Are you staying home these days? Practicing social distancing? Husband, law school daughter, and I are staying home together - mostly. We work from our computers and phones. We take walks with Leo, the dog, photograph signs of spring, and cook.
We watch the news.
Yesterday, we drove to Narrangansett Beach where we picnicked in our coats and then walked along the beach — keeping our distance from other people. How refreshing to see the waves and surfers in dry suits, feel the sunshine and breeze, and hear the gulls’ cries.
When we returned from the beach, I poured a glass of wine, reflected on our first full day of social distancing, and thought about what the week (month? two months?) had in store. I thought about those of you who have kids at home from elementary school or college or law school like me. I thought about my friend whose son is in Eastern Europe on a Fulbright and hasn’t found a way back to the USA yet. I thought about my daughter’s friend who cut her Kazakhstan trip short a day before the borders closed. I thought about my dad who is undergoing chemo. I thought about my sister, a doctor. I thought about my HIV-positive friend.
Overwhelm.
So, I simplified my list of things to do -
Take care of your physical health.
Take care of your mental health.
Help others.
My day had been filled with the first two, so in my pursuit of helping others (and in turn making me feel good about offering up some help) I came up with a “Stay At Home Bingo” to share.
While I take this virus and the recommendations incredibly seriously, I needed something slightly lighthearted. Check it out and see if you think it might help you and yours. You can also create your own with myfreebingocards.com if you want to customize it for your particular situation.
At the end of the day (or week or month or 2 months) the main Bingo squares are -
Take care of your physical health.
Take care of your mental health.
Help others.
And remember…This too shall pass
Several of the women in my family wear these bracelets every single day to remind us to appreciate the good times, to stay in the moment, and to know that the difficult times will pass.