I’m not sure if it’s just me but the days stuck at home have all blended together. I feel like I’m living a real-life groundhogs day and I’m ready to get off this hamster wheel. While things have been hard and a big adjustment, I always try to look for the positives in a negative situation. I wanted to share a few of the things that I’ve learned while social distancing and how they’ve turned this experience into a good one.

7 THINGS I LEARNED WHILE SOCIAL DISTANCING

01. Disconnection:

While stuck at home it can be easy to turn into our devices all too often. I’ve made it a point to put my phone away while Ford is awake and not have the TV on all day. We watch Mickey mouse in the morning together and try to avoid technology for the rest of the day. When I’m in mom mode I try my best to be present and disconnect from everything else.

02. New Routine:

With a new baby, our daily routine didn’t really change all that much. I’m also a homebody so most days before all of this were spent at home anyways. One thing that I have changed though is my sleep routine. I make sure I go to bed before 10 and wake up around 5:30/6 am. I get a goodnight’s sleep and it gives me a little bit of time in the morning to wake up before everyone else does.

03. Getting Outside:

While the first couple weeks of quarantine we rainy and gloomy I am so thankful for the warmer weather now. We are able to spend a lot more time outside. Walking on the beach or just around the neighborhood. Luckily we have a great little patio that we have been taking advantage of as well. We spend a lot of time out there as a family and I get to enjoy my morning coffee out there while Ford watches all of the birds. It’s so crazy how a lockdown makes you appreciate being outside more than anything.

03. Moving my body:

This was a goal I had after having Ford. I wasn’t able to workout my whole pregnancy beside walking so when I was cleared by the doctor I wanted to really get back into it. It has been slow to start but I try to move my body every single day. I do my best to get up early and get moving at least 10 minutes in the morning. Then we take at least 2 walks a day with Ford in the stroller. It keeps him happy and my body happy!

04. More time to bake:

Baking is therapeutic to me so having all this extra time stuck at home I’ve been able to get to work in the kitchen. I can’t say it’s been the best for our diets but I am having so much fun in the kitchen testing out new recipes and recreating old ones! Baking makes me the happiest so to be able to have the time to do it often is key to my well being.

05. Strengthing Relationships:

I’m sure a lot of people can agree that the quarantine actually brought you closer to friends and family you haven’t gotten to see. I’ve facetimed and talked to more people than I had before all of this happened. It’s been a blessing in so many ways but this way in particular has surprised me. I am so grateful to have had this extra time to get closer with family and friends that I’ve maybe been neglecting. If the quarantine has taught me anything, it’s that life is short and relationships are the most important thing in life.

06. Decorating our home:

Brock and I are in the middle of a huge transition. We are deciding where we will currently live and are kind of in a state of limbo. It has been fun though to kind of fix up a couple of things in each of the places we could stay and get organized. Since we are stuck at home it’s important that you’re comfortable at home and we’ve definitely made sure of that!

07. Giving back:

One thing that has always been so important to me but is even more so now that I have a son is to give back. It doesn’t matter how much you have to give but just doing what you can to help someone else is so important. I have been collecting things of Ford’s that we never used (extra diapers, clothes, toys) and donating them to local banks. Also, with all of the current happenings, we have been donating where we can as our way of doing our part.

We are living through history right now and while it has been filled with a lot of sadness it has also been filled with so much joy. These memories, good and bad, will live in us forever. I am grateful to have had this time not stuck at home but safe at home with my family and I am looking forward to telling Ford all about the 7 things I learned while social distancing one day. Want to see how I’ve been doing my best to balance it all? Read my latest blog post all about it.