and sunshine.

They are collecting scrapes all over their legs, like kids of yesteryears, from bike rides around the block. This is something they should be doing anyway, but they were always “too busy” or “too tired” because of school and extracuriculars.

Board games they received as Christmas gifts, and rarely used, are now part of fun family nights. We are playing charades, having movie nights and setting up tents in the living room for “camping.”

This is a scary time. There is so much uncertainty. But, the one thing I know we can take away from this is finally appreciating all of the things we have taken for granted.