Day Twenty-Four: Connect to Learning Something New

About two weeks ago, I started going a little nutty. Poor Forrest watched as I wavered between freaking out and getting frustrated, trying to put on a brave face while everything was going very, very wrong all around us. About three days into my breakdown, I realized that the routine that our family used to have wasn’t just to accommodate the needs of work and school. It helped us organize our days and eased transitions with the kids.

I wasn’t planning on putting down a daily schedule we all followed ruthlessly. For one, the rest of my family were much more ok with the PJs all day situation. For two, there wasn’t much point in stressing us all out about time and schedules if there were no actual consequences. I ended up making a list of half a dozen things I wanted to do each day. Mostly the list had things as simple as taking a shower and going for a walk. But at the bottom, I wrote, “Learn How to Do Something New.”

It has been one of the better parts of this forced quarantine. I’ve downloaded Duolingo and there’s now a judgy owl icon helping me learn a new language. We’ve made bagels from scratch which turned out…mostly edible. Rowan taught me a card game she learned from friends which is pretty much Three-Card Monty. (Kids these days.) At least I feel like I’m moving forward despite standing still.

What can you learn today, big or small?