We can whine and complain all we want, but here we are. As the band Stealers Wheel once wrote, “Here I am, stuck in the middle with you.” Of course, it all depends on whom you are trapped with that may determine your mindset. Even if it turns out to be someone you can barely tolerate, there are positive things to consider as we button up, lock down, and deal with a Chinese virus that we know very little about, let alone how best to deal with, in this unprecedented time.
Trying to Make Sense of It All
If you happen to be an introvert, these could be the best days of your life. Forget having to make excuses to avoid attending Aunt Ethel’s 90th birthday party — you’ll be banned at the door anyway. How lovely. Hate crowds and long lines? This is your moment, baby — seize it, dust off your Kindle, and hit that reading list that has been growing.
Don’t like to curl up with a good book? How about picking up that remote and binge-watching something on Netflix? A friend recently called to recommend Schitt’s Creek. You don’t need a crowd to enjoy 80 episodes of Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara trying to make a go of it in a small town from hell. You may, in fact, find it downright enjoyable and laugh yourself silly.
Ah, but what if you are stuck in your castle with the kiddies, and they are driving you bat guano? This is precisely why God created Monopoly. Long game. Could last hours. This might be just the ticket to some semblance of peace — even if they do squabble over who owns Boardwalk and Park Place. If they don’t want to play nice, send them back to their online schoolwork and crack the whip. For balanced current events, American history, and government topics, point them in the direction of LNGenz.com. There are dozens of articles at every grade level, quizzes, worksheets, and fabulously entertaining and informative videos.
Okay, that was a quick commercial break, I admit. However, what’s on your docket today that’s more important than finding a place where your children and grandchildren won’t have lefty ideas drilled into their malleable minds? This may be their door to a more open, better-balanced education. Now there’s something cheerful to consider.
Perhaps you’ve been waiting for the perfect moment to show little Sarah how to cook spaghetti (hot water, big pot, don’t forget to stir!). Or maybe you’ve always wanted to learn how to needlepoint, crochet, or cross-stitch. Could this be the time to show Billy how to steal second base in your backyard or — better — suggest they find a way to entertain themselves? Now there’s a novel concept.
For the extroverts who find themselves stir crazy, pick up that cell phone and have a long chin wag with a friend you’ve been dying to talk with but could never find the time. For the type-A’s among us, how about attacking that long list that begins with cleaning out the sock drawer and ends with throwing out those clothes you haven’t worn since the turn of the century?
The bottom line here is that this time of social isolation could be a boon for one and all — depending on how we look at it. As my dear departed mother used to say, “You make your own fun.” It all depends upon our attitude, creativity, and perhaps a little navel-gazing to figure out just what makes us tick. So carpe diem, folks — these could turn out to be the best days of our lives.
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Read more from Leesa K. Donner.
