It seems like something out of a movie: non-essential businesses are ordered to shut down, and we’re told to stay home.  Parks are cordoned off.  A majority of people in public are wearing masks.  Grocery stores have put stickers on the floor to direct shopper traffic and to keep people at least 6 feet apart at all times. We can’t go visit our friends and families.  Birthdays, holidays, graduations, and more are passing by uncelebrated.

But it’s not a movie.  It’s real life, and it’s happening right now, all over the world.  We are experiencing history in the making, and it’s surreal.

And it’s all because of something we can’t even see.

I’m not going to pretend to know anything about COVID19 or the virus that’s causing it.  What I do know that is people are dying, and the measures being taken to protect our vulnerable people – the elderly, the immune compromised, and more – is leaving our world in a state of confusion.  Every company I’ve ever thought about is sending out emails about their responses and precautions; entire states have shut down; non-essential personnel are stuck at home, not knowing if/when they’ll go back to work and how they’re going to support their families until they do, and what going back may mean for their health, even if it means financial security.

It’s a crazy time, to be sure.

I am lucky in the sense that my husband is an essential employee.  His days haven’t changed, and the loss of income from my business isn’t hurting us quite as much as it does others.  I am thankful for that every day, and I am trying, in my own way, to help by offering Gratitude Sessions to essential workers (you can learn about those HERE!) and crocheting mask extenders.

During this quarantine, my baby officially became a  toddler, but that huge milestone of a first birthday went uncelebrated.  I visited family in Colorado, most of which I was unable to see.  My business is currently shut down, so I fill my days by playing with my toddler, photographing the tulips I have in a pot inside, and online shop for decorations for the home we just purchased less than two weeks ago.  Once our fence is finished in the backyard, I’ll begin gardening  and playing outside with Little Dude and the dogs.

For now, though, we’re stuck inside, aside from walks (while practicing social distancing from everyone else walking).  Our dogs laze about on the couches. There are many days we don’t even get out of our jammies (until bathtime, then we put on a fresh pair).  We have spent time watching TV, and my living room looks like a toy box threw up all over it more often than I care to admit.

But, we’re enjoying each day together as best we can.  We’re trying to forget about the scary pandemic that is sweeping the globe outside of our cozy little house.  Our days are spent doing the things we sometimes don’t get the chance to do when the world is running at full speed ahead.

And these little moments, the moments where my toddler and I are laughing on the couch, or he’s learned something new, his first words and the music he makes with pots and pans, the hours we spend in our sun room just playing – those are the things I want to remember about this quarantine.  Those are the things the history books won’t write about.